So I was browsing Star City Games and I found this article and its resulting disscussion. It's about a person discouraging a high level of optimization in the casual format he created. That set off a fairly large online discussion where people with different play styles collided; sounds familiar? While I can use this to springboard into a dozen different topics, I'm gonna focus on one specific thing; the pros and cons of centralized and/or local rulings.

Centralized rulings are when a central authority creates the rules. In Dungeons and Dragons, the RPGA would be the most obvious example. Local rulings is just a weird term I made up to mean House Rules. You know, when a group creates their own rules to modify the game more to their liking. Through out D&D’s history, both approaches have been used in varying degrees. Each approach has its advantages and weaknesses.

The main strength of centralized rulings is commonality. Commonality is very important. Having a focused set of ideas is required in order to construct something with a solid foundation. Enworld exists because we have something in common; D&D. We all agree D&D is a fantasy roleplaying game and we all like fantasy roleplaying so we formed this community around that. It’s important to have a common basis to work with.

Centralized rulings does have its flaws though. If you don’t like what the centralized ruling is, you options are limited. Many don’t like 4th Edition because thy disagree with the rules WOTC made. Centralized rulings are also lead to less flexibility. A common basis isn’t common if no one follow it. Centralized rulings does place limits on what you can do.

The alternative is local rulings aka “House rules” or “DM’s judgment.” The strengths of this approach is flexibility and customizability. With this approach, you can get exactly what you want because you make it yourself for yourself. Some people enjoy the “do it yourself” approach.

Local rulings also have their flaws. Making your own rules requires that the rule maker have both the skillset and the time to do so. Not everyone has the time to devote to tinkering nor the ability to do it well. You also have to deal with everyone having different opinions on how to do something. What do you when your friend wants to play a Dwarf in your Dwarf-free game? If you’re gonna customize your game, you’re gonna have to re-explain it every time you get a new player and that can get tiring. Local rulings requires work; too much work for some people.

Obviously, this issue is fairly complex. D&D has never been completely one or other. It has always been some combination of the two. 3.5, despite being hailed for it customizability, probably wasn’t designed with the Batman Wizard or Codzilla in mind. 4th Edition, despite being considered limited, does satisfy a good deal of players and is an another option for play groups to choose from. It’s definitely not as black and white as I may make it appear to be. I wrote it that way to help explain the concepts.

What type of rulings you want to accept depends largely on your goals and gaming philosophy. The author of the mentioned article, being a founder of the format, always had the option of simply banning the elements (aka certain Magic cards) that he felt was hurting the format. Yet he choose not too. He felt that even though those elements were easily abuseable, that banning them would deny people who weren’t abusing them the right to use those elements. It’s suppose to be a casual format, and in the spirit and intention of being a casual format, less formal rules are better. If you know your goal, you can pick the best approach for it.

MichaelSomething

If there’s one thing I find strange, it’s 3.5 (as in the 3.5 Edition of Dungeons and Dragons) players who don‘t like 4E as well as the 3.5 Bard class(I imagine it's a small group if it exists at all but just go with me for a moment). As a person who played a 3.5 Bard from levels one to nine; I feel that it is my duty to defend this classic class. The Bard may seem like it doesn’t fit in 3.5 but I must disagree with them. In fact, the Bard is the embodiment of the 3.5 philosophy! To reject the Bard is to reject 3.5 itself! The reasons for this are varied and many; and listed below…


1. The Bard defies the rigidness of the “role.” While all 4E classes are designed to fit snuggly into one of the pre-defined roles; the Bard rejects them wholesale. Who’s to say what the Bard can and cannot do! The Bard is capable of doing fighting, healing, arcane support, or skill use during a single session, nay, a single hour even! The Bard is also free to pursue any specialty s/he pleases! Thanks to the endless supply of 3.5 Prestige Classes, it is possible for a Bard to transform themselves into whatever they desire! When you are a Bard, there is no limit to what you can do!

2. Bards have freedom of character! While every 4E class is a cappable action hero, the Bard is capable of rejecting that premise for an entirely different one! For Gygax's sake, you walk into dungeons and SING at people. Who can take that seriously?

3. The Bard's power level is completely customizable! While 4E classes are generally designed to all be within the same level of effectiveness, the Bard can become as powerful or as weak as the player desires! The Bard may appear weak to some players but this can easily be addressed! WOTC has released over a dozen splat books over the life of 3.5. Almost every book contains an option that can increase the Bard's power level! You simple take more options until you reach the level of power that you desire. It's perfect for rewarding players who enjoy examining the system or those who have large RPG book collections.

