Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters (D&D Supplement) Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters (D&D Supplement)
Book Review: don't waste your money on something that should be free
Summary: 1 Stars
Tell me one other industry that charges the end user for promotional material. It's a ludicrous notion and I encourage all gamers to think about just how ridiculous it is for WOTC to ask the gamers to buy a piece of promotional marketing. This should be free and readily downloadable.
Sometimes I wonder if their marketing department's goal is to royally p*** off their base to the point that they have driven droves of hard core gamers to other more reasonable products from manufacturers that consider their gamers.
Book Review: A Good Introduction to D&D 4e and Follow-Up to the Previous Preview Book.
Summary: 3 Stars
"Wizards Presents: Worlds and Monsters" managed to be one of the most enjoyable Wizards products I've read in years. The goal of the book moves beyond merely presenting changes in cosmology and combatants as they transition from 3.5 to 4e. Most importantly, the contributors, all of whom are helping to shape D&D 4e, have shared their reasons for these changes, and explicate why this should help improve the gaming experience for players and GMs. (In fact, it would be nice to see this insider's perspective in other gaming products.) The contributors seem genuinely excited about the results of their efforts to streamline game play, make monsters more interesting (and less time-consuming to stat up), and create a new space for the D&D gaming community.
Why 3 stars, then? Because while the artwork is lovely and the prose seems serves well to generate interest, I do feel that the contents of this volume could have either appeared for free on the Wizards of the Coast website, or could have been bundled with the previous book, "Wizards Presents: Races and Classes" for a far less ridiculous price.
Be that as it may, I can honestly say that, after reading this book, I am as excited about 4e now as I was about that red box Basic D&D game I bought with my allowance money when I was 10, and THAT hasn't happened in a long time.
Book Review: Helps Sort Out Mixed Feelings
Summary: 4 Stars
Whenever a change is announced for something as beloved as Dungeons & Dragons, fans are going to have mixed emotions. On one hand, the possibility of the game getting even better is exciting. On the other hand, there is concern that the parts you treasure most will get worse or even disappear. This book is a very good attempt to ease those concerns.
Whether you agree with the developers' decisions or not, "Worlds and Monsters" does an excellent job of answering the overriding question: why? When you can see for yourself that certain decisions were not taken lightly, had good reasons behind them, and weren't just changes for the sake of change, it makes them easier to bear.
Other parts of the book left me truly excited for 4th edition. They put a lot of effort into making encounters more dynamic than just charging in and whacking the monster until it dies. They wanted fighting different monsters to feel different and require different tactics, and the book explains the steps they took to accomplish that.
I've heard complaints that the cost is too high for just a preview. To be fair, most of the book's information is available on the website and forums, but the book is better organized, more complete, and has nice illustrations. A one-sentence complaint on the forums might have a few pages of the book dedicated to it, for example.
The details and illustrations were well worth the cost to me, and a lot of the information will remain useful after 4th edition comes out. It's at least worth having everyone in your group pitch in $5 or so to share this book and Classes and Races. I finished both books in a single evening, then passed them on to fellow roleplayers.
At the very least, a forum post that says, "I read the preview books, and absolutely hate 4th edition and everything it stands for," carries a lot more weight than, "I refuse to look at anything related to 4th edition, but I hate it anyway." However, I think you're much more likely to be pleasantly surprised, and start looking forward to June 6th as much as I am.
Book Review: Excellent Behind-the-Scenes Preview
Summary: 4 Stars
This book offers a wonderful behind-the-scenes look at the design considerations and development of the new version of Dungeons & Dragons accompanied by finished and concept artwork giving a glimpse of the look of fourth edition. For anyone interested in what the developers were thinking or just looking for more glimpses of the new game, this should prove to be a very satisfying read.
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