The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Dungeons & Dragons Game is suppose to be a game that can get new players into the world of roleplaying. This made my review of it a littled tricky because most people who come to RPG.NET are not newbies. I will review this product from all sides possible.

Package: The price of 9.99$ was a smart move on the part of TSR because I know the 20$-30$ prices for a game that gamers are use to could scare off a potential new gamer. The problem with it being 9.99$ is you can see why it's so cheap for a main rules set when you open the box. First thing I noticed was that TSR was using left over Dragon Dice bags (The yellow ones made of something like vinyl with an older TSR logo on it) for dice bags in this set. I know this because I've bought alot of Dragon Dice in the baragin bins of shops and I also know that this bag doesn't hold up to well under wear and tear at all. There is also the traditional set of dice in very basic colors, but I'm personally not that picky on dice (what's with the craze on "crystal dice" anyways). The main books themselves have no cover whatsoever and considering how fast game books fall apart with even a hard cover, I don't see this books lasting too long (add the fact that the books aren't even in color). The pregen characters are on nice glossy stock and are in color, but how attached are you going to get to a pregen character.

System: The 2D10 system is interesting and easy to use, but it doesn't cover many situations that may come up in a game (But if you tried to cover more situations the game would become much too complex for a first time gamer). The thing is these are the same rules taught in the Fast-Play Modules and those are free, so why would you want to pay for a rules system that is free? (I also think the Fast-Play Modules look much nicer).

Overall Concept: The idea for releasing this product was to get new players into gaming. Ok, How? Putting this product in gaming stores is kinda of odd because people already into gaming go there, not newbies. Ok, so it does make it to the shelves of some comic book stores, book stores and toy stores, but there is no advertising or marketing into getting non-gamers to try it out. Just putting something on a shelf isn't going to mean it will sell. You actually have to "sell" it. I bet if WOTC put a pack of Pokemon, or even Magic, in every box they would sell alot better. The Diablo II line of games for D&D will probably draw in alot more people than this set because of the obvious video game tie-in.

Overall it's a nice attempt to get new players into gaming, but it falls short of it's goal.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Dungeons & Dragons Game
Author: By Bill Slavicsek Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Line: D&D Cost: $9.99 Page count: n/a ISBN: 0-7869-1450-5 SKU: 11450 Capsule Review by David Doub on 12/09/99. Genre tags: Fantasy	Dungeons & Dragons Game is suppose to be a game that can get new players into the world of roleplaying. This made my review of it a littled tricky because most people who come to RPG.NET are not newbies. I will review this product from all sides possible. Package: The price of 9.99$ was a smart move on the part of TSR because I know the 20$-30$ prices for a game that gamers are use to could scare off a potential new gamer. The problem with it being 9.99$ is you can see why it's so cheap for a main rules set when you open the box. First thing I noticed was that TSR was using left over Dragon Dice bags (The yellow ones made of something like vinyl with an older TSR logo on it) for dice bags in this set. I know this because I've bought alot of Dragon Dice in the baragin bins of shops and I also know that this bag doesn't hold up to well under wear and tear at all. There is also the traditional set of dice in very basic colors, but I'm personally not that picky on dice (what's with the craze on "crystal dice" anyways). The main books themselves have no cover whatsoever and considering how fast game books fall apart with even a hard cover, I don't see this books lasting too long (add the fact that the books aren't even in color). The pregen characters are on nice glossy stock and are in color, but how attached are you going to get to a pregen character. System: The 2D10 system is interesting and easy to use, but it doesn't cover many situations that may come up in a game (But if you tried to cover more situations the game would become much too complex for a first time gamer). The thing is these are the same rules taught in the Fast-Play Modules and those are free, so why would you want to pay for a rules system that is free? (I also think the Fast-Play Modules look much nicer). Overall Concept: The idea for releasing this product was to get new players into gaming. Ok, How? Putting this product in gaming stores is kinda of odd because people already into gaming go there, not newbies. Ok, so it does make it to the shelves of some comic book stores, book stores and toy stores, but there is no advertising or marketing into getting non-gamers to try it out. Just putting something on a shelf isn't going to mean it will sell. You actually have to "sell" it. I bet if WOTC put a pack of Pokemon, or even Magic, in every box they would sell alot better. The Diablo II line of games for D&D will probably draw in alot more people than this set because of the obvious video game tie-in. Overall it's a nice attempt to get new players into gaming, but it falls short of it's goal. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 3 (Average)