Okay, Wizards... I Give Up!

Seriously, Wizards of the Coast; I surrender. You have once again milked the cash cow that is geek fandom, and I hate you all the more for it.

I had a lot of fun with revised AD&D when I was a young teenager; I didn't have many friends who weren't on the internet, and those that I did have all played Dungeons and Dragons. My older brother got me an AD&D rulebook for Christmas, and helped me learn a game that I'd only played one other time before. My friend across town introduced me to a group of dedicated nerds, geeks, and weirdos who played the TSR games religiously.

That group rejoiced when Wizards of the Coast bought out TSR, and nearly sang for joy when an easier to play, more accessible (and only relatively more expensive) update to the classic game was released. We were all happy, because we thought that D&D 3E might give us something the game sorely needed - a dearth of new players.

We were right, as kids and parents alike began to play. The adventure modules were a bit lackluster, but pre-published adventures usually are. The open license format of third edition meant that more and more publishers could jump on the game. Some products were absolutely amazing! I couldn't begin to express my joy as Dragonlance came out, and in a great time setting to boot!

Then came the 'updated' system, D&D 3.5 Edition. I balked, and asked "why do they need to do this so soon?" When I purchased the handbook, I realized it was almost exactly the same, down to the artwork. True, it had a more advanced tactics section for miniatures, and included some needed changes for a couple of the core classes, but still... why?

When my fiancee and I got our hands on a preview copy of Fourth Edition, we nearly vomited with anger; the rules have changed, the classes have changed, and most importantly, the feel has changed. Now miniatures are a requirement to get the full benefit of the rules! What the hell was going on here?

Having talked to several hardcore gamers, as well as shop owners and would-be buyers of the game, we made our decision: we will never purchase Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition. There will be no browsing of the half-price bookstores, nor any downloading of the reduced price .pdf files that are available for purchase. The only miniatures we buy are for my benefit as both a hobby painter and sometimes tactician wannabe. They are not just so we can play a rip-off pretender that is a thinly veiled computer game adapted for table-top play!

We spurn you, Wizards. I know that five people won't matter much to you, but mark my words: You have ruined any and all desire we had to purchase your products; anything you touch from now on, we shall boycott.