No, there is no big reason for me writing this. No argument to win or event that caused it. Perhaps except the numerous shirts I saw at PAX that said things like "I survived 4E". Hell, I laughed at these myself, but as I thought about it the sentiment behind some of these aren't really fair to D&D or the folks at Wizards who worked hard making 4th Edition.
First, I want to mention that I am all for some of the aspects around having dislike for D&D. Let's start with the oliphant in the room: edition wars. These are hotly debated over and they only increase as the years go by and more editions come out. Not restricted to actual editions (I'm looking at you 3.5 and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms), edition wars come down to who's edition is best. I have a secret, I know which one, but that's later. Edition wars is what helps develop the community, the game, and the other games that come out of a dislike of D&D. In fact, the only problems people have with D&D that doesn't stem from one of the great edition wars is from finding a game that does exactly what D&D doesn't. One way or another. But I love those games, what they point out, and the people who rally them for those reasons.
But, please let us not forget Dungeons & Dragons. D&D was the original table-top RPG. It was and you probably can't convince me otherwise. I have read on the subject and I am sure there are some subjective or objective arguments against it, but Dungeons & Dragons is the grandfather to us all. It represents the jump from tactics miniatures games to something more in line with creating epic fantasy stories of some kind.
This much is well known these days, but I also think people tend to forget about it. D&D is, and always has been, rooted in table-top tactics and strategy. Theater of the mind or not. There would not be so many numbers, tables, and rules if the case were otherwise. I hear or read condemning arguments against playing D&D for reasons like the following:
- it's too mechanic driven
- they'll just sell you a new source book and all the same old material with new rules
- they are trying to hard to appeal to new audience with video game mechanics (4E)
- don't fix what isn't broken
- now they're just rehashing the way we played it 20 years ago
To be fair, there are plenty of good reasons not to buy a new edition. But, to me, you should do nothing but support D&D in it's endeavor to grow. Sure 3.5 fixed a lot, but it didn't change the minutia driven insanity that the game could be. In the end that edition was about experimenting with the rules and new mechanics (looking at you warlock). Then they went ahead and threw the baby out with the bath water and rebuilt the whole game.
So what?
So, anyone playing 4th Edition or 5th Edition and like the ability to cast a spell (however minor) whenever they want can thank the experimental work that Wizards did at the end of that era. Anyone who plays Pathfinder now can thank the decision of Wizards to go in the direction they did and Paizo for sticking out 3.5. And then they can go back and thank Wizards for all the groundwork done in 3rd Edition for enabling the amazing force that is Pathfinder.
Aside from edition wars and the growth and evolution of D&D to what it is today, we can probably thank them for all the other games out there too. I won't lie to you. I am no expert on these matters, but I am pretty sure most of the table top games that aren't D&D are around in order to do something D&D didn't. In a lot of cases it is for something D&D couldn't do. Universal systems have been around for a long time, longer than when I first heard about them. I don't know about GURPS' complexity, but I know the Hero System and Rifts are both complex and deep systems.
Each of these wanted to expand on the idea of what a table top RPG could be and what you could do with them. Maybe you think we should be thanking them for the universal or small systems we have now. And you are right, we should applaud them, especially those that remain developing material. However, we should also thank D&D for being a persistent entity to go up against.
What I am getting at here is that TSR, and then Wizards, has been one of (if not THE) biggest driving force of the table top role-playing game industry. It gets the attention, not all of it good. Just look at the anti-D&D movements early on or the lingering 4E resentment. Without D&D, though, I might not be playing Savage Worlds or be looking forward to Monster Of The Week. Many people cut their teeth playing or running D&D too. It is often the introductory game for new role-players. I know there are podcasts that name "that d20 fantasy game" as the one they played for years before they fell in love with another system and realized they had been missing out.
But what does this have to do with 4th Edition? 4th Edition is D&D's D&D. It's the black sheep of the family and the one "noone" likes. But it is so much more than that. It was the catalyst of Pathfinder and all the talk surrounding game mechanics, at the time, from what they did. The community needs new faces, younger faces. Yes it was designed much like an MMO, but that was on purpose and there is a lot of good we, as D&D fans, got out of it. But, I will talk about my love of D&D and how I have journeyed through the editions next week.
Today I want you to consider D&D as an amazing positive in RPGs. No matter how much you may not like it, no matter how much you hate one edition, and no matter how unwilling you would be to buy D&D instead of another game. Recognize what D&D is and has been. What it has represented and driven itself on for. For being the catalyst for all the things you do actually like to have been created. Most of all, please don't turn people away from D&D. There are reasons to love it and if you turn a newbie role-player away because they'd rather play D&D then you may be doing them a disservice. If you can't mention the name Dungeons & Dragons because you are into other games now, and will likely not buy another product again, stop. There is no harm in admitting D&D doesn't do it for you anymore for such and such a reason. In fact it continues the debates, the conversations, and the development of D&D and all other games. Amidst indie RPGs, universal systems, successes of other games, and the corpses of its own failures D&D, at the very least, stands as a guide and testament to role-playing and every system and game that is raised up next to it expands our community.
So don't hate D&D, don't ignore it. Recognize it for what it is. Thank it for the times you had. Thank its failures for driving you into the loving arms of another system. Let's talk about its failures, what games we COULD be making or playing, and why your game is better. Because that's the secret.
The best game out there, the best edition out there, is the one you enjoy playing. Simply because you enjoy it.
Even if it's 4E.
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