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4 months ago  ::  Feb 01, 2013 - 2:40PM #451
kalis5
Date Joined: Aug 8, 2012
Posts: 910
Yeah, I looked back through the posts as I was writing it up and didn't think things through I guess. Want me to edit the post so it's clearer?
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4 months ago  ::  Feb 01, 2013 - 11:38PM #452
Mysteria
Date Joined: Oct 4, 2003
Posts: 7,269
You can if you want to, but it's not necessary.
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4 months ago  ::  Feb 05, 2013 - 5:52PM #453
Wellby10
Date Joined: Feb 5, 2011
Posts: 423
"...I'd always feel like people were after my lucky charm."

Hehehe, couldn't resist huh?  
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4 months ago  ::  Feb 06, 2013 - 3:41PM #454
swmabie
Date Joined: Dec 8, 2009
Posts: 8,224
It was just sitting there, taunting me; I couldn't help myself. 
Help improve the Forums: Learn some Logic!
A handy dandy list of fallacies: Which have you just committed? Show

• Ad Hominem — Attacking the person's circumstances, not addressing the argument.
Ad Hominem Abusive (Personal Attack) — Insulting the person, not addressing the argument.
• Ad Hominem Tu Quoque — Saying the person's inconsistent, not addressing the argument.
Appeal to Authority/Belief/Common Practice/Consequence of a Belief/Emotion/Fear/Flattery/Novelty/Pity/Popularity/Ridicule/Spite/Tradition — Using emotion instead of Fact.
Bandwagon — Use of peer pressure.
• Begging the Question — Assuming premises which haven't necessarily been agreed to.
Biased Sample — Using a sampling which may not properly represent the whole.
• Burden of Proof — Shifting it to the wrong side.
• Circumstantial Ad Hominem — Attacking the person's interests in supporting their argument.
• Composition — Assuming that the whole has the same qualities as individual parts.
• Confusing Cause & Effect — Assuming that one thing causes another because they appear in conjunction.
• Division — Assuming that the individual parts have the same qualities as the whole.
• False Dilemma — Assuming that only two options exist.
• Gambler's Fallacy — Assuming the odds have changed because of past occurances
• Genetic — Assuming a perceived defect in the origin of a claim is proof of a defect in the claim.
• Guilt by Association — Attacking others who agree with the claim.
• Hasty Generalization — Assuming a quality based on too small a sample size.
• Ignoring the Common Cause — Assuming there is no outside cause of two connected things.
• Middle Ground — Assuming the midpoint of two extremes must be correct.
• Misleading Vividness — Assuming a colorful anecdote outweighs statistical evidence.
• Poisoning the Well — Using unprovable claims about the person instead of addressing the argument.
• Post Hoc — Assuming that something caused something else simply because it happened first.
• Questionable Cause — Assuming that one thing causes another.
• Red Herring — Using irrelevant evidence to divert a discussion.
• Relativist Fallacy — Asserting that a claim may be true for some but not for the speaker.
• Slippery Slope — Assuming the inevitability of one event based on another.
• Special Pleading — Claiming exemption without justification.
• Spotlight — Assuming individuals that get the most attention to be indicative of the whole.
• Straw Man — Misrepresenting the opposing argument.
• Two Wrongs Make a Right — Justifying something unethical/immoral as response or pre-emption to something else unethical/immoral.

Response to those who like to compare 4e to a Video Game Show

Jan 12, 2013 -- 1:49PM, Rogue_Elendae wrote:

Also, I find that the "D&D 4e is like an MMO" argument is often a sign of someone who is deliberately being obtuse and/or is potentially ignorant of actual MMO play.  As someone who only ended a 6-year World of Warcraft addiction a year ago, I can say that most of your bullet points actually don't match up to the truth of it.