4. The Bard class caters to different play styles. While every 4th Edition class is designed to be usable by every player in nearly every campaign, the Bard is a totally different play experience for those who seek soemething new and refreshing. While some people may never feel the need to play a Bard, it is there for those who wish to experience a more artistic character.


It should be clear that the Bard is a vital part of 3.5! I say one cannot truely understand 3.5 until they played a Bard for themselves. The Bard is the embodiment of freedom in character creation. It will always be a part of Dungeons and Dragons. After all, someone has to provide the soundtrack...

MichaelSomething

Being an online community, one of the favorite pasttimes is to argue about all sorts of issues. If you look back, you can find threads where people discuss everything including Magic Items, the failures of an RPG company, historicial resources, and even why Flumphs are the best monsters ever. However, there is a vital issue that has always been ignored. In all my time here at Enworld, I never saw a single thread discussing this issue that needs to be talked about. Since no one else will ask this question, I will. In the name of the D20 I ask... What is tax deductible?

In the US, business expenses are generally tax deducitible. Can a person working in the RPG industry deduct the cost of RPG purchases from their taxes? If so, which purchases are deductible and which are not? What does it take to qualify yourself for getting these deductions? Do you require a full time position at an RPG company or can a freelance writer make these claims? Can getting a single article published be enough to get in on this action? Is it possible to write off an Enworld Community Supporter Account as a business expense? How can a person make it so that the gaming stuff they buy is also a tax write off?

I guess only an accountant can truely answer those questions. I'm sure we have some accountants here on Enworld who can provide some insights. If we have lawyers here, we surely must have at least one accountant who enjoys being an elf once in a while. I know I'm not an accountant. If I was, I would know the answers to the questions I'm asking.

MichaelSomething

Well it seems that Paizo has sold out their PatherFinder Roleplaying Game Core RuleBook; a week before it’s even out. This means that there is huge demand for it. While many people are congratulating the people at Paizo, I was initially baffled by the news.

Okay, imagine you want to open a restaurant but the bank wouldn’t give you the loan you needed for it. However, the bank would give out a loan to a person opening a gas station. Therefore, you decide to open a gas station with a restaurant attached to it. You get the loan you needed (because you have a gas station) and you get to do what you wanted in the first place (which is run a restaurant). Now, what if it turns out the gas station is the bigger draw then the restaurant; even though you’re a top chef who won numerous cooking awards?

The lesson here? Don’t try to combine stories from Diners, Drive-in, and Dives with RPG industry analysis. The question here? Why is the Core Rulebook vastly more popular then their (very good) adventures and other RPG accessories? It’s a bit of a puzzle to me. Well if people simply wanted quality products, then surely all of their other stuff would have sold better? I guess people really do want to keep the 3rd edition rule set alive and they buy Pathfinder as a means of doing so. This must be proof that the core rulebooks really are the big sellers of an RPG system.

Now, where can we fine proof on how many of the Core Rulebooks sold? According to their announcement, it has sold “preorders more than five times greater than for any previous product in Paizo's seven-year history.” That includes Dungeon Magazine, right? Well Dungeon 142 includes a “Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation.” According to that, they sold on average about 32,000 magazines per months. Of those, 23,000 are though “Non-USPS paid distribution” and 8,500 are though “Paid/Requested Outside County Mail Subscriptions.” Depending on what percentage/sub-group of those sold magazines can count as pre-orders, the number of sold core rulebooks can be anywhere from 40,000 to 150,000 copies.

Another thing to consider is that Paizo will bring over 1,000 copies of to GenCon 2009 (look for a coment from Erik Mona). If they expect to sell 5 percent of their stock at GenCon, that means they produced about 20,000 copies. I could never imagine a company selling such a percentage of it’s product just at GenCon. It must be lower then that. If it’s between one to two percent (a more likely scenario), the total number of copies could be anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 copies.

Yet another number to consider is that the Beta Playtest has been downloaded over 50,000 times. If we assume that one out of five downloader become buyers, that means 10,000 copies sold. When it comes down to it, all we can do is guess at how many copies have sold. Whatever number of copies they sold, I can say for sure that Pathfinder is a success.

Since the Pathfinder Core Rulebook is such a hot item, how long will it take to sell out at GenCon 2009? I bet they sell out the first day, before lunch. Is it an outrageous guess? Well Pathfinder has outrageous demand! I just hate to be at GenCon trying to get one of those books. I hope those buyers have a good combat maneuver bonus.

