Monday, September 26, 2011
The Ogre's Den: Cool it Now: A New Edition?
The Ogre's Den: Cool it Now: A New Edition?: Hey, Readerland. Stepped away from wrestling in this edition and stepping up to gaming. By the way, you can now find me on Twitter (yes, ...
Cool it Now: A New Edition?
Hey, Readerland. Stepped away from wrestling in this edition and stepping up to gaming. By the way, you can now find me on Twitter (yes, I caved) @WillMyers2.
So, the big news in the gaming world is that Monte Cook, long-time gamer/game designer and creator of Malhavoc Press, has rejoined Wizards of the Coast (www.wizards.com) in an "advisor" position. This has made Monte Cook fanboys squeal with delight and gamers in general at least perk up and go 'Huh,' for this is indeed Big News.
Of course, the biggest question that comes from this re-pairing of gaming giants is 'What comes next?' See, there's been a hug division of the Dungeons and Dragons crowd over the release of the 4th Edition D&D game, which was essentially nothing like the 3rd and 3.5 Edition. Given that I've never played 4th Edition, from what I can gather, it has become more of a miniatures wargame than a roleplaying game. (This next section contains a fair amount of generalizations. You have been warned.) 4E players were tired of the rules bloat that was the 3/3.5E mess. Seriously, there were seemed extra books (called 'splat books') for everything in 3/3.5. 3E players didn't want to have to buy minis and game boards and have less customization in their characters. Then there was also the monetary factor. With so many supplements, if you wanted to stay current with all of your splat books, you were putting down a chunk of change. For example, during my own 3/3.5 days, I got the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manuals I, II, and III, Lords of Madness, and the Call of Cthulhu d20 book. Each of those books ran at least $30, so just for what I had, it cost me around $210 and probably more.
In March of 2008, Paizo Publishing (paizo.com) came in and created the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game under the WotC open gaming license. A few tweaks to the gaming system and Paizo was continuing the 3/3.5E tradition that WotC has stopped producing with the advent of 4E. Some people, myself included, call Pathfinder "D&D 3.6." One big change for Pathfinder from the WotC plan was the Core Rulebook, which is 576 pages and combines both of what would be considered the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Guide from D&D, at a slightly reduced cost from the 3E books ($50 compared to $60).
Another big change for Pathfinder is the 'adventure path.' An adventure path is several prewritten modules that link together to form one overarching campaign. Paizo produces two adventure paths a year. While 'adventure path' as a term dates back to 3E, it's more commonly used for the Paizo products.
So, after four years (at least) of having two or three editions to choose from, what is going to come from Monte Cook joining back up with WotC? Will it be revisions to 4E? A fifth edition? I've even seen some people say that WotC should go back to producing 3E material, with the counterpoint being that they've already created massive amounts of content for 3E, so why create more, unless they're going to go back and make tweaks or add errata, which would then either lead to new books with few changes replacing old books at old prices or loads and loads of small downloads required to keep up with the 'new' 3/3.5 edition.
So, what will come of this? Personally, I'm not sure how much it will effect me, as I play Pathfinder and not D&D of any edition at the moment, though I suppose there could be a time when I go back to 3E. Honestly, I think what's going to happen is that there will be more splat books made for 4E, because there can always be another campaign setting or set of character options.
But will Monte Cook usher in the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons? I don't know, but here's what I think: It doesn't matter. Honestly, I think the creation of a 5th Edition would mean little to me, because I'm at a point in my gaming career where having fun is more important than staying up with the next big thing. I certainly wouldn't be looking to sink a ton of money into it, that's for sure. If I bust out my 3E or my AD&D stuff for a laugh, then so be it. I could probably throw together a group and run something off the top of my head at this point and it would (probably) be fun for everyone involved and in the end, that's what really matter.
That's all I've got, I hope you've enjoyed. Don't for get to find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter (@WillMyers2) and until next time, be awesome to each other. #WWWYKI.
So, the big news in the gaming world is that Monte Cook, long-time gamer/game designer and creator of Malhavoc Press, has rejoined Wizards of the Coast (www.wizards.com) in an "advisor" position. This has made Monte Cook fanboys squeal with delight and gamers in general at least perk up and go 'Huh,' for this is indeed Big News.
Of course, the biggest question that comes from this re-pairing of gaming giants is 'What comes next?' See, there's been a hug division of the Dungeons and Dragons crowd over the release of the 4th Edition D&D game, which was essentially nothing like the 3rd and 3.5 Edition. Given that I've never played 4th Edition, from what I can gather, it has become more of a miniatures wargame than a roleplaying game. (This next section contains a fair amount of generalizations. You have been warned.) 4E players were tired of the rules bloat that was the 3/3.5E mess. Seriously, there were seemed extra books (called 'splat books') for everything in 3/3.5. 3E players didn't want to have to buy minis and game boards and have less customization in their characters. Then there was also the monetary factor. With so many supplements, if you wanted to stay current with all of your splat books, you were putting down a chunk of change. For example, during my own 3/3.5 days, I got the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manuals I, II, and III, Lords of Madness, and the Call of Cthulhu d20 book. Each of those books ran at least $30, so just for what I had, it cost me around $210 and probably more.
