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Many thanks to all those below who took the time to send in their comments on D&D3E. Some comments have been edited for spelling/grammar/length.
What do you particularly like about D&D Third Edition?
"I like the way the rules have been simplified to make the game, particularily combat, proceed faster. The 'higher rolls are always better' concept certainly makes more sense than the old system." Alexander Machula, Terrace, Canada.
"The balance that has been restored to the game." Jeff Woosley, Whitewater, USA.
"Easy to learn. Easier to play." Michael Pachniak, Chicago, USA.
"I like the fact that they removed many of the aspects that limited 2nd Edition. Assassins are back, you can have non-human paladins, etc. The guidelines are much less rigid. I also like the fact that skills and feats are now an integral part of the game instead of being thrown in as an afterthought. In many ways skills and feats are part of what makes the game so versatile. Monsters can now be of whatever class you choose. There is a neverending variety of options you can use without having to reinvent a monster or character class every time you want to do something different." Darrin Drader, Tacoma, USA.
"The whole system is so streamlined and almost everything from previous editions has been cleaned and made more playable." Leonard Anthony P. Arcilla, Los Baņos, Laguna, Philippines.
"The playing seems more intuitive than previous versions. I'm glad they brought back the monk and the assassin." Wesley Marquand, Los Angeles, USA.
"The time taken to playtest and ensure that the generic concept of D&D (AD&D) was maintained. It was improved upon and developed to play more smoothly than previous editions. Kudos to the WotC staff and to the Play Testers who put the two cents worth in for the rest of gamers who couldn't. Also, great artwork approach. It sets the theme. Fantastic work on the DMG." P.Ciraco, Atlantic, Canada.
"One roll (d20) for nearly everything." Dave Maple, Merseyside, UK.
"Consistency, simplicity, and levelling of playing field. Less room for manipulation by players." Jeff Schulte, Bloomington, USA.
"I truely like the dice system used, plus, the whole system is great for beginners, which I have two of in my group and they have found it easy to play." Rogue Dogg, Chaos Realm, Oregon, USA.
"Its flexibility for characters. No longer locked in to the legacy D&D mindset." Darren, Australia.
"It's one collective game. The rules don't contradict each other, and the intent of the rules is obvious." Mortuus Solidus, www.silverdragon.rpghost.com.
"It's a more diversified system, (my 2nd level thief... fighter... mage is more unique than yours) and the feats allow you to do stuff that was unthinkable in 2nd Edition." Jeremy, Utah, USA.
"It's simple and immediate to use. It has simplified many aspects of the game." Simon Mas, Italy.
"Streamlined and simplified for new players like myself." Charles Collins, Louisville, USA.
"It is more coherent and combat is much simpler." Ulla Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
"The simplicity of the rules. You don't need huge amounts of charts to play, all you need are the modifiers. I also enjoy skills and feats a lot. The best part is that the core books are simpler and better put together to give players and DMs the best games possible with the least amount of money spent." Michael, Canada.
"I like the immediate view (at least in the DMG) that the DM has full control over what is official in their campaign - that no rule in the books is immutable. The clean and easy "to hit" vs. "armour class" system is something I've been waiting for in D&D ever since Gamma World 4th Edition had it. The unified d20+modifiers vs. DC check." Hound, Vankleek Hill, Canada.
"The skill resolution system is infinitely better than AD&D's makeshift combination of proficiencies and ability checks. The combat system is much more straightforward, and the books are a lot nicer looking." Zach, Kentucky, USA.
"Cleaned up combat system, feats, skills, and the widened the use of magic." Jotun, Negative Material Plane.
"I think that new image is awesome and the fact that the art is more fantasy orientated is cool. The rules are easier to understand and easier to learn." Shawn Lynch, Placerville, USA.
"The use of the d20 system causes game play to flow more easily, adding more organisation to the way most combat scenarios play out. I'm very happy with the new versions of the character classes. Multi-classing is also extremely useful and is potentially very powerful." Chris, USA.
"The artwork, the updated rules, the changes to classes and races." John Tran, San Jose, USA.
