What goes around, comes around.

Honestly, I've been in a depression for three years or more. Frankly, it sucks. I have to take medicine to sleep, on top of my thyroid problems. I've gained at least 20 pounds since the start.

And now, one of the people that triggered the initial depression has just gone through the exact same thing that started my descent.

However, I'm resolving right here and now that I'm not going to let him get to my point. He's a good guy, if a bit too idealistic...but then, over three years I'm a realist.

I rejoined a couple of Yahoo Groups today, or at least tried to do so.

The first, a club I was a founding member of, let me join but has me set on moderation. Boy, makes me feel good that people who I thought were friends were so scared of my opinions when I left that they locked me out.

The second requires administrator approval. Now, this I can understand but the group isn't that big. If it has so many issues with spammers getting in, then the spammers have no clue who they are dealing with: broke adults. :-)

Next year, at GenCon 2008, Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast will be rolling out a new, 4th edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game.

Now, being a somewhat conservative person, I understand the need for the creation of a new edition of the game every so often. The money needs to keep flowing in, and I do not begrudge the fact they are going to do it.

I will, though, scream at the top of my lungs on how this new 'version' is conceived completely irresponsibly by those at Hasbro who do not understand paper and pencil gaming. For example, the new system is going to have new books for players and monsters every year.

Not a problem, you might say. They do this anyways. But, this time they are not going to include all the 'core' classes and monsters in the first book. In the past, every new book just added more options onto the basics of the game. This time, you won't get the basics all up front.

Huh?

This sounds like a computer game that has jumped from beta before being finished, not a paper and pencil game. Let's have 'content updates', and game 'patches' when the players in the RPGA find exploits in the system. That way, we'll have 'game balance' between the classes and races.

Sounds just like a computer game, doesn't it? Hasbro does not get it. People like paper and pencil games because they are NOT computer games. I mean, I love computer games and play them religiously (3 level 60s on WoW, working on 50s in Matrix Online and CoH/CoV currently), but I like to step away from the computer and actually roleplay with my buddies on weekends when I'm in the mood. Many of us do.

When the man instrumental in the creation of the original game, Gary Gygax, has to sigh about all of the 4th Edition talk coming out of Hasbro, you know someone has lost touch with those who they are attempting to write towards.

Oh sure, there still will be plenty of sheep going along and buying these new rules. For example, most of the RPGA will buy the rules, even if they don't like them, because they will be forced by the RPGA (owned fully by Hasbro's marketing department, btw) to use the most current rules system if they want to continue to play. Others will buy the rules, and will try to justify Hasbro's marketing.

Roleplaying will be forever changed in August 2008, and not for the better. I do not want a computer game on paper; I want a paper game that I can roleplay. Leave the computer games to the computer, Hasbro, and wake up.

Surprise.

Yes, I am actually getting back to this. I promise.

The political bluster is finally getting to a point where I'm going to have to comment on some of the things going on, and I'm getting back into some of my other hobbies. Thus, it is time to get back to this and start blogging again.

Yeah, right. Last time I said this...well, you can check the date on the last post. Yeesh. I'm bad about remembering things like blogging. I just am doing too much to think any longer. I'm hoping things will improve THIS time, though.