Excerpt: Economies [merged]

[MyISPHatesENWorld]

The only way to remove that completely would be to take equipment out of the game. The DM is the master of the dungeon, and no rule system can stop a bad DM from screwing with everyone's fun. Sure it can help, and it definitely help inexperienced dms run better games, but if a dm is determined to force characters to play a certain way, then only the players can stop him by voicing their grievances, and/or leaving the game.

Yeah, nothing keeps bad DMs from being bad, but making it clear to players that they should expect periodic rewards rather than periodic screwings would go a long way toward encouraging them to find a new DM rather than a new hobby.

 

[Fanaelialae]

Hopefully, the magic item or rewards section will make it clear that magic items are a reward and that the DM should try to give players things that they'll like.

I should hope, considering that one of the big design goals for 4e is fun, that this is pretty much a given. They were pretty clear in the article that found magic items are rewards, and a reward isn't much of one if it isn't something any of the players wants. I would be very surprised if the DMG didn't call out the fact that the DM should award items to the players that they want, not that he wants, and that the "best" reward slot should routinely cycle among the players.