MichaelSomething

Today, we’re gonna tackle some issues; issues regarding the “15-minute adventuring day“. This is one of those issues that people talk about, but no one has talked about it in a while. Grab some coffee before you start reading this because this is gonna take a while.

Let’s start by defining the “15 minute adventuring day.” It’s when a group of adventurers in an RPG setting are active for a very short period of time in a day. It's can also be when a party fights one encounter, expels all of their resources defeating it and then goes off and rests until tomorrow.

What are the causes of the “15 minute adventuring day?” This is due many factors. The first factor is having a system where you are given daily resources you can expend. Once you spend a daily resource, you can not use it again until you rest or wait until tomorrow. The second factor is situations like combat or other encounters that require players use resources in order to pass. Also, the more resources you are willing to spend overcoming a situation, the more likely you are to succeed at it. The third is that having less of those resources equals being more likely to lose (which can lead to your character dieing and all sorts of bad things). This type of resource system can encourage players to use many daily resources in a few situations and then simply wait until tomorrow to regain said daily resources. Players can and will act in this way in order to ensure that they are successful.

Now some people consider this a problem. I’m not sure that many people explain why this is a problem to them but it’s been a while since there’s been a topic discussing it. I guess I’ll have to explain and/or figure it out. One type of complaint is the story-based complaint. Rarely do you see a fictional hero stop doing heroic deeds simply because they lack the ability to continue the adventure. The “15 minute adventuring day” does not fit some people’s ideas on how fantasy should be. The second is a game preference issue. Many people prefer to play a game of resource optimization. They want to play a game where the goal is to do as much as possible with as few resources as possible. They want to play a game where problems like, “should I spend this resource to overcome this encounter or save it for later where it could be needed more?” and “how can I manage these resources to get the most bang for my buck?” exists.

I would like to take the time to note that the “15 minute adventuring day” may not always be a problem. During a 3.5 campaign, a 6th level party entire day was once traveling to one CR 10 encounter, defeating it, and then resting after the encounter because they had no resources left. Despite the fact they only had one fight that whole day, the decision to end the day after that fight was a smart decision. In fact, they would have been foolish to continue afterwards. In 3.5, a party is suppose to defeat 4 encounters of CR equal to their level. Four encounters at the same level are equal to the one encounter that is three CR higher then those four encounters. That means that the one CR 10 encounter is equal to 4 CR 6 encounters. Once in a while, the “15 minute adventuring day” can’t be avoided.

Now, assuming you want to not have a “15 minute adventuring day,” how would you go about doing so? Really, the most important thing is that you do something about it. Don’t assume the “15 minute adventuring day” won’t happen. You may need to take some type of action to prevent it. Luckily, there are many in game ways to do so. For one, you could simply limit how much a PC party can rest. Be sure to come up with good reasons like not having a safe place to rest or something like that. You could also provide some incentive to not rest. The best way to encourage something is to reward it. Time sensitive tasks are yet another method. There are many ways you can alter your game to eliminate the “15 minute adventuring day.” As always, the adventure and system you use has an effect. Adjusting/changing the gaming system you play can solve this or any problem you may have. Like many problems, it can be fixed.


Feel free to post your opinions, questions, and corrections. I suspect there is something I overlooked or missed.

MichaelSomething

In case you didn’t know; the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons is coming! My guess is that it will come out somewhere around 2018. Someday, after WOTC released all the splat books, adventures, monster books and whatever else they can come up with. When the 3rd party market is firmly established and constantly producing new adventures and new variants to the rules. By that point in time, many will transform from neophytes who loved 4th Edition into veterans who are painfully aware of it’s weaknesses. At that point in time, WOTC will put out 5th Edition. Then the edition wars will repeat themselves and the cycle of life will continue (if you know that song from the Lion King soundtrack, imagine it playing now).

It seems like there’s a minority out there that can’t wait for 5th Edition to come out. It seems they didn’t like the direction that 4th Edition took and hope that 5th Edition will be more towards their taste. Well, I got bad news for those people. What if 5th Edition embraces MORE of the things that you hate? If 4th Edition is too video-gamey for you, then 5th Edition may require game pads! If 4th Edition is too RPGA friendly, 5th Edition may be designed entirely by the RPGA! If 4th Edition isn’t D&D enough for you, then 5th Edition could very well completely desert being D&D! It’s nice to think that the future will be better but don’t over hype something that doesn’t exist yet.

