I have to start this with a couple of testimonials from gamers who love 4e. I don’t want to, but they’re the best illustration of what I don’t like about the game.
Perhaps you’re familiar with the (predominately) computer gamer comic strip Penny Arcade? (Disclaimer: I am a fan. Even though I could read all the strips online for free, I own four of their printed books.) If you want the biggest and weirdest success story in the history of the Web, it’s not Amazon. It’s Gabe and Tycho (yes, I know that’s not their real names) creating a zillion dollar empire from doing an online comic that’s incomprehensible to 99% of most normal people. (I seriously need the commentary track in the books to get some of the jokes.)
Given that Gabe has made fun of Tycho on more than one occasion over his pen and paper RPG hobby, one has to wonder how he became a 4e disciple. On another note, how low is RPG on the nerd totem pole that a hardcore video gamer and collectible card enthusiast can make fun of it? If we are to take various Penny Arcade strips as slices of their gaming life, then Gabe truly thought (pretty much accurately) that tabletop gamers were a bunch idiotic losers in the Nerdsphere. (Just a tick above LARPER’s.)
My premise isn’t that Gabe changed or the gamers changed when he got to know them. It was the game (4e) that was the difference. The cynic in me has to wonder if Gabe’s miraculous conversion had something to do with some cross promotion. WOTC did buy ad space on their site. I’ll accept it as genuine, since I myself, can attest to the lure of the rolling dice. Gabe had no interest in previous versions of D&D from hearing Tycho’s stories of adventuring. From there, he gives this testament:
"I think it was the new 4th edition rules combined with where I was in my tabletop journey that made D&D really appeal to me. The tabletop journey I mentioned is actually sort of interesting. I've been thinking about why I was sort of primed for D&D and if you trace it back through the news posts you can see that it starts with Pokemon of all things."
The story ends with:
"Anyway, playing these raid decks it turns out is a lot like playing D&D. You have one guy controlling all the monsters and you have a party of adventurers working together to beat them. It was very easy to make the transition between the two and I found the added freedom that D&D offered to be really exciting. I still love Pokemon and I'm excited about picking up Platinum next month."
I could have ended that quote a little sooner to make it less embarrassing, but I couldn’t resist. Let me sum this for you if you didn’t get it: collectible card games are a primer for 4e. You know, if Gabe had said that computer RPG’s were the genesis of his love for 4e, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as hurtful. I can’t believe Tycho let him write that without making a rebuttal. He played the Old School stuff!
Anyway, it seems like WOTC hit their audience right on the mark. Card crack addicts, WOW organic input devices, and the lemming-like, whiners of the pen and paper RPG community, who are thrilled to have something new to bitch about/defend to the death (flip a coin, choose a side).
The strange case of Paul Tevis of the Have Games Will Travel podcast I find more disquieting. Here is a fellow, who literally never said the words, "Dungeons & Dragons" on the air, but as a pejorative, until 4e. Mr. Indy gamer, practically living at the Forge booth at Gen Con, and frequent interviewer of gamer reviewer extraordinaire, Kenneth Hite. That last point is important. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think Hite has ever jumped on that 4e bandwagon, other than having respect for the people in charge of creating it.
Tevis has absolutely bubbled with enthusiasm for a game that should theoretically be beneath his contempt. It "Scratches a different itch," is something close to what he said in a review. I guess it’s the miniatures wargaming itch, and I don’t think he’s not getting any kickbacks from WOTC that I can see. He did make an interesting comment. Tevis noticed that 4e players talked about the game experience, not the in-game experience. That is, not talking about the adventure the characters were having, but the fun the players were having making attack combos and such.
And that, is utterly antithetical to the RPG experience. At its best, tabletop RPG is a shared story that is meant to be retold. (Usually tales of astounding player stupidity resulting in their character’s death, but still.) At its worst, it’s a bunch of people sitting around a table rolling dice. Why not play Monopoly? It’s the same thing: roll dice, move tokens around a board, use some strategy. Less social stigma.
Okay, people are having fun with 4e, why be such a grump? Good question. 4e is essentially a fantasy-themed (collectible) miniatures wargame. On the other hand, Old School D&D stuff makes no allowances for role-playing in the rules either (perhaps even less than 4e). It’s not the players. There are plenty of old-time D&D players who like the game, along with the newbies. So, what’s the diff?
That’s the elephant in the Old School room, which nobody’s talking about.
Well, hate to leave it like this, but what a great place to ask for reader comments. Anyway, I plan on continuing this, and in another, upcoming gaming post, I shall sing the mellifluous praises of 4e. Really.
(And then gripe about it. Really.)
J.
Sources:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/2/18/
http://www.havegameswilltravel.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=380490
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