What do you want of Gamegrene?

Wow, talk about a cheap shot. First, nobody has seen the game in it's entirety yet, so there's no way to tell how good or bad the game will be. Secondly, if you want to share your thoughts on this subject, there are plenty of other forums on Gamegrene that are discussing this very thing.

I totally respect your right to think whatever you damn well please about any subject, but if you want to share those thoughts, please do so in an intelligent fashion, using concrete points and reasoning to support your ideas instead of juvenile name-calling. One of the many reasons that I love the Gamegrene community is that we can all have an intelligent discussion about our hobby, that we all respect each others' opinions, even when we may disagree with them. Please, please don't ruin my site with incendiary comments and disrespectful attitudes.

I can honestly only remember one flame war ever breaking out on Gamegrene, and it was the most respectful, intelligent flame war I've ever seen. Even so, the bulk of it was deleted by our administrators, and while those involved haven't changed each others' minds, they have reconciled their differences.

I hope I'm not coming across as an elitest jerk, because that is most definitely not my intention. I think I can speak for all of us Gamegreners when I say that we're completely happy to have you here, Gazgurk, and completely willing to discuss at length the merits and flaws of 4E, or any other topic under the roleplaying sun, so long as you treat us with the same sort of respect that is given to you. We'd rather have you here discussing things with us then gone entirely, but we'd also like to avoid unnecessarily insulting behavior. Gamegrene is a special little haven in the wilds of the internet, and I, for one, would like it to stay that way.

Not to mention their offing of BARBARIANS and SORCERERS(I do not lie),
two of the most awesome and fun classes to play ever.

With aeon's comment well-noted, I step in here. I've always loved the Sorcerer, and I like the Barbarian as well. I've little doubt that such famous classes will come up in future supplements. Here they are getting back to basics and covering their bases in light of the change to "party roles." I also believe the Bard will return as well.

The gnome is screwed. However, you'll be able to play a gnome if your heart so desires.

You have to remember that the core books are not the be all end all. What you're looking for will probably come around. Personally, though my heart is pained by the loss of the Sorcerer, I'm looking forward to some of the things I've heard about in 4th. What I don't like, I can change. Heck, I can even take 3.5 and add in some 4th ed elements and call it 3.75 (the vision of the future!) and run that. I don't see anything bad coming out of this; 3.5 was stagnating with a never-ending run of small books that left much to be desired. Some of these books were very good, but many were not. It was time for change.

For what it's worth, the timing of 4E and the Gamegrene upgrade is purely poetic - it's not meant to infer any mark of quality on 4E (though, as I've stated elsewhere, I'm looking forward to it, sure). Major Gamegrene upgrades have always corresponded with major game releases, as iterated in the first paragraph. That's the reasoning for the mention of 4E. One could remark many times over (and, oh, we have, we have), that Wizards releases, whether crap or not, do keep tabletop RPGs in the public eye and that's been no different here.

With that said, your remark, and aeon's followup, yes, does bring a certain amount of jolly to my face.

I think there's little doubt that most if not all games are moving to computer platforms, at least versions of them. Such as the computer games of Risk and Monopoly. There'll always be versions of the originals to play on table-top, but this allows internet play and challenging (if you can really call it that) yourself against the computer. This is hardly a bad thing - it's just a necessary change. I, for one, will spend most of my Risk games sitting around a table, and I suspect the great majority of people will do that, because it's more convenient and for the particular feel of the tabletop. I think roleplaying games will be the same way. It's an intelligent business decision, and I think a good one, to make computer program that'll let you play the game long distance. That way, if I so please, I have a convenient, easy way to play with my friends all the way across the U.S. The basic platform of the game remains the same (like Monopoly!) in that it's meant to be done tabletop. Wizards is simply here responding to the needs of it's customers who, due to the troubles inherent in life when gaming groups split, want to continue playing with the group they've been playing with four years. While we all prefer the tabletop setting, they've created a system that allows long distance playing. Yes, some players will move primarily to the computer system due to it's convenience or whatever. But the game is by no means designed to only work on the computer. If it comes to that level, you have every right to call it that and complain about it, and I'll join you. But it hasn't come to that as of this edition.

No worries - "recent posts" is staying ;)

The green theme isn't going anywhere. Every green you see will remain part of the new theme (and, if you want a preview, certainly email me at morbus@disobey.com). As for branching a thread into a new topic - no, that's not possible by the "built-in" code, but it's certainly something that could be done if there's enough to warrant it. Even with the current code base, that could happen with a few skill rolls vs. Database Manipulation.

As for "member longest", that's relatively easy - click on a username and look at the "Member for". That won't necessarily tell you /activity/ -- but the intended forum retweaking will include the "Posts" count (similar to other forum software), so you could infer something there too (though, honestly, I never felt that counts were all the useful - "quality over quantity", etc.)

I agree with Master Zip's wise statements and suggestions. lol

Anyway, I really like the idea of a branching thread from one discussion. I'd also like it if we could rename forums, like my Low Fantasy forum that actually became Stone Age Low Fantasy thingy, just to keep things clear and to help people know what they're stepping into. And it'd be great if I could just kick another dude off gamegrene cause I don't like them...

Yeah, now that's all I can think about right now. Everything it's got now I love. So, just keep that all up. Anything that encourages creativity and a new way of looking at things. Anything for the gamer who's sick of the typical.