In D&D 4e, you can choose a hybrid, you can choose to play one class as though it were another (people played Warlords as Bards frequently, when the edition first came out, and Rangers were refluffed to Monks), you can focus your class on its secondary role (a Warlock who is more controller than striker, for instance), you can multiclass, and you can create a particular concept (a mounted lancer, a charger, etc.) within the mechanics via feats, choice of powers, and choice of skills.  You decide which set of stats you use--are you a Chaladin, Straladin, or Baladin?--and you have ultimate influence on how your character turns out in the end.  Yes, powers require you to be using a particular weapon within your class's available selection, but the powers are not themselves tied to the gear.  Powers tied to weapons or armor are typically powers that belong to the item, not to the character class that's most likely to use it.

Yes, there are only so many powers available, and these will be what you do in battle; this is all that the designers created.  Yes, there is a time-frame in which they can be used; this has always been the case, even in the days of Vancian casting.  Yes, there are suggested builds, but you can routinely ignore those if it pleases you; the only parts of a class you have to take are the class features, and even those have options at this point.  But the only way that this can be considered at all conflatable with MMO character building/playing is if you are deliberately ignoring all of that.

In WoW, you choose a class and you're done.  No multiclassing or hybridization, no way to mimic one class with careful building of a different one.  There is a firm dividing line on what is a WoW class.  No secondary roles or creative concepts, either; you're going to be what the class sets out to be, and that's it.  You'll always have the same stat allocation as another of your class, because you get set numbers as you level up, and you've got at best four options--and that's only the Druid class--to build, and if you plan on running dungeons, particularly heroic level ones, or raiding, you'd better not even think of deviating from the single defined best build on the talent tree for what you want to do.  It was only recently, with the complete tear-down and recreation of talent trees for Mists of Pandaria, that there was a concept of there being anything but the one best build that people who calculated such mechanical advantages (the folks on Elitist Jerks, for example), and the people who did things like achieve "World First" at various top-tier raids set precedent for.

Also, no class will ever not have a specific set of powers; all Priests in WoW have the same baseline, with deviation only based upon their talent tree specialization, where a D&D4e player could take whatever power in their class pleases them.  Any Retribution Paladin will be the same as any other in terms of powers, because that is what a RetPally is.  Any Assassination Rogue will always have the same powers as another, etc.  All powers are always on specific cool-downs, but will always be there when they start a battle, where a 4e PC might enter an encounter with only At-Wills, or without their Daily powers due to what plot has done up until that point.  Furthermore, no power that is not already specifically tied to an item will ever "require" you have that item, to my recollection.  Classes get all their powers based on class; gear only gives bonuses to stats, possibly cuts down cast times for abilities or cooldowns, grants temporary extra bonuses to stats (the latter two most often on the raid tier equipment), and on rare occassions an extra power that may or may not be valuable, as some are only special effects instead of valuable abilities.



Most honest/open response on why DDN needs to be Inclusive Show

Mar 31, 2013 -- 8:40PM, Emerikol wrote:

I've always felt it is in the best interests of D&D to be as inclusive across the playerbase as they can be and still have a game.   I've never felt though that making a game that was inclusive within a group was very useful or even desirable.   DM's and players can decide amongst themselves what options or restrictions they want for their games.  I tend to lean to the DM to make most of those decisions but again that is a group specific thing.

Having said that.  I get the distinct impression that there are a lot of players on these boards who come from groups that generally ruled against their own desires.  It's almost like they are an oppressed minority from a gaming perspective.   I also get the impression that they tend to advocate against things that if available their fellow group members might like and vote them down on.

Do a lot of you feel this way?

Just for clarification...here are some examples...
1.  Alignment restrictions as an option.
2.  Alignment Mechanics
3.  Martial healing
4.  Races being included or not.

and so forth.  Thoughts?


