My thoughts on the new D&D “red box”

Yeah, I'm not sure I understand the logic of Greywulf's whole "4E is old school" insistence either. It seems to be trying too hard to make 4E into something it's not and is unlikely to convince anyone: "old-school" players don't want 4E's playstyle any more than they wanted 3E's. Similarly, 4E players don't really want to play "old-school" style. Having run and played both in the same time period, I don't see the overlap at all. I can appreciate Greywulf's enthusiasm and his attempt to "unify" the parties but it feels very forced.

However, I like 4E (for what it does well) and really think the box set looks pretty damn cool, so much so that I am very tempted to pick one up for my son for Christmas since it would be his first box set, much like Star Frontiers was mine.
.-= MJ Harnish´s last blog ..4E D&D Box Set =-.

I don't think (obviously I don't know) that Greywulf meant reducing the the races and classes to 4 each is what makes something old school. I think he was just saying that they are making obvious changes to the packaging to make it more old school. He already thinks that 4e is old school (http://greywulf.net/2009/02/why-4e-dd-is-old-school/), and this is just bringing the presentation of the product in line with his views of the product itself.
.-= Aaron´s last blog ..[SPUC] Week of February 3, 2010 =-.

We bought the original red box at Gen Con last year, and it was in great shape. It was one of the wax pencil editions, and the books were even in good condition. We got it because that's how both my wife and I learned to play, and we were looking to introduce our daughter to it. It was scary that I could still remember the encounters from 20 years ago.
.-= Mike´s last blog ..bySwarm update – January 17, 2010 =-.

Credit where credit is due, this is a good idea and the box artwork is nice.

An actual game with everything you need to play it that comes in a box and you can buy someone as a gift is *much* better for introducing new players than a bunch of separate books… and dice… and maps… and minis. 🙂

* 32-page book for players, with rules for character creation and a solo adventure

Awesome. 32 pages is about the same as a "big" board game. And a solo adventure. That's great.

* 64-page book for Dungeon Masters, with the rules of the game, advice on how to run the game, and adventure content

64 pages is better than 640 pages for new DMs.

* 2 sheets of die-cut tokens for characters and monsters

I hope they're up to the quality of Fantasy Flight Games or at least Magic: The Gathering.

* Double-sided dungeon map

Good

* 6 polyhedral dice

Essential. Can you imagine some 12 year old getting a new D&D book for Christmas from a relative only to find they don't have any of the D&D dice to use with it?

I doubt this will be my game of choice, but I think it's a really positive step forward for WotC.
.-= Stuart´s last blog ..The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois RPGs =-.

I fully agree with you there. This boxed set has some solid contents and may help bring more people to the hobby, but it's just "fake" old-school. The game inside is still slightly simplified D&D 4th Edition.

Wotc has already put out a 4th Ed. starter set, and it was excellent. I bought each of my nephews one, and they love it. I don't really understand the obsession with finding a new "Old School D&D". I have seen this in a hundred different places lately. If you want an old school experience, go back to the source. Next tuesday I'm starting a AD&D campaign arc with just the player's handbook. Should be fun.

"Fake" old-school? 🙂

Aren't all the new games and game rules being published lately inspired by old games and with retro fonts and such also "fake" old school?
.-= Stuart´s last blog ..The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois RPGs =-.

Hehe! You're of course right. 😀

I think my wording was perhaps a bit off. But I am sure you understand what I was trying to say. 🙂

I do. I'm just having fun. 🙂
.-= Stuart´s last blog ..The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois RPGs =-.

Hah, Stuart, I disagree with you sometimes, but on this one, I'm right there – anything published with a consciously "Old-School" structure is fake old-school. There is no reason that the 4e ruleset can't be used – to a certain extent – to echo the old-school feel in the same way.

I started playing around the Red-Box period, so it has a certain attraction to me – I might pick this up to introduce my 8-year old nephew to D&D next summer.

tut…tut…. it's not fake old-school….. it's faux old-school. See, that makes it much better. ;op
.-= MJ Harnish´s last blog ..Customizing 4E – Classes =-.

I don't disagree with anything you've written. I am tempted to add a 'so what?' though, in the nicest possible way! Old school is a label, and it seems to me that WotC aren't courting that segment of gamers, and if they did, I'm not sure that an intro version would be the best way to do it.
.-= RPG Treehouse´s last blog ..How to Host an RPG =-.

"If you ask me WotC is not really interested in get the grognards into D&D 4th Edition, but they want people who played D&D as teenagers (and who remember that red box from back then) to get the game for their kids. It’s a marketing ploy, not a change in direction."

I think you're about half right. However the other half is that I think that WoTC is beginning to see how bad the "not your fathers D&D" backlash is increasing. You can't go a day without seeing another "OD&D product" being offered.

I see the "new" Red Box as WoTC trying (badly) to regain some of that street cred by saying "See… we can do that, just like the old days."

Where they fail miserably is that it's what's *inside* the box that counts… and we "Grognards" are simply not that stupid.