I play the Idiot Card in face-up position!
It seems Wotsy is bringing back the Deck Of Many Things for 4th Edition. Like most of the updates for 4th, I'm torn about this one. It's all but eliminated the terror and drama of accidentally drawing one of the horrible or swingy cards like The Flames or Balance by making them into a minor setback with a quest attached. It seems like they've put it at a level where it will actually see play, but it doesn't seem open ended anymore. Sigh.
I really hate all of these changes to existing fuck you stuff in D&D; I honestly feel like 4th edition is just taking old content and watering it down for 12 year olds and adult manchildren who grew up with games with infinite continues and no concept of danger or loss.
In 1e/2e, a deck of many things was an item players
wanted to find. Yes, it could result in losing your character permanently, with no save, but it could also result in you gaining a couple of levels, becoming rich beyond your wildest dreams, gaining a boost to a stat, gaining 1d4 wishes, etc - in an edition that was based almost entirely on low level play, any of the beneficial rewards from the deck could be potentially gamechanging, and you had better chances of a good result than a bad one.
In 3e, the game's focus shifted to high level play, which made the deck not worth it, but if you put it smack dab in a low level / low magic game, it was still a powerful item with powerful disadvantages.
If they're going to put the deck in, they either need to make it just as much of a potential fuck you, or not bother with it at all.