Mar 31, 2013 -- 9:43PM, Authw8 wrote:

I know my perspective is not that I often play at tables where my likes are not represented. Instead, my perspective comes from the many years I spent being a bad DM. I was a bad DM because my guidance came from the books, and the books gave bad advice. The books told me that alignment was a useful approach to roleplaying, so I went with it even though it felt kind of weird to me. Now I know that, at least in my style of running games, alignment destroys rp. I trusted the books to give good advice, and it messed up my game. Now I'm much more mature as a DM, so I know how to take advice with a grain of salt. And I still learn new stuff every session I run.

I don't want future DMs to go through my problems again. There's a big enough DM shortage as it is. DMing well is hard.

The biggest thing I had to unlearn in my process of becoming a good DM was the idea that the game is a simulation of a world. I understand many DMs prefer a more simulationist approach, although I am always skeptical simply because I would have said the same thing until I learned and grew as a DM. This doesn't mean their approach is completely invalid, but it still gives me a personal twinge when I see a regression back to 3e era sim style gaming.

I also have noticed many groups where one or two old-school players run a whole group's playstyle because the newer players aren't even aware there are other ways of doing things. The newer players tell me stories of things they hated in the session, and I end up explaining to them how those things they hate are very fixable, and in fact are fixed in the newer edition of the game their older players have told them is terrible.

In regard to things like martial healing, I don't think it's necessary for it to be in the game for the game to be fun. However, the attitude that says martial healing is terrible and shouldn't exist is an attitude that, to me, reveals a wrongheaded approach to the game. Therefore, my fight for it to be an option is to help legitimize the more narrative approach that I think is what most players want, but many don't know is possible, because they've never been exposed to it.


Why D&D will continue to fail economically. Show

Apr 22, 2013 -- 12:40AM, Mand12 wrote:

Mobile/tablet is not supported by WotC.  They're stuck in the past, with no coherent vision of how technology could benefit their product.

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4 months ago  ::  Feb 06, 2013 - 5:44PM #455
crimson_vampr
Date Joined: Jan 17, 2010
Posts: 3,076
How do we want to keep track of treasure? Should we stick a party loot entry into the character sheet thread? A place where we can track loot that is not immediately being divided? Also, I was a bit confused about what we found. If I understand correctly, we have 3PP, 21GP and xCP, plus a 120GP gem? The "for a total worth" line indicates that 120 could be the total value of all we found, but 4e PP is 100GP. I didn't want to assume we are using 4e, just in case we are using a modified or different coin system such as the 3.5 version. Better safe to double check.

Also, anyone want to jump on the lucky charm? I wouldn't mind having it, though I'll be most likely to use it for a skill bump. I thought if anyone else might want it for use with attack powers and such, they should have first dibs.
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4 months ago  ::  Feb 06, 2013 - 7:00PM #456
swmabie
Date Joined: Dec 8, 2009
Posts: 8,224
(1) It's a daily usage, not encounter, so I don't see that it much affects who would use it best, unless one of the strikers has a super-duper huge-damage power that needs to be can't miss or else.  That being the case, I think it should go to the one most likely to be targeted by non-AC attacks, which may very well be the same as the one most likely to be targeted period, ie a defender.  Me, I'm a controller, I can go hide for a couple of rounds and still be useful.  In theory, anyway.

(2) As for treasure splitting....  We could do a modification of the Olde Days™.  Draw lots (or roll dice, or have the DM give us a priority order on random.org, since she's objective).  When a magic item comes up, use the priority list (they can pass if it's not useful to them, or whatever); once they've gotten one, they're out of the draw until everyone's gotten one, and then re-set priority.  Either split coins evenly as it comes in, and split gems & art when we can spell it, or pool the loot and once we reach a good time to split it do so then, either evenly or with those who haven't received an item yet getting an extra share.
Help improve the Forums: Learn some Logic!
A handy dandy list of fallacies: Which have you just committed? Show

