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Aug 4, 2012 -- 9:28PM, Garthanos wrote:

The game designers of 3.x made intentional trap choices.. 4e didnt. The idea that having more compartments for spells induces the creation of traps sounds pretty rediculous.   My spells have to interact with a much smaller set of the rules. The ones related to my class. This results in fewer out of hand interactions because the designer doesnt have to worry about this other classes features which enhances the area of effect of all there enchantment spells ... it only applies to my context. 
 

 nope just makes entire classes a trap choice because you thought it could do well in one area, but only come to find out later that it in no way measures up to the performance in that area that another class has.

Staggering note as compared to direct the strike is a perfect example.  If you want to play an enabler and you go with bard because you see it has staggering note and a few other powers that hand out attacks, then congratulations you just fell for a trap option because it will never be as good as a warlord using direct the strike or his other enabling powers.  Off the top of my head I can't really think of any of the warlord powers that require you to hit your enemy in order to give other people the ability to attack.  The bard is totally useful at other things but is still a total trap option if you are looking to be an enabler.  Even if it is just because the warlord is exceptional at enabling, it doesn't matter, the bard is still a trap if enabling is what you want to do.  It is less effective in the area than another option yet seems like it should be fine as at what it's mainly used for, thus making it a trap option. 

@Shin:
Still looks like it could be good at something and is at a distinct disadvantage if you go for it.  In the words of admiral ackbar..."It's a trap".  Also it is specific because I am playing two characters right now, a bard (with staggering note), and a warlord (with direct the strike).  The comparison between the two powers is impossible.  Direct the strike is hands down a better enabling power, and given the right allies I can still get some push out of it, and with the right item I add some extra damage to the attack as well.  Direct the strike is better supported via items and feats and more viable than the bard's staggering note power.  It is the clear victory in the which of these powers is more favorable contest.  That part alone (in addition to the other enabling powers on both sides of the line) are the reasons why the bard is a trap option for enabling.  Yeah the powers (as a collective on either side) are almost as good (except for things like direct the strike which is clearly better), when you look at them by themselves, but when you look at the item and feat support to go along with it the warlord is hands down better at it.  However the bard is painted as being decent at it, yet isn't as good.  Trap Option.  Boesn't matter if the bard is still decent at it, there is a far better option you could have gone with if you wanted to focus on doing that with your character meaning you selected a trap option.

On a somewhat related note, lets talk about individual class support.  One of the major outright flaws of class specific lists is a complete lack of support for some classes, and this isn't completely edition specific problem.  In 3.5 some of the more fringe classes like duskblade would get spell lists, and then never recieve any new spells, or additions to their spell list.  For 4e I don't think I really even need to explain the problem.  Look at how many power options wizards have, and then go check out the number of power options a rune priest or seeker has (seriously the second set of additional seeker options came out like within the past week or two and the last one before that was for bow users only and was less than stellar).  

Class specific lists means that some classes will get a ton of attention while other classes will get entirely snubbed and recieve no new material for large spans of time. 

If the seeker and rune priest were just pulling from primal/divine (or controller/leader) powers lists they would have been getting inadvertant support the whole time as they keep adding powers to those lists.