First of all I have been playing WFRP since 1st edition and I currently am running a WFRPv2 campaign....
As an expeienced role-player and fan of WFRP I was, as many of you, filled with many doubts about a 3rd version that was so drastically different from the earlier versions of the game.. would the grit of the game still be in tact? would it play like a board game? This is not an easy game to change and fans of WFRP have long been burned with the game being cancelled and start up again by other game companies...GW, Hogshead, Green Ronin, and now FFG. I am sympathetic to game companies who, in a climate of computer games, need to try to adapt to the changing world where, sadly, the interest in table top, pencil and paper RPG's are drifting into obscurity. I worked for a small game company for a short time and it folded because it could not make enough money to continue in a "niche" market. I am also sypathetic to gamers who, like me have spend their money and time participating in an activity that takes plenty of both.
Here's what I have discovered about WFRP v.3 after I playtested it today
1) It is a lot of fun to play
2) It is NOT a board game. There is no board. D&D 4 is impossible to play without a battle mat and figures to move around. there are pieces but for the most part someone, myself perhaps, will create a more paper and pencil friendly version if that is your thing
3) The dice pool mechanic was so fun! I am so over numerical dice. What I found was a mechanic that, not only told an outcome but also helped create the flavor and story of what was happening. I am a cinematic player and GM....I like things to flow and create detail...this did just that. It was easy to understand and did not take any longer than any other system out there, imo. Numerical dice systems are almost a personal thing. You throw the dice and look on your sheet and find out if you succeeded. Today, with the dice pool I through the dice and then a funny thing happened...the other players helped interpret the actions! Was there a boon? A bane? What is the effect? Suddenly all of us, including the GM were interpreting a part of the action. Also seemed easy to add lib with the dice pool.
4) Initiative was the same way. It was interactive. Deciding who needed to act first was a cool effect because we did it all in character. It depends on the situation, not the strongest or the fastest.
5) The fatigue and stress was very fun and added flavor to the characters in the demo. The wizard passed out after going to reckless and casting too many spells, for example.
6) The tracker for the GM, in terms of meeting goals, especially in the social interaction encounter was successful to me because roleplay and the dice interpretations based on the roleplay of the players helped to create a very dynamic experience.
7) The cost is not an issue. For those who play D&D (in particular) when its all said and done you've spent more anyways....I will say that its a bummer that the starter set only includes enough materials for 4 players (3 characters and a GM) and the expansion will give enough to have 4 players. All RPG's work better with smaller groups...no surprise there...but its a challenge to assume that all groups playing your game will be 3 or less to start. This creates a logistical problem for the GM.
8) Other than the action cards, dice, and chaos cards...I think you can play this game with a homebrew character sheet with boxes to check off conditions and such...FFG needs to create a PDF or something, that has the information in written form.
9) Did not experience character creation so its hard to comment.
At the end of the day all RPG's are as good as the GM and players make it. As long as a game system allows for fun and storytelling to take place its fine with me.
In conclusion WFRP is safe and alive and well...its different for sure...but if you think about it you really never need to by anything new to keep playing. If I wanted to I could go back to AD&D or the D&D basic set and keep playing with new characters and stories. But I like new stuff! I like to read game books and find new inspiration with new material. I am very pleased that FFG did not ruin a beloved game.