• Ad Hominem — Attacking the person's circumstances, not addressing the argument.
Ad Hominem Abusive (Personal Attack) — Insulting the person, not addressing the argument.
• Ad Hominem Tu Quoque — Saying the person's inconsistent, not addressing the argument.
Appeal to Authority/Belief/Common Practice/Consequence of a Belief/Emotion/Fear/Flattery/Novelty/Pity/Popularity/Ridicule/Spite/Tradition — Using emotion instead of Fact.
Bandwagon — Use of peer pressure.
• Begging the Question — Assuming premises which haven't necessarily been agreed to.
Biased Sample — Using a sampling which may not properly represent the whole.
• Burden of Proof — Shifting it to the wrong side.
• Circumstantial Ad Hominem — Attacking the person's interests in supporting their argument.
• Composition — Assuming that the whole has the same qualities as individual parts.
• Confusing Cause & Effect — Assuming that one thing causes another because they appear in conjunction.
• Division — Assuming that the individual parts have the same qualities as the whole.
• False Dilemma — Assuming that only two options exist.
• Gambler's Fallacy — Assuming the odds have changed because of past occurances
• Genetic — Assuming a perceived defect in the origin of a claim is proof of a defect in the claim.
• Guilt by Association — Attacking others who agree with the claim.
• Hasty Generalization — Assuming a quality based on too small a sample size.
• Ignoring the Common Cause — Assuming there is no outside cause of two connected things.
• Middle Ground — Assuming the midpoint of two extremes must be correct.
• Misleading Vividness — Assuming a colorful anecdote outweighs statistical evidence.
• Poisoning the Well — Using unprovable claims about the person instead of addressing the argument.
• Post Hoc — Assuming that something caused something else simply because it happened first.
• Questionable Cause — Assuming that one thing causes another.
• Red Herring — Using irrelevant evidence to divert a discussion.
• Relativist Fallacy — Asserting that a claim may be true for some but not for the speaker.
• Slippery Slope — Assuming the inevitability of one event based on another.
• Special Pleading — Claiming exemption without justification.
• Spotlight — Assuming individuals that get the most attention to be indicative of the whole.
• Straw Man — Misrepresenting the opposing argument.
• Two Wrongs Make a Right — Justifying something unethical/immoral as response or pre-emption to something else unethical/immoral.

Response to those who like to compare 4e to a Video Game Show

Jan 12, 2013 -- 1:49PM, Rogue_Elendae wrote:

Also, I find that the "D&D 4e is like an MMO" argument is often a sign of someone who is deliberately being obtuse and/or is potentially ignorant of actual MMO play.  As someone who only ended a 6-year World of Warcraft addiction a year ago, I can say that most of your bullet points actually don't match up to the truth of it.

In D&D 4e, you can choose a hybrid, you can choose to play one class as though it were another (people played Warlords as Bards frequently, when the edition first came out, and Rangers were refluffed to Monks), you can focus your class on its secondary role (a Warlock who is more controller than striker, for instance), you can multiclass, and you can create a particular concept (a mounted lancer, a charger, etc.) within the mechanics via feats, choice of powers, and choice of skills.  You decide which set of stats you use--are you a Chaladin, Straladin, or Baladin?--and you have ultimate influence on how your character turns out in the end.  Yes, powers require you to be using a particular weapon within your class's available selection, but the powers are not themselves tied to the gear.  Powers tied to weapons or armor are typically powers that belong to the item, not to the character class that's most likely to use it.

Yes, there are only so many powers available, and these will be what you do in battle; this is all that the designers created.  Yes, there is a time-frame in which they can be used; this has always been the case, even in the days of Vancian casting.  Yes, there are suggested builds, but you can routinely ignore those if it pleases you; the only parts of a class you have to take are the class features, and even those have options at this point.  But the only way that this can be considered at all conflatable with MMO character building/playing is if you are deliberately ignoring all of that.

