Although the Dungeons & Dragons’ controversial 4th edition holds a bit of an awkward place within tabletop RPG stans’ hearts, not everyone thinks it’s deserving of all the flak it’s caught since its 2008 launch – but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to criticize.
Joshua Eric “Josh” Sawyer, who is best known for his work on RPG gems like Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity, made an online post implying that sourcing feedback for D&D 4e that wasn’t just “parroted” criticism and was instead genuine, player experience-based assessments was basically impossible. In response, somebody said 4e “ain’t really all that” – and while Sawyer doesn’t necessarily disagree, he expands on his own opinion.
“There’s a lot to criticize in 4e, from how classes and races were split up to bad MMs to having a boring armor system (again), but that’s not usually what people complained about,” the genre maestro explains. “They parroted dumb complaints with little direct knowledge, and for it they should be pursued by hounds across the moor.” He follows up with a quip poking fun at one of these complaints – the comparisons likening 4e to an MMO.
There’s a lot to criticize in 4E, from how classes and races were split up to bad MMs to having a boring armor system (again), but that’s not usually what people complained about. They parroted dumb complaints with little direct knowledge, and for it they should be pursued by hounds across the moor.
— @jesawyer.bsky.social (@jesawyer.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2025-11-26T14:18:37.737Z
“‘It’s like an MMO,'” writes Sawyer, adding sarcastically, “Totally, dude.” For anyone less familiar with 4e or the MMO comparisons, fans’ comments provide a bit of insight. As one reads, “I think most of those complaints were driven by how it aesthetically copied a lot from Warcraft in particular” – with “it” meaning D&D 4e. You can also look at threads elsewhere, like Reddit, that see players detail why such comparisons blew up.
From the roles of classes to ability cooldowns, there are plenty of reasons, apparently – but Sawyer does make a solid point himself. It’s difficult to separate evidence-backed criticism from the “popular” opinion, so to speak. This rings especially true nowadays, as the rise of content creation on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and social media allows for the spread of inflammatory or less-than-reputable takes at rates like never before.
As a longtime D&D enjoyer myself, however, I can definitely see both sides here. So much of this is subjective, after all, and boils down to what you think as a player yourself. That can be said for any edition, too – not just 4e.
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