Some may also want to see 5th Edition because they are curious about how the system will turn out. If you want a new RPG system you can analyze, you don’t need to wait. Burning Wheel, Spirit of the Century, Castles and Crusades, GURPS, True 20, and Vampire are just some of the RPG systems out there that you examine if you truly are interested in learning about different RPG systems. Then again, 5th Edition will be made in the future. Who knows how RPG design will change in the next 8 to 10 years? What will the RPG designers of the future be like? What kind of RPG would they want to make? Hopefully, it will be the kind you want to play.

I wonder what will happen to 4th Edition when 5th Edition will come out? How many people would be willing to play 4th Edition forever at that point in time? Will it fade into the back alleys of the internet, only to be found on obscure fan websites? Will a popular third company slightly change the rules and put out core rulebooks to keep it in print as well as serve as a system to support their brand of high quality adventures? The true test of 4th Edition will be how popular it will remain when it is no longer the supported edition of Dungeons and Dragons. Will it be able to survive? Only time will tell…

MichaelSomething

I know I may be getting demanding lately, that I may be acting like a jerk. But I have more jerky demands I feel that I need to make. This time I have a question. Why!?! To be less vague about it, what are your goals? What reasons do you have that drive you to do what you do?

It would be a huge help in understanding people's posts, arguments, houserules, and other miscellaneous stuff. It's sort of like giving someone directions. I can't tell you if you're going the right way if I don't know where you want to go. Another way to view it is that many houserules (among other things) are designed to create a certain style of game or to encourage a certain type of player behavior. If I don't know what you what to encourage, I don't know if your houserules achieve their goal. If I don't know what you want from your houserules, I'll have to evaulute the rules from the perspective of "would these rules work for me?" The thing is, what you want from houserules can be completely different from what I want from houserules. I hope you understand where I'm coming from now, right?

Note that I never used the terms "good" or "fun" in that last paragraph. Of course, the whole reason we're here on Enworld in the first place is to find things that are both "fun" and "good." Then why would I not use those terms if those terms would fit so well in context? This is due to the subjective and vague nature of "fun" and "good." What one playgroup would find fun for their game could very well be a nightmare experience for another playgroup. For example, I would find playing a Warforged Ninja/Bard in a campaign very fun. I'm sure many of you are cringing at the thought of that infecting your campaigns. You get where I'm coming from now, right?

I think I may have been too vague previously. I not sure you get what I'm trying to do. I don't want any mistaken intentions here. I want to make sure you know what I'm trying to do so you don't confuse what I want to do with something different. If you don't understand what I'm trying to say, say so. I can edit this later so that my message comes across loud and clear. You ready for it? Here it is.

Please clearly and precisely state your intentions before you engage in a major undertaking. Use as much detail as you feel you need in order to communicate your goals. In fact, I suggest you err on the side of going overboard with your details to ensure we know what you mean. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.

MichaelSomething

Here is an important concept that I think we need to remember when we are discussing things here on Enworld:

The people who produce RPGs will produce products that they believe will sell. Conversely, the people who produce RPGs will not produce products they believe will not sell.

In other words, the laws of Supply and Demand do apply. I've been reading a lot of thread posts that basically boil down to something like "why did they (the RPG companies) ignore concept x, which I like, and instead use concept y, which I hate. This totally sucks!" Simply put, they choose concept y over concept x because they believe that books with concept y will sell more copies then books with concept x. It's as simple as that.

I'm not saying that concept x is badwrongfun or that it sucks. It's just that there are not enough fans of concept x that would be willing to purchase products featuring it. Therefore, RPG companies will not produce products featuring concept x because it will not sell enough copies to make producing said product worthwhile.

Take for example, things like "Crafting", "PCs owning and running their own kingdom," or "Alternate Hit Point System." Threads about Hit Points become 20+ page monsters fairly regularly here on Enworld. If so many people are unhappy with the current Hit Point System, surely there are enough people who would be willing to buy a new Hip Point System if it was produced and produced well. Yet, I never seen an "Alternative Hit Point System Book" on the shelves of my Friendly Local Gaming Store. Books with new and improved crafting rules as well as books featuring the PCs running their own place are rare too.

I'm not saying such material doesn't exist or is impossible to find. The Advanced Player's Guide contains both crafting rules and an alternative Hit Point System for 4E. Pathfinder Issue Number 3 does have an article about the PCs running their own castle. I'm sure if you're willing to take the time and look around, you can find material for just about everything. That's the beauty of the 3rd edition Open Gaming License. However, the majority of RPG books out there are largely about killing things and taking there stuff. There are many books all about new classes, feats, powers, magical combat items, dungeon crawls, monster to fight, etc. There are dozens of books that are all about killing things and taking their stuff. I’m wiling to say that that subject consumes the majority of RPG products. All you have to do is check out any large selection of RPG books and look at them to see this.