In WoW, you choose a class and you're done.  No multiclassing or hybridization, no way to mimic one class with careful building of a different one.  There is a firm dividing line on what is a WoW class.  No secondary roles or creative concepts, either; you're going to be what the class sets out to be, and that's it.  You'll always have the same stat allocation as another of your class, because you get set numbers as you level up, and you've got at best four options--and that's only the Druid class--to build, and if you plan on running dungeons, particularly heroic level ones, or raiding, you'd better not even think of deviating from the single defined best build on the talent tree for what you want to do.  It was only recently, with the complete tear-down and recreation of talent trees for Mists of Pandaria, that there was a concept of there being anything but the one best build that people who calculated such mechanical advantages (the folks on Elitist Jerks, for example), and the people who did things like achieve "World First" at various top-tier raids set precedent for.

Also, no class will ever not have a specific set of powers; all Priests in WoW have the same baseline, with deviation only based upon their talent tree specialization, where a D&D4e player could take whatever power in their class pleases them.  Any Retribution Paladin will be the same as any other in terms of powers, because that is what a RetPally is.  Any Assassination Rogue will always have the same powers as another, etc.  All powers are always on specific cool-downs, but will always be there when they start a battle, where a 4e PC might enter an encounter with only At-Wills, or without their Daily powers due to what plot has done up until that point.  Furthermore, no power that is not already specifically tied to an item will ever "require" you have that item, to my recollection.  Classes get all their powers based on class; gear only gives bonuses to stats, possibly cuts down cast times for abilities or cooldowns, grants temporary extra bonuses to stats (the latter two most often on the raid tier equipment), and on rare occassions an extra power that may or may not be valuable, as some are only special effects instead of valuable abilities.



Most honest/open response on why DDN needs to be Inclusive Show

Mar 31, 2013 -- 8:40PM, Emerikol wrote:

I've always felt it is in the best interests of D&D to be as inclusive across the playerbase as they can be and still have a game.   I've never felt though that making a game that was inclusive within a group was very useful or even desirable.   DM's and players can decide amongst themselves what options or restrictions they want for their games.  I tend to lean to the DM to make most of those decisions but again that is a group specific thing.

Having said that.  I get the distinct impression that there are a lot of players on these boards who come from groups that generally ruled against their own desires.  It's almost like they are an oppressed minority from a gaming perspective.   I also get the impression that they tend to advocate against things that if available their fellow group members might like and vote them down on.

Do a lot of you feel this way?

Just for clarification...here are some examples...
1.  Alignment restrictions as an option.
2.  Alignment Mechanics
3.  Martial healing
4.  Races being included or not.

and so forth.  Thoughts?


Mar 31, 2013 -- 9:43PM, Authw8 wrote:

I know my perspective is not that I often play at tables where my likes are not represented. Instead, my perspective comes from the many years I spent being a bad DM. I was a bad DM because my guidance came from the books, and the books gave bad advice. The books told me that alignment was a useful approach to roleplaying, so I went with it even though it felt kind of weird to me. Now I know that, at least in my style of running games, alignment destroys rp. I trusted the books to give good advice, and it messed up my game. Now I'm much more mature as a DM, so I know how to take advice with a grain of salt. And I still learn new stuff every session I run.

I don't want future DMs to go through my problems again. There's a big enough DM shortage as it is. DMing well is hard.

The biggest thing I had to unlearn in my process of becoming a good DM was the idea that the game is a simulation of a world. I understand many DMs prefer a more simulationist approach, although I am always skeptical simply because I would have said the same thing until I learned and grew as a DM. This doesn't mean their approach is completely invalid, but it still gives me a personal twinge when I see a regression back to 3e era sim style gaming.

I also have noticed many groups where one or two old-school players run a whole group's playstyle because the newer players aren't even aware there are other ways of doing things. The newer players tell me stories of things they hated in the session, and I end up explaining to them how those things they hate are very fixable, and in fact are fixed in the newer edition of the game their older players have told them is terrible.