In March of 2008, Paizo Publishing (paizo.com) came in and created the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game under the WotC open gaming license. A few tweaks to the gaming system and Paizo was continuing the 3/3.5E tradition that WotC has stopped producing with the advent of 4E. Some people, myself included, call Pathfinder "D&D 3.6." One big change for Pathfinder from the WotC plan was the Core Rulebook, which is 576 pages and combines both of what would be considered the Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Guide from D&D, at a slightly reduced cost from the 3E books ($50 compared to $60).
Another big change for Pathfinder is the 'adventure path.' An adventure path is several prewritten modules that link together to form one overarching campaign. Paizo produces two adventure paths a year. While 'adventure path' as a term dates back to 3E, it's more commonly used for the Paizo products.
So, after four years (at least) of having two or three editions to choose from, what is going to come from Monte Cook joining back up with WotC? Will it be revisions to 4E? A fifth edition? I've even seen some people say that WotC should go back to producing 3E material, with the counterpoint being that they've already created massive amounts of content for 3E, so why create more, unless they're going to go back and make tweaks or add errata, which would then either lead to new books with few changes replacing old books at old prices or loads and loads of small downloads required to keep up with the 'new' 3/3.5 edition.
So, what will come of this? Personally, I'm not sure how much it will effect me, as I play Pathfinder and not D&D of any edition at the moment, though I suppose there could be a time when I go back to 3E. Honestly, I think what's going to happen is that there will be more splat books made for 4E, because there can always be another campaign setting or set of character options.
But will Monte Cook usher in the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons? I don't know, but here's what I think: It doesn't matter. Honestly, I think the creation of a 5th Edition would mean little to me, because I'm at a point in my gaming career where having fun is more important than staying up with the next big thing. I certainly wouldn't be looking to sink a ton of money into it, that's for sure. If I bust out my 3E or my AD&D stuff for a laugh, then so be it. I could probably throw together a group and run something off the top of my head at this point and it would (probably) be fun for everyone involved and in the end, that's what really matter.
That's all I've got, I hope you've enjoyed. Don't for get to find me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter (@WillMyers2) and until next time, be awesome to each other. #WWWYKI.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The Ogre's Den: The love affair is over
The Ogre's Den: The love affair is over: Hey, Readerland. The Ogre is back once again. And today is the day that I declare that I'm no longer a wrestling fan. Before you jump to c...
The love affair is over
Hey, Readerland. The Ogre is back once again. And today is the day that I declare that I'm no longer a wrestling fan. Before you jump to conclusions, hear me out.
So, people are irritating me. This should come as no surprise because people tend to irritate me in general. This time, though, it's other wrestling fans that are pulling my goat's leg. Or something.
When did every single wrestling fan who is on the internet become an "expert" on wrestling? Over the past several years, and the past few weeks specifically, it's become clear to me that an awful lot of these fans know how an angle should have been run, instead of potentially enjoying what's actually going on on television. Am I going to sit here and say that every single angle that the WWE has run has been perfect? God, no. Do I think there are some fans out there who have put forth very good ideas on how a particular should or should have been handled? Yes. That does not make every wrestling fan an expert, though.
One thing I never try to do is change someone's opinion of wrestling. Whether they are fans or not, I don't expect people to start watching or enjoy it more if they already watch simply because I say so. Of course, everyone has an opinion. I have no problem with that. I have one, too. The problem comes up when someone starts treating their opinion as fact.
The biggest thing I've seen in the past month or so is the Internet Wrestling Commiunity's completely love of or utter hatred of Mark Henry. Personally, I have never been a big Mark Henry fan. His style of wrestling just doesn't really appeal to me. However, over the past few weeks, Mark Henry has been booked the way the World's Strongest Man should be. He has 'taken out' the World's Largest Athlete, The Big Show, and the Big Red Monster, Kane. He's started a new promo gimmick, the Hall of Pain, and how Show and Kane have their own wings in his Hall. He has basically been destroying people left and right before this past weekend, where he won his first major WWE Title, the World Heavyweight Championship.
Here's the kicker: a lot of people in the IWC dislike Randy Orton. I happen to be one of them. Not because he's Super Orton or that he wins 'all the time.' No, it's because he sells injuries like crap most of the time. They blame him for stopping Kofi Kingston's push a few years ago, instead of the fact that Kofi cuts horrible promos. They blame him for the ratings decrease on Smackdown, instead of noticing that ratings are down all over for wrestling. But then a challenger appears! Mark Henry shows up and steamrolls a whole bunch of established stars en route to a victory at Night of Champions. So what happens?
"Mark Henry is a horrible (or other adjective here) champion!"
"Mark Henry isn't a believable champion!"
"Watch! The ratings will decrease even more now that Mark Henry is the champ!"
The next pay-per-view for the WWE is Hell in a Cell, which is in a week and a half. That's a topic for another blog. Odds are the title will go back to Randy Orton at that PPV. And you know what will happen?
"God, Randy Orton is champ again."
"Randy Orton is boring."
"For the love of God, he was twisting your arm for five straight minutes! Sell the damn arm damage for more than a few seconds!"
