D&D 4E 4e like WoW? Nope, Wrong Game

[Ten]

"Be sure to return Friday for a look at power cards!"

Poker.

Nope, He-Man.

Actually, I am pretty sure it is closest to http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113118/

 

[ShockMeSane]

This simply isn't true. Unless you are only counting OD&D, AD&D 1 + 2.

Because in BECMI and 3.X, melee combatants could way outstrip the amount of damage done by wizards in every practical sense.

Let's take two examples.
1) A fighter who is a grand master in the sword using the smash and multiple attack abilities could inflict hundreds of points of damage in a round. Hundreds. Wizards where topped (effectively) at about 60-80. At low and mid levels, wizards did more damage. At high levels it was the fighter.

2) Frenzied Berzerker PA with a great sword using Pounce and Shocktrooper in raw damage vs a mage?

Leading me to suggest that in this way 4e is the spiritual successor to BECMI and the mechanical successor to 3.5

I wish the players in my games were naive enough to build wizards that only did 60-80 damage. Even barring the Incantatrix mega-cheese, but allowing Complete Arcane, I can think of a few ways for a wizard to do over 700 damage in a round without a save. This is of course assuming they don't just Saveordie. With Incantatrix, you can go over 2k in a round (with no crits) =/

C'mon tho, a freaking maximized disintegrate does 240 untyped damage on a failed save, 480 on a crit, though I'll admit that's pretty unlikely . And thats using no special rules or splatbooks and barring the most obvious cheese like Timestop. Compared to a 3.5 PHB1 using *insertanykindofmeleebuild* thats pretty ridiculous, and of course it precludes being able to do it while flying, invisible, mirror imaged, displaced, stoneskinned etc etc etc.

Of course with splatbooks you can build some pretty competitive fighter-types. But to say Fighter damage dominates spellcaster damage in 3.x is an extremely dubious statement at best.

 

[wedgeski]

To be honest I don't see any points in your list that don't also apply to WoW, which has always essentially been Diablo 2 writ large.

 

[Mirtek]

Diablo 2 classes all use the same system for "skills" (character powers), whether it's Barbarian combat moves or Sorceress spells. They all use the same system, but each class's selection of skills is unique. The same goes for powers in 4e, which is the same for all classes, but every class has a unique list of powers.

Just like in WoW

In Diablo 2, new and more powerful skills become available at specific levels: 6, 12, 18, etc. All classes share this progression. In 4e, new and more powerful powers become avaiable at specific levels. All classes share this progression.

Just like in WoW

In Diablo 2, classes are divided into subclasses. Amazons can be "bowazons" (archers) or "javazons" (spear-throwers), for example. Each path has its own skills. While you will tend to specialize in one or the other, you are still free to pick up skills from the other paths. In 4e, classes are divided into subclasses, such as archer rangers and dual-wielding rangers. Each path has its own powers. While you will tend to specialize in one or the other, you are still free to pick up powers from the other path.

Just like in WoW

Diablo 2 is set in three tiers of difficulty: normal, nightmare and hell. 4e has three tiers of difficulty: heroic, paragon and epic.

Just like in WoW (Single, Group, Raid)

In Diablo 2, Sorceresses have a skill called cold mastery, which gives targets vulnerability to cold damage, causing them to take increased damage from cold spells. In 4e, the Lasting Frost feat gives targets vulnerability to your cold spells, causing them to take increased damage from cold spells.

Just like in WoW

Several of the things I mentioned do not apply to WoW.

However most of them do. WoW is more or less a prettier Diablo in 3D

 

[hossrex]

DnD HAS CLASS ROLES! ITS EXACTLY LIKE WoW IN EVERY WAY! I MUST QUIT MY LONGTIME PLAY GROUP, JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE SWITCHING TO 4E!

(over use of caps used to represent people in my play group who've decided to quit playing because we're making the switch... even though they know nothing of 4E, and aren't willing to attempt to learn about it by playing in our pre-release campaign. Anything said about it yields comments like the above.)

 

[Simon Marks]

I wish the players in my games were naive enough to build wizards that only did 60-80 damage.

Sorry, should have explained - first example is from BECMI not 3.5. I thought that references to "grand mastery" and "smash" would have shown that, as neither appear in 3.x

Of course with splatbooks you can build some pretty competitive fighter-types. But to say Fighter damage dominates spellcaster damage in 3.x is an extremely dubious statement at best.

Damage wise, I'd say so. That's just going off WOTC CharOp boards tho'

As I said, a PA frenzied etc.. can be doing 200+ pts of damage per hit at 20th level. With haste weapons and pounce that can be 1k per round, every round.

 

[mhensley]

I don't think 4e resembles WoW so much as it resembles German-style boardgame designs - fairly simplistic games based on mathematical formula with a very thin veneer of flavor.

 

[FickleGM]

WoW has fewer invisible walls than 4e.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

"Be sure to return Friday for a look at power cards!"

Poker.

Heh.

I fear this WILL fuel the "4e is so Magic the Gathering" fires though...

 

[Grimstaff]

I would like to see more 4E elements designed around Frogger.