Some of you may be thinking, “Concept x really is a cool idea that will sell a lot of products! It just that they aren’t being made due to other factors!” Well, if there really was demand for concept x, then wouldn’t some company out there notice the demand and make a product featuring concept x? If the demand is truly there, then it should be a trivial matter to leverage that demand to get the type of product you want. Good luck with that if you choose to undertake such a project. Some of you may also be thinking, “Concept x truly is really cool! The fact that it doesn’t sell doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea!” That argument does carry some weight. I am quite aware that there is a difference between a good idea and a popular idea. Asking yourself the question, “why does the world ignore this awesome and great idea” will only frustrate you. A far more productive question is “How can I show the world how awesome and great this idea is?”

I know it’s a drag, but if you really want to see concept x become popular; your gonna have to do it yourself. I know the last thing you want to do is go on a crusade. However, while some ideas are natural hits; others need to be worked at if they are to succeed. Someone has to the work and people aren’t exactly lining up to do it. If you want it done, your gonna have to do it yourself. You are the one who has to market concept x. You need to advertise it. You got to provide people resources so that they can use concept x in their own games. You got to do the work to achieve the goal. It’s a lot like marketing a new brand. It won’t be easy but it can be done. Then again, if you’re the type who doesn’t prefer mainstream ideas, I bet you’re use to it.

MichaelSomething

What if the next book for 4th Edition WOTC put out was "The Complete Roleplayer?" Imagine that it would have the following text on its back:

"This book has everything you need to support your roleplaying. From backgrounds and motivations to how to pick your character's hobbies; this book has all sorts of things to make your roleplaying experience better!"

This has been one of those ideas that I never got around to putting out. Now that I did let's examine the possible book and all the questions it would raise.

First, what would be in it? One would have to assume there would be roleplaying advice. Some people would consider the advice to be WOTC forcing people to play in a certain way. There is always someone who will view things in the worst light possible. I'll give a little roleplaying advice while I'm on the subject; roleplaying doesn't mean you can be a complete jackass. Understand there are some things you shouldn't do because it will make your fellow players/DM unable to have fun at the session.

I would also suspect that there will be rules and such related to roleplaying. Expect the usual drill here; more feats, paragon paths, powers, etc. Hopefully there will be rules for all those other skills like perform, craft, and profession.

Another thing to consider would be the "Hero Builder's Guidebook" by WOTC. That book and the "Complete Roleplayer" would be a lot alike. I did hear bad things about the Hero Builder's Guidebook though. It seems most people didn't like it. I wonder why? It doesn't seem like a bad book. I got the book on deep discount so I was able to read it. I only read a little bit but I liked what I read so far. The crunch advice seems subpar but it was created at the early life of 3.0. I did enjoy the fluff and a listing of fantasy names is always useful.

How this book would be received would be another thing to consider. I imagine all those people who feel 4th Edition supressed roleplaying would not be won over by such a book. Others wouldn't be pleased because they would feel that a certain type of roleplaying was being put abover other types. Others might just feel that the book simply sucks (but this one might be true). Some people will complain about everything!

Even if no one would complain about this book, it would never be made; at least by WOTC. Simply because of economics. WOTC will produce things that sell. People will buy splats for the new items/classes/powers but I don't think The Complete Roleplayer would sell very well. It might be worth it to a 3rd party company. Too bad the GSL is no good.

MichaelSomething

It is generally said that a good Dungeon Master or DM can make a bad system fun to play and a bad DM can make a great system a chore to play. If that is true, then isn't the most important factor in a group's fun is not the game they play, but the people in the group? The group's perceptions, attitudes, and habits are much larger factor then game balance, edition number, or rulesets. Shouldn't we focus on that more then?

This brings up the question of a DM's skill. If this is the biggest factor that decides if a session is fun, then the matter deserves to be examined in length. What makes a good DM good and a bad DM bad? How do we turn bad DMs into good DMs? Do we provide enough DMs the resources and skill sets to run fun games? How do DMs get the skill set needed to run a fun game? Does someone teach this stuff?

