cure wrote:I was happy in my 2nd edition bubble. I tried to read along with the Kargatane/Fraternity of Shadows as stats inescapably drifted into the foreign language of 3rd edition. Finally, I spent the time and money to understand those stats and the new game mechanics behind them. And then I am promptly informed by Wizards that I should do it all over again. And you are surprised that I am deeply, stubbornly unamused? And more to the point, should time and money be spent chasing after Wizard's constant 'upgrade' model à la Microsoft, or would it be better spent fleshing out and innovating in something more permanent and worthwhile like the themes and stories of Ravenloft itself?
I feel your pain.
I switched to 3rd ed. in 2003, buying the core rulebooks... then got bitten on the ass for it when they release frickin 3.5.
Then only recently I started buying 3.5 books, mostly on ebay where they're going for cheap. And guess what?
4DVENTURE!
I understand my experience is not the same as everybody's. But while under WotC's watch, I have literally bought into a gaming system more or less about a year or so before they made it obsolete. TWICE. Looking back it does seem like bad timing had a lot to do with it. (At least WotC is not doing the crap that Games Workshop started doing in the mid to late 1990s, which was shamelessly releasing a whole new set of rules each year or two.*)
But at the same time I'm reading everywhere how happy people are and how they're posting the message of "Oh this is really good! We'll get a new rules update"
Meanwhile I'm feeling like the guy who bought shares in Roskneft just before Putin's oligarchs seized its assets and imprisoned its owner.
I honestly think 3.5 is my last stop. I've fought the good fight, I've bought into the game system. I like some of the things they've done with it, but frankly this gravy train is all out of fuel.
------
*Yet.