"There are so many more options in the new game - you can be anything you want to be. Magic item creation rules are easier to understand. And I love the use of female pronouns!" Amber, Seattle, USA.
What do you particularly dislike about D&D Third Edition?
"Not very much really. It is a good game. The experience points required to advance levels seems too low but that can be easily adjusted." Alexander Machula, Terrace, Canada.
"The artwork. It looks like rejects from the Planescape project." Jeff Woosley, Whitewater, USA.
"Lack of more prestige classes. Two out of the five given in the DMG require evil alignments. Need more 'any class' prestige classes." Michael Pachniak, Chicago, USA.
"They left out the Death Knight!" Darrin Drader, Tacoma, USA.
"The whole feeling of upsetting the game balance that the developers had worked so hard to establish makes you really wary of any tweaks you want to make. That, and the separation of the Feat, Spell, and Monster Creation from the core rulebooks - come on, we know Dragon has to sell and all, but these articles could have reached more people by being incorporated in the either of the three core books. And the Challenge Rating determination being an eyeball estimate and not an exact science. Still, I guess it isn't like brain surgery to figure these (common-sensical) things for yourself." Leonard Anthony P. Arcilla, Los Baņos, Laguna, Philippines.
"It seems D&D's still bogged down with the hit point system and spell memorisation. If a cleric is praying for certain spells why must she pick them ahead of time?" Wesley Marquand, Los Angeles, USA.
"What is it with the renaming of the spells?! OK, so the new look and smoother approach, but let's not get carried away. Change is good, especially if it improves or simplifies, but the name changing - not! Wasted time and effort and a pain in the glut max! "You cast a what?!" Call me an old gamer, but why change that? Also, the MM, nice, but I appreciated the older, more methodical and organized pattern for presenting the monsters. It could have been maintained with the excellent graphics and artwork to punctuate the new look." P.Ciraco, Atlantic, Canada..
"Priest domains aren't as individual as speciality priests and discourage creativity in designing religions and priesthoods. Saying that, they are better than a plain 2nd Edition cleric, but then in all my years of gaming I have never seen anyone play a plain 2nd Edition cleric." Dave Maple, Merseyside, UK. Er, I have. The Scribe, The Third Tome.
"The variety of weapons and spells is low." Jeff Schulte, Bloomington, USA. Are you sure? The Scribe, The Third Tome.
"The converting of 2nd Edition characters and items." Rogue Dogg, Chaos Realm, Oregon, USA.
"The hit point system - that it goes so high for characters. Come on guys, 100+ HP gets old fast. They should have increased their damage reduction or something else. One high level character can slaughter entire countries of kobolds and goblins." Darren, Australia.
"They made rangers suck. Rangers can now be easily outdone by fighters. They also decided to accent a ranger's two-weapon fighting over his archery skills." Mortuus Solidus, www.silverdragon.rpghost.com.
"Classes and levels - they're just unrealistic! It breaks up the progression over time. For example, you hit 14th level, spent all of your skill points and realise that you want to learn swimming. It takes you, in game terms, 2 years to gain your next level. That's 2 years that you could've learned it. Who in the world would attempt to learn something so simple and not show any improvement over 2 years?! I think that there should be a conversion chart for skill ranks to equal time, i.e. for 250 hours of practice you can put a skill point into a skill for free. Also what is with the cross class skills? Not every class can learn move silently? This escapes me. How many of you didn't practice this when you were a kid? Sneaking out of the home, freaking out your friends. I just don't understand." Jeremy, Utah, USA.
"The tendency to create an incredible number of classes or prestige classes. I am afraid that there will soon be too many classes to counter." Simon Mas, Italy.
"The improved evade that allows people to completely avoid devastating magical attacks like a 10th level fireball and take no damage." Charles Collins, Louisville, USA.
"No chance of failure when you create magic items is a big fault." Ulla Poulsen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
"The way monsters are more like all-out NPCs that you would spend a huge amount of time on creating. It's great that they have ability scores, feats and skills, but it makes them far more compicated than they were in AD&D." Michael, Canada.