I think the 4th edition Dungeon Master's Guide makes good strides towards giving DMs the skill set needed to run fun games. It gives info on the common types of players as well as how to deal with common problems like rule lawyers and such. I don't have the actual Dungeon Master's Guide since players really have no need to have one. This opinion is based off of internet lurking and a tiny bit of reading of the book itself. If it turns out I'm wrong about this, I'll amend this.

Of course the players are perfectly capable of wrecking the game as well. I assume everyone is aware of such classic RPG problem players tropes as the Munchkin, Rules Lawyer, and Drama Queen just to name a few of the worst. I'll even admit that I gotten into a pointless argument once. How do we solve these problems?

One way is to make sure a person is in the group that's right for him/her. If you love to make powerful characters, you may not want to join a group where everyone writes 10 page character backgrounds. If you make Bards so you can break out in song during the session, reconsider joining groups that have people who visit the Wizards of the Coast Character Optimization message boards. It also helps if everyone takes the time to talk about what they want out a game before they actually play it.

Of course there is a negative side in focusing solely on the people angle of the game. If a person is having a problem with the game, you shouldn't tell them, "There's nothing wrong with the game. You're just too stupid to play it correctly!" Some people may be fine saying that, but I'm not. It's also much easier to change the game you play then the people you play it with. I can walk into any FLGS and buy a new game in minutes but finding people to play it with is a much harder task.

MichaelSomething

Honestly, I never thought of fear that way. Honestly, I never really thought about fear. I haven't done that much research into fear. The subject of Fear is something I haven't see discussed a lot. Maybe that's why I really don't know what to say. Where should I start?

How about with a God of Fear? I haven't see a God of Fear yet. How would I make a God of Fear fit into a D&D pantheon? What exactly would a God of Fear be like? Would it be a very scary thing that causes fear or would be a being that is always afraid of something? Would the fear be like when people watch horror movies because they want to get scared or would be a paralyzing fear that truly scares you to the bone. I'm afraid (haha) that I don't have the answers right now.

A classic line if there ever was one. I think fear can be a powerful force. I really need to do some research on it. However, instead of doing said research, I lurked the forum and came across these words.

The Editions Wars that have plagued our boards like, well, a plague have caused anger, hate, and suffering among the community. I was wondering how fear played into all this. If Yoda is correct, it is fear that started all this strife. What is the fear that caused all this? I seen plenty of anger, hate, and suffering but where was the fear? Ridcully's words where the first I saw that offered good insight on what that fear was.

Is the fear that 4th Edition will destroy 3rd Edition the cause of the Edition Wars? Could that be root cause of all of it? Are people acting like jerks because they're afraid that the game they love will no longer exist? The most important thing needed for playing an RPG is other people to play it with. If no one wants to play, you don't have a game. If that fear is the problem, what is the solution?

If Tim Allen is right, fear is the opposite of love. Therefore, love is the solution. Forgive me for saying the most cliched line in existence. Maybe the answer is to support the game you want instead of tearing down the game you hate.

I really don't know the answers. I'm afraid (haha) that I may never know...

MichaelSomething

I may not post a lot but I sure do lurk. The more I lurk, the more I wonder is the D&D fanbase unpleasable? Can D&D be the game for everyone? I'm not trying to say we're all a huge bunch of jerks by asking this. It could simply mean that the D&D fanbase is too large and varied to be served by a single entity.

For every person who loved the wizard for being a complex class full of endless options, you can find another who hated the wizard for being too powerful and unbalancing because he could do everything. For every person who wants a streamlined, simple game, you can find another person who hates streamlined games because they are shallow and devoid of options. For everyone person who plays RPG to experience classic fantasy tropes, you can find another person who feels classic fantasy tropes make the game less fun.

Whatever WOTC does, they'll upset someone. Has WOTC done something that pleased everyone? Was a compromise ever reached? WOTC cannot fashion the game to cater just to your tastes. They want to make the game that they believe will please the most people possible.

What do you do if D&D doesn't give you what you want out of an RPG? Play another RPG. There are dozens of systems out there if your willing to look. If simulationism and options are what you are after, why not consider GURPS? I heard so much about how 4th lacks options and simulationism. If those things are so important to people, shouldn't they play GURPS? Honestly, I never played that system, but I hear it's the game to go to for options and simulationism. Now I'm gonna download the GURPS lite rules and check them out since I written this.

You're bound to find something you don't like. It does not always mean that it's bad. It could simply mean it was designed to appeal to a different person. If it turns out that what you want from a game is not what the game gives, why not find a game that will give you what you want? There are other fish in the sea and all that jazz.

MichaelSomething