Okay, that last one will probably be coming from me. Anyway.
The WWE basically can't win with the internet wrestling community, because fans aren't simply allowed to be fans of wrestling anymore, according to the IWC. Everybody has to have an opinion and everybody has to be able to vent that opinion on someone else. Kinda like I do with this blog, but you know...more jackassish.
Anyway, the point of this whole blog is that I'm done being a "wrestling fan." It's just not worth it. Instead, I am a fan of professional wrestling. What's the difference, you ask?
The main difference is that I watch wrestling to be entertained and to appreciate the athleticism involved. I don't really care about storylines. I don't follow one particular wrestler. Okay, that one might not be true, but anyway. I want to see more midcard matches than main event matches because they pack more into a 5-7 minute match than the main event usually does in 10-15. I want to watch more wrestling instead of storylines. That's why I watch a lot of Chikara and Puroresu. Are there storylines? Yes. Are they awesome? Usually. Do I understand many of the Japanese storylines? Nope. But the wrestlers they have are incredibly gifted athletes and that makes it all worth while.
Wrestling is entertainment, dammit. I watch to be entertained and I've decided I can't be entertained by other wrestling fans' 'opinions' on the sport. Henceforth, I am no longer a wrestling fan. I am a fan of professional wrestling.
So, people are irritating me. This should come as no surprise because people tend to irritate me in general. This time, though, it's other wrestling fans that are pulling my goat's leg. Or something.
When did every single wrestling fan who is on the internet become an "expert" on wrestling? Over the past several years, and the past few weeks specifically, it's become clear to me that an awful lot of these fans know how an angle should have been run, instead of potentially enjoying what's actually going on on television. Am I going to sit here and say that every single angle that the WWE has run has been perfect? God, no. Do I think there are some fans out there who have put forth very good ideas on how a particular should or should have been handled? Yes. That does not make every wrestling fan an expert, though.
One thing I never try to do is change someone's opinion of wrestling. Whether they are fans or not, I don't expect people to start watching or enjoy it more if they already watch simply because I say so. Of course, everyone has an opinion. I have no problem with that. I have one, too. The problem comes up when someone starts treating their opinion as fact.
The biggest thing I've seen in the past month or so is the Internet Wrestling Commiunity's completely love of or utter hatred of Mark Henry. Personally, I have never been a big Mark Henry fan. His style of wrestling just doesn't really appeal to me. However, over the past few weeks, Mark Henry has been booked the way the World's Strongest Man should be. He has 'taken out' the World's Largest Athlete, The Big Show, and the Big Red Monster, Kane. He's started a new promo gimmick, the Hall of Pain, and how Show and Kane have their own wings in his Hall. He has basically been destroying people left and right before this past weekend, where he won his first major WWE Title, the World Heavyweight Championship.
Here's the kicker: a lot of people in the IWC dislike Randy Orton. I happen to be one of them. Not because he's Super Orton or that he wins 'all the time.' No, it's because he sells injuries like crap most of the time. They blame him for stopping Kofi Kingston's push a few years ago, instead of the fact that Kofi cuts horrible promos. They blame him for the ratings decrease on Smackdown, instead of noticing that ratings are down all over for wrestling. But then a challenger appears! Mark Henry shows up and steamrolls a whole bunch of established stars en route to a victory at Night of Champions. So what happens?
"Mark Henry is a horrible (or other adjective here) champion!"
"Mark Henry isn't a believable champion!"
"Watch! The ratings will decrease even more now that Mark Henry is the champ!"
The next pay-per-view for the WWE is Hell in a Cell, which is in a week and a half. That's a topic for another blog. Odds are the title will go back to Randy Orton at that PPV. And you know what will happen?
"God, Randy Orton is champ again."
"Randy Orton is boring."
"For the love of God, he was twisting your arm for five straight minutes! Sell the damn arm damage for more than a few seconds!"
Okay, that last one will probably be coming from me. Anyway.
The WWE basically can't win with the internet wrestling community, because fans aren't simply allowed to be fans of wrestling anymore, according to the IWC. Everybody has to have an opinion and everybody has to be able to vent that opinion on someone else. Kinda like I do with this blog, but you know...more jackassish.
Anyway, the point of this whole blog is that I'm done being a "wrestling fan." It's just not worth it. Instead, I am a fan of professional wrestling. What's the difference, you ask?
The main difference is that I watch wrestling to be entertained and to appreciate the athleticism involved. I don't really care about storylines. I don't follow one particular wrestler. Okay, that one might not be true, but anyway. I want to see more midcard matches than main event matches because they pack more into a 5-7 minute match than the main event usually does in 10-15. I want to watch more wrestling instead of storylines. That's why I watch a lot of Chikara and Puroresu. Are there storylines? Yes. Are they awesome? Usually. Do I understand many of the Japanese storylines? Nope. But the wrestlers they have are incredibly gifted athletes and that makes it all worth while.
Wrestling is entertainment, dammit. I watch to be entertained and I've decided I can't be entertained by other wrestling fans' 'opinions' on the sport. Henceforth, I am no longer a wrestling fan. I am a fan of professional wrestling.
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