In regard to things like martial healing, I don't think it's necessary for it to be in the game for the game to be fun. However, the attitude that says martial healing is terrible and shouldn't exist is an attitude that, to me, reveals a wrongheaded approach to the game. Therefore, my fight for it to be an option is to help legitimize the more narrative approach that I think is what most players want, but many don't know is possible, because they've never been exposed to it.


Why D&D will continue to fail economically. Show

Apr 22, 2013 -- 12:40AM, Mand12 wrote:

Mobile/tablet is not supported by WotC.  They're stuck in the past, with no coherent vision of how technology could benefit their product.

Quick Reply
Cancel
4 months ago  ::  Feb 06, 2013 - 10:37PM #457
Mysteria
Date Joined: Oct 4, 2003
Posts: 7,269
You found coins worth 120 gold.

I didn't do it intentionally, but I used a conversion rate of 1pp=10gp. I'ts got nothing to do with pathfinder and everything with starting play in 3.5 and never bothering to look up the value of the platin piece in 4e.

If I can get some wishes from you for items, I try to make sure that everybody gets items he needs, so that you have about the same value in items in the end. In my other thread, it's as easy as posting: "you find skewer of lightning (+1 javelin of thingy - Bob the Fighter)"  Then Bob the Fighter takes it. It seems to work, as I haven't gotten complaints yet.

It eliminates a) the discussion of who gets loot, b) allows some characters to have more items of low value and other to have less items but of higher value, depending on what works for them, c) eliminates most of the 'we need to find a magic shop/somebody to buy this from us' and the 'why do we only get 20% from selling this?', d) you actually get items you want to use and not something random nobody really needs.

Gold splitting's up to you. I normally assume splitting, which explains why you somehow keep finding treasure in increments of six.
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4 months ago  ::  Feb 07, 2013 - 10:39AM #458
Wellby10
Date Joined: Feb 5, 2011
Posts: 423
Even split on the gold sounds good to me, though Jack might decide otherwise  and I'm inclined to agree with swmabie that the charm (I assume it works like a normal magic neck item, +X to all non-armor defenses) should go to the person attacked the most. 

As for magic items, I think we made lists a while back, but mine is slightly different now. Unfortunately I'm not sure about the level of each item, so I realize may not see some of these for a while.

Battle Harness Leather Armor 
Rhythm Blade Parrying Dagger
Acrobat Boots  

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4 months ago  ::  Feb 07, 2013 - 12:17PM #459
kalis5
Date Joined: Aug 8, 2012
Posts: 910
Yeah, I could use a good magic sword too actually. I get to use the enchantment bonus as a boost to attack and damage rolls. That, and the properties of the blade if it deals extra damage also get applied, so it's pretty useful. I'd say a sword like...
I guess a Farbond Spellblade +1 for now. I'd like some of the fire damage blades because they'd boost my basic fire damage which is a big swordmage power type but they're too high level.
 
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4 months ago  ::  Feb 07, 2013 - 6:33PM #460
swmabie
Date Joined: Dec 8, 2009
Posts: 8,224
I've finally posted my character sheet, as well as a wishlist.
Help improve the Forums: Learn some Logic!
A handy dandy list of fallacies: Which have you just committed? Show

