The approach they are taking to the online play table seems to be to try and match the visual quality of computer roleplaying games, and I have very mixed feelings about that. I guess it might make D&D more tempting to people who are really into computer games, and that would be a huge win if they pull it off. On the other hand it’s an approach that’s very expensive to develop, and as you’ve pointed out, not very agile. It also ties them in to the video-game graphics “arms race”: it may look good right now, but in 3 years time it will look old and sad and tired compared to the latest computer games.

Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.

These guys were supposed to be playtesting the game, and yet they didn’t enter the elaborate room? Shouldn’t their characters’ ultimate safety be unimportant next to the opportunity the room provides for, you know, playtesting the new rules? Heck, even if they weren’t playtesting, it’s a game of adventure, not a game of avoiding any potential risk!

That said, maybe the DM should simply have described what they saw and waited to see if they were entering the room before setting it all up…

And ultimately it just feels like instead of trying to figure out how to get people together around a table in RL, it’s easier for them to throw up their hands and just slap together an online game system. Look, if you have five people who have enough time on their hands to sit in front of their computer and play then they have enough time to get together face-to-face and play.

Of course as long as the core books is all that is needed to play I guess all the online stuff won’t matter to gamers such as myself, whose games are strongly homebrewed. And hey, there’s plenty of other game systems out there. I’ve been loving Castles and Crusades, and I’m guessing that when ‘08 rolls around I’ll still be loving it.

And Dave spent nearly 10 minutes constructing (using Dungeon Tiles!) an ominous, crypt-lined ruin complete with three golden sarcophagi that emanated magic. Dave did a good job laying out the floor plan of the room. Such a good job that we lingered in the door looking into the shadow-lined mausoleum for a minute, then, another . . . then decided as a group that, loot or no loot, perhaps it would be better to let whatever lay in the deathly quite of the tomb alone. So, we closed the door and continued down the main hallway.

Sorry, Dave.

I’m not saying D&D4 should necessarily do anything about these sorts of cases, or that anything can necessarily be done reliably. But putting it in your marketing materials? Weak Sauce. “Hey kids, come play D&D so your friends can waste your time, effort, and contribution for you!” Hopefully something’s in the game that makes the DM’s job a little less thankless.