Come on. Be honest. You're not as brave as you think. Sure, you'll fight an ancient red dragon with nothing but your sword +1 and potion of fire resistance for company. Sure, you'll gang block that Hunted Wumpuss with everything you have on the table, gambling that you draw an Expunge next. You'll even start a battle against Vader and Tarkin, 'cos you're pretty sure that Luke will draw a 6 for his weapon destiny and then you'll draw another one for attrition. But you're still a bunch of wimps. Why? Cos you're afraid of something tiny, something that is probably for the better, and something that may turn out wonderful
You're afraid of Change.
All gamers are. Every time one of our favourite games makes a big decision, there is inevitably uproar
in some quarters about how it's going to ruin the game. About how things were fine the way they were. But were they?
And how do we know they won't be better until we try?
Take Magic as the perfect example. When Urza's Saga came out, there was uproar about so many things.
First, it was the new trample rules. They didn't make sense, apparently. They were dumb. Everything was fine the way it was.
But take a look at it. What they actually did was to remove a lot of counter-intuitive, inconsistent rulings regarding trample,
and made it easier for newcomers to understand. You have no idea how many questions we got daily about trample. Now, we get less
than half that number.
Then the naysayers turned to the undoubtedly broken card of the set, Tolarian Academy. For the non-Magic players among you,
apart from saying go and learn how to play right now, this card was a very bad idea because it enabled players to win on the first turn, third
or fourth turn on average. This is obviously a bad thing. Instantly, there was a clamour for it to be banned from the tournament scene, which happened
swiftly. Did this calm people down? No! A different group cried out, saying that the card didn't need to be banned, and it could be worked around. This
started a spate of bannings in the Magic tournament scene, all lead to disrupt decks which almost automatically won when a certain combination of cards were played.
This also caused uproar. How dare they stifle creativity! How dare they stop us playing what we want to play! This will ruin Magic tournaments! How dare they change
things?!?!?!?
But you know what? It made Magic tournaments fun again. You can go to a tournament now, and not have to worry that you might get beaten before you
even play a card. You don't need to think you're running on a limited clock, because your opponent has half his combo in play. It's back to being what it should be...the better player
wins, not the better combo wins.
Magic's problems didn't stop there. Classic Sixth Edition brought with it a lot of sweeping rules changes. There's that word again. The internet community went into uproar, yet again. These
changes were going to ruin the game, make it too easy, take out a lot of strategy, blah blah blah. Basically this mass hysteria was just a way to express what the people were really feeling: fear.
Hardly any of the changes have had a major effect on the way the game is played, and those that have, have not removed strategy from the game, they've changed it. Oops, change. Be afraid everyone!
Yes, the game is easier to pick up and play now, but why is that a bad thing? The gaming industry needs new players. And if those new players find it easier to get involved, then so much the better.
Now, D&D is going through the same problems. 3rd edition is on the way, also bringing sweeping changes. And you know what? I have not seen a single piece of leaked information that someone
hasn't complained about. Everyone has a bone to pick with the new rules, even me. The difference is, I don't think it will ruin the game. Before you can condemn a change, you have to try at. At first, I didn't like
the new to-hit system. Yes, THAC0 is one of the more confusing aspects of the game, but I didn't think that this idea was the solution. Until I playtested it. It works surprisingly well, especially combined with the
new initiative rule. OK, so the rules have been dumbed down a bit. But the rules of the game never made it great, the role-playing did. And that hasn't and won't change.
So, look at yourselves. Ask yourself why you're afraid of change. It won't kill you to wait and see. And geez, if you don't like it, then feel free to moan and complain until your heart is content.
Gaming companies listen. So do we. So stop being such big wusses, and relish the change.
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