• Ad Hominem — Attacking the person's circumstances, not addressing the argument.
Ad Hominem Abusive (Personal Attack) — Insulting the person, not addressing the argument.
• Ad Hominem Tu Quoque — Saying the person's inconsistent, not addressing the argument.
Appeal to Authority/Belief/Common Practice/Consequence of a Belief/Emotion/Fear/Flattery/Novelty/Pity/Popularity/Ridicule/Spite/Tradition — Using emotion instead of Fact.
Bandwagon — Use of peer pressure.
• Begging the Question — Assuming premises which haven't necessarily been agreed to.
Biased Sample — Using a sampling which may not properly represent the whole.
• Burden of Proof — Shifting it to the wrong side.
• Circumstantial Ad Hominem — Attacking the person's interests in supporting their argument.
• Composition — Assuming that the whole has the same qualities as individual parts.
• Confusing Cause & Effect — Assuming that one thing causes another because they appear in conjunction.
• Division — Assuming that the individual parts have the same qualities as the whole.
• False Dilemma — Assuming that only two options exist.
• Gambler's Fallacy — Assuming the odds have changed because of past occurances
• Genetic — Assuming a perceived defect in the origin of a claim is proof of a defect in the claim.
• Guilt by Association — Attacking others who agree with the claim.
• Hasty Generalization — Assuming a quality based on too small a sample size.
• Ignoring the Common Cause — Assuming there is no outside cause of two connected things.
• Middle Ground — Assuming the midpoint of two extremes must be correct.
• Misleading Vividness — Assuming a colorful anecdote outweighs statistical evidence.
• Poisoning the Well — Using unprovable claims about the person instead of addressing the argument.
• Post Hoc — Assuming that something caused something else simply because it happened first.
• Questionable Cause — Assuming that one thing causes another.
• Red Herring — Using irrelevant evidence to divert a discussion.
• Relativist Fallacy — Asserting that a claim may be true for some but not for the speaker.
• Slippery Slope — Assuming the inevitability of one event based on another.
• Special Pleading — Claiming exemption without justification.
• Spotlight — Assuming individuals that get the most attention to be indicative of the whole.
• Straw Man — Misrepresenting the opposing argument.
• Two Wrongs Make a Right — Justifying something unethical/immoral as response or pre-emption to something else unethical/immoral.

Response to those who like to compare 4e to a Video Game Show

Jan 12, 2013 -- 1:49PM, Rogue_Elendae wrote:

Also, I find that the "D&D 4e is like an MMO" argument is often a sign of someone who is deliberately being obtuse and/or is potentially ignorant of actual MMO play.  As someone who only ended a 6-year World of Warcraft addiction a year ago, I can say that most of your bullet points actually don't match up to the truth of it.

In D&D 4e, you can choose a hybrid, you can choose to play one class as though it were another (people played Warlords as Bards frequently, when the edition first came out, and Rangers were refluffed to Monks), you can focus your class on its secondary role (a Warlock who is more controller than striker, for instance), you can multiclass, and you can create a particular concept (a mounted lancer, a charger, etc.) within the mechanics via feats, choice of powers, and choice of skills.  You decide which set of stats you use--are you a Chaladin, Straladin, or Baladin?--and you have ultimate influence on how your character turns out in the end.  Yes, powers require you to be using a particular weapon within your class's available selection, but the powers are not themselves tied to the gear.  Powers tied to weapons or armor are typically powers that belong to the item, not to the character class that's most likely to use it.

Yes, there are only so many powers available, and these will be what you do in battle; this is all that the designers created.  Yes, there is a time-frame in which they can be used; this has always been the case, even in the days of Vancian casting.  Yes, there are suggested builds, but you can routinely ignore those if it pleases you; the only parts of a class you have to take are the class features, and even those have options at this point.  But the only way that this can be considered at all conflatable with MMO character building/playing is if you are deliberately ignoring all of that.

In WoW, you choose a class and you're done.  No multiclassing or hybridization, no way to mimic one class with careful building of a different one.  There is a firm dividing line on what is a WoW class.  No secondary roles or creative concepts, either; you're going to be what the class sets out to be, and that's it.  You'll always have the same stat allocation as another of your class, because you get set numbers as you level up, and you've got at best four options--and that's only the Druid class--to build, and if you plan on running dungeons, particularly heroic level ones, or raiding, you'd better not even think of deviating from the single defined best build on the talent tree for what you want to do.  It was only recently, with the complete tear-down and recreation of talent trees for Mists of Pandaria, that there was a concept of there being anything but the one best build that people who calculated such mechanical advantages (the folks on Elitist Jerks, for example), and the people who did things like achieve "World First" at various top-tier raids set precedent for.