"The way they organised the spells by name instead of class / level. It gets hard to keep up with what belongs to who, even with the class level listings. The fact that they obviously learned from the 2nd edition books that they can squeeze us for money hand over fist by releasing a rule book for every class giving us more options and rules, instead of putting it all where it belongs in the Player's Handbook." Hound, Vankleek Hill, Canada.
"The monk class, and Asian aspects. I like playing Asian based RPGs, and I like playing medieval Europe based RPGs, but not when they're mixed." Jotun, Negative Material Plane.
"The Monster Manual is cool but I don't like the new format. One creature per page was better and some creatures don't even have art." Shawn Lynch, Placerville, USA.
"It seems that some class/race combinations are too powerful. For example, a halfling monk may easily have an AC of 20 without any armor or shield. Although the character would have reduced Strength, the very high AC and Dexterity would more than make up for the -2 Strength. Also, the human fighter is a powerhouse at first level, and quickly becomes almost unstoppable. The number of feats that a human fighter has after just a few levels, and the choices that are available, allow this character to be customised into a killing machine." Chris, USA.
"Too many rules in the core books; it feels like reading an instruction manual. OK it is, but still..." Randy Walker, Beaverton, USA.
"All the negative crap from players who refuse to try the new edition. Don't knock it until you've tried it." Durg the Suicidal, USA.
"Somewhat disorganized book, character creation is tedious, and some of the combat extras are too much." John Tran, San Jose, USA.
"The XP system is hard to understand and calculate. The Monster Manual's layout is also confusing." Amber, Seattle, USA.
Any other comments?
"The worst thing about the game has nothing to do with the game itself. I just think that it is sad that none of the new products have a TSR logo on them." Alexander Machula, Terrace, Canada.
"I love the prestige class and the new monster templates!" Jeff Woosley, Whitewater, USA.
"Too early for fourth edition. Leave things be for two or three years." Michael Pachniak, Chicago, USA.
"Making 3rd Edition the d20 system, and allowing it to be OGL, was a brilliant move on the part of WotC. Anyone who has ever wanted to publish a module can do it. Anyone who has ever wanted to write their own game can do it, without having to reinvent the wheel to do so. This is great for roleplaying." Darrin Drader, Tacoma, USA.
"Always remember Rule -1, fellow gamers: ALWAYS HAVE FUN! D&D, and all games for that matter, are meant to be a good time for everyone. Whatever your playing style is: hack and slash, heavy roleplaying, simulationist, gamist, what-have-you, you should be having a romping good time! There's no right or wrong way of playing D&D (and other RPGs), as long as (all together now, guys and gals) "we are having FUN!" And with the new generation of D&D ushering in both old and new dice-chuckers, all I can say is enjoy! May we make all our saving throws!" Leonard Anthony P. Arcilla, Los Baņos, Laguna, Philippines.
"Finally familiars can help rather than hinder!" Wesley Marquand, Los Angeles, USA.
"Overall, a great continuation to a great game. I looking forward to teaching my childern and later, my grandchildren the social and educational benefits reaped from this game." P.Ciraco, Atlantic, Canada..
"Star Wars:RPG is much better - Vitality and Wounds, no AoO rules to worry about, more skill points, more balanced feats." Dave Maple, Merseyside, UK.
"Large potential for making combat much more tactical, but they need to fill in some holes with more combat feats." Jeff Schulte, Bloomington, USA. You can always create your own feats. The Scribe, The Third Tome.
"Finally, D&D becomes a real system, able to compete with more realistic RPG engines. Overall, a great overhaul." Darren, Australia.
"I really like D&D, and 3rd Edition is a really great system, one of the best easily, but there are facets of it that just make me wonder why." Jeremy, Utah, USA.
"The production is excellent overall, and it's definitely an improvement over previous editions." Hound, Vankleek Hill, Canada.
"Without doubt, this version is great. It makes the game easier for players, especially new ones (very important), and even better, DMs are finding the new system easier to use also." Chris, USA.
"Overall a big improvement. The game should be streamlined further for speedier play and extra details should be made as optional rules." John Tran, San Jose, USA.
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