What is your THAC0?

I was considering to write about The Quark and the Jaguar or Godel-Escher-Bach. If I had, this would have been a heady discourse which splits hairs to make a point. I changed last night after I got a chance to play Dungeon and Dragons... The new 4th edition (4e) ! So... the book I'm writing about is:

The Official Advanced Dungeon and Dragon Dungeon Master's Guide
(Also known as the DMG) Written by Gary Gygax... For those too lazy to read his wiki article, Gygax was the godfather of the modern Role Playing Game (RPG). While my personal copy is from the 11th printing from 1988, the original copywrite is 1979. For those keeping score, I'm talking about a book that is as old as I am.

I grew up playing DND... I've seen several editions of the game and printings. In terms of the DMG, this version is still my favorite. Its still the best edition based on the content that in the book. The specific rules may have changed, but the content that is in this book is still incredible. Other editions just feel incomplete... Parts are missing and they've started to show up in other products...

And there's parts of the book which haven't been reprinted. The Ancient Artifact rules? Only here. For the Diablo Fans out there, if you follow the trail of influence back to the source, you'll find this book and the information in here.

Look, I'm a professional Game Developer. DND is critical foundation to what we do. We have whole industries of companies that have developed because of this one game. I'm better at my job because of what I've learned form this book and how I've used it.

So, now 30 years of DND, we've got the 4th Edition (4e) of the game now. Last night I got a chance to build a character and through combat... I've got some mixed feelings about the game. It plays well and it's fun... but I'm walking away from game asking is this really DND? I'm not sure. It feels more table top version of a computer game than it feels like DND.

Here's what's up in detail:
The basic attack was the meat and potatoes of the older editions. In 4e, you get at-will-powers, encounter-powers, and daily-powers... These are written specificly for combat... in fact all of these powers are combat skills. What's happened to social interaction, using your skills and powers to affect an NPC? All of the classes have these powers. These powers bogged down play cause everyone was trying to figure out what they have an how to use them. This was a common sight in 2e or 3e for spell casters. But for fighters? What is worse is that some these low level (read: you can have them on starting characters) at-will-powers are basic attacks with some extra effects. It makes using a basic attack pointless when you have a souped up special attach you can use over and over. That's what bothers me... It's a core change to the game, and I'm still not sure about it. Are we seeing the old classic evolving in response to computer games? Perhaps... but I want to play some more 4e before I'll say what's going on.

In other news, Jess and I have been playing punch buggy. The score is
Greg : one --- Jess : much more