Also, no class will ever not have a specific set of powers; all Priests in WoW have the same baseline, with deviation only based upon their talent tree specialization, where a D&D4e player could take whatever power in their class pleases them.  Any Retribution Paladin will be the same as any other in terms of powers, because that is what a RetPally is.  Any Assassination Rogue will always have the same powers as another, etc.  All powers are always on specific cool-downs, but will always be there when they start a battle, where a 4e PC might enter an encounter with only At-Wills, or without their Daily powers due to what plot has done up until that point.  Furthermore, no power that is not already specifically tied to an item will ever "require" you have that item, to my recollection.  Classes get all their powers based on class; gear only gives bonuses to stats, possibly cuts down cast times for abilities or cooldowns, grants temporary extra bonuses to stats (the latter two most often on the raid tier equipment), and on rare occassions an extra power that may or may not be valuable, as some are only special effects instead of valuable abilities.



Most honest/open response on why DDN needs to be Inclusive Show

Mar 31, 2013 -- 8:40PM, Emerikol wrote:

I've always felt it is in the best interests of D&D to be as inclusive across the playerbase as they can be and still have a game.   I've never felt though that making a game that was inclusive within a group was very useful or even desirable.   DM's and players can decide amongst themselves what options or restrictions they want for their games.  I tend to lean to the DM to make most of those decisions but again that is a group specific thing.

Having said that.  I get the distinct impression that there are a lot of players on these boards who come from groups that generally ruled against their own desires.  It's almost like they are an oppressed minority from a gaming perspective.   I also get the impression that they tend to advocate against things that if available their fellow group members might like and vote them down on.

Do a lot of you feel this way?

Just for clarification...here are some examples...
1.  Alignment restrictions as an option.
2.  Alignment Mechanics
3.  Martial healing
4.  Races being included or not.

and so forth.  Thoughts?


Mar 31, 2013 -- 9:43PM, Authw8 wrote:

I know my perspective is not that I often play at tables where my likes are not represented. Instead, my perspective comes from the many years I spent being a bad DM. I was a bad DM because my guidance came from the books, and the books gave bad advice. The books told me that alignment was a useful approach to roleplaying, so I went with it even though it felt kind of weird to me. Now I know that, at least in my style of running games, alignment destroys rp. I trusted the books to give good advice, and it messed up my game. Now I'm much more mature as a DM, so I know how to take advice with a grain of salt. And I still learn new stuff every session I run.

I don't want future DMs to go through my problems again. There's a big enough DM shortage as it is. DMing well is hard.

The biggest thing I had to unlearn in my process of becoming a good DM was the idea that the game is a simulation of a world. I understand many DMs prefer a more simulationist approach, although I am always skeptical simply because I would have said the same thing until I learned and grew as a DM. This doesn't mean their approach is completely invalid, but it still gives me a personal twinge when I see a regression back to 3e era sim style gaming.

I also have noticed many groups where one or two old-school players run a whole group's playstyle because the newer players aren't even aware there are other ways of doing things. The newer players tell me stories of things they hated in the session, and I end up explaining to them how those things they hate are very fixable, and in fact are fixed in the newer edition of the game their older players have told them is terrible.

In regard to things like martial healing, I don't think it's necessary for it to be in the game for the game to be fun. However, the attitude that says martial healing is terrible and shouldn't exist is an attitude that, to me, reveals a wrongheaded approach to the game. Therefore, my fight for it to be an option is to help legitimize the more narrative approach that I think is what most players want, but many don't know is possible, because they've never been exposed to it.


Why D&D will continue to fail economically. Show

Apr 22, 2013 -- 12:40AM, Mand12 wrote:

Mobile/tablet is not supported by WotC.  They're stuck in the past, with no coherent vision of how technology could benefit their product.

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