I'm sorry if you misunderstood what I was saying or why.

One thing that they got bang on is the price point for the Essentials boxed set - $20 is just about right, even if - according to a nine year old - there is not that much in the box. (I think that he was hoping for some of the plastic figures.)

Returns, part 3: The local Borders just moved the RPG section to a new, much smaller, area - sharing space with the anime toys, Munchkin, and Monsterpocalypse. In the process they halved the D&D stock. At an informed guess, they got rid of everything that they could get full credit on. Only the Essentials books are currently faced, along with Pathfinder's Advanced Player's Guide. (The newest releases in each line.)

None of the Pathfinder books have been returned yet, but then I also don't think that they have had their current stock long enough to get full credit. We will see what happens in a few months.

The new section is right near the anime, graphic novels, and manga - facing a window. But it has lost two full shelves. Not a good thing. They also got a complete restock of Munchkin Cthulhu, including the expansions - those are all faced. (Just in case I was taking too much pride in how well Pathfinder was doing....) Munchkin Cthulhu regularly sells out.

The boxed sets are not in this section at all, but are divided between an endcap in Science Fiction and a pile in the children's section. (Putting a pile in the children's section is a good thing. Get them playing early. ) Oddly, the dungeon tiles are on an endcap about as far from the boxed sets as you can get, but still be in the SF section.

D&D Miniatures are divided between this section and the same endcap as the basic game. Stocks of the minis are selling, then being replaced, so it looks like they are doing well, the new set in particular - something that I was dead wrong on - apparently getting a 'mystery figure' for the Huge in the box is a bigger draw than knowing just what you are getting for the big guy. I do not understand this - the only D&D minis that I have ever bought were just so I could get the Remorhaz and one of the frost giants. If I couldn't have seen them then I would not have bought any. (What can I say - I like arctic settings....)

Sales in September were very skewed - Borders had two 40% coupons - Essentials sold like hotcakes with the one for Paperbacks, Pathfinder sold with the one for Books. Mind you, the reason that I bought my loaner copy of the APG was that coupon, so I shouldn't be surprised - a $40 or $50 book looks sooo much nicer with a 40% off coupon.... If you had a choice between getting 40% off a $25 novel and a $50 core rulebook, which would you choose? Mind you, some of my players are among those that took advantage of the coupon, in part because I told them about it, so I still skewed my own numbers. 4e (including Essentials) was outselling Pathfinder by a large margin, up until that coupon. So I still give 4e the win.

In case you were wondering - the shrinking of the RPG section is not, in my estimation, a good thing. Not at all, at all. If D&D were to suddenly implode then the whole industry would suffer. Much as the whole industry did better when the OGL came out - even games that were in no way connected with D20, D&D, or the OGL were selling better. D&D is a gateway.

The Auld Grump

WoTC has managed to thoroughly kill any market goodwill they ever had due to the D&D trademark and they instead bank of the simplicity of the system. I should probably point out that I regularly play 4e - it's the only system I've played in recent years. Their business strategy for D&D mirrored M:tG but even more aggressive. Magic came out with new expansions every 6 months or so, they targeted a monthly expansion for D&D (one could argue that most months weren't real product releases, but that would only serve to further my point).

Now, in terms of mechanics 4e is a simple system. It's streamlined to highlight combat as the primary venue for play. The mechanics play out like a tactical simulator (maybe it's my group, but the shortest combat encounter lasted 2 hours) without any of the depth.
Conversely, the longest "skill challenge" (ie: non-combat encounter) we've had lasted only 30 minutes.

For my group, that's close to what is desired. I would imagine that if you've played other systems and come back to 4e, it's also true in your case. If you want a simulation of combat itself L5R Pathfinder or GURPS would probably be more appropriate. If you want a strong storytelling aspect to your campaign there are better systems for that. If you're into tactical and strategic simulations look into the various table-top games. If you're in a group that just enjoys getting together socially with a system that does it's best to reduce the entry requirements, you could certainly do worse than 4e.


While I haven't tried it yet, Gamma World looks like it just may have managed to escape largely unscathed from the management gauntlet at WoTC. It looks like it might be a fun & zany system good for some laughs with a relatively easy to learn mechanical system. The big compromise in development seems to have been the introduction of the CCG aspects ($3 for an 8-pack of optional cards? No thanks), but they can be avoided either by printing your own cards with the available names & text or by only using the starter pack that comes with the game. It's still a 4e based game (and even seems to be compatible with the rules), but with a little more soul.



My take on Essentials is that it's even more like D&D for Dummies. Several of the new feats seem to deprecate existing choices (the Expertise feats specifically - if you had to choose between +1 to hit or +1 to hit with an added bonus, you'll pick the free bonus every time). I don't like the changes any more than I liked most of the changes between AD&D 2e and D&D 4e, and my group largely agrees so we're not likely to change. The possible good news is that it can potentially be much easier for a new player to get into the game, although choosing powers was always less daunting than choosing feats so I don't believe so. If you can point out a notable advantage I would be very interested in hearing it - based on flipping through the rule books and talking to a staunch defender of 4E I couldn't find any real redeeming qualities.

I originally thought that Gamma World was all tongue in cheek... and I was loathing it. Then after reading some posts, I bought it. I also thought there was a CCG component... and there isn't.

It can be run any way you like. I hate constant random mutation. So I don't do it. (My players pick a single random mutation card on creation.) The characters are way more fun than 1e. (Less variety... but its very rare a character will suck. 1e had a 'euthanize your useless character' rule.)

Stats are done in another interesting and fun way. Primary origin gets an 18, and secondary origin gets a 16.. the rest are 3D6. So you can get nice old school suckiness going for your character. (My son's bruiser was a Life Leeching, Gravity Controlling\Mind Coercer, and the character was also stupid and clumsy. This made for more interesting role playing than 4e.)

The rules are thin enough that they are quite mutable. Some guys have already whipped up their own healing rules, so it can be more like it used to be. I think its gritty enough... 'cause characters die quite easily.

Don't like cards? Download a complete list of equipment and mutations, and roll for it. I actually like the cards though.


Interestingly WOTC is taking zero interest in the Gamma World IP. You can in fact download lists including ALL the details on the cards. (So... as I said there's no need to buy. Its all available for free.) You can download Action cards. (4e style power cards can be used with Gamma World). There are quite a few automated character sheets on the way. (I'm working on a fully automated Excel spread sheet. I have all but combat and power cards done.)