Impeesa
Explorer
Y'know, I only took one probability course, so I'm a bit hazy on the technicalities - maybe hong could fill us in here, I don't know. But if I recall correctly, if you've got a bunch of things weighted towards a central value (in this case, feats with an average power value), you're pretty much guaranteed of a few things. Some will be below average, some will be above average, most will be around the median. The more sample points you have (more feats from more supplements), the more likely it is that some will be more significantly above or below the central point. Every now and then, someone points this out, and it's not a brilliant insight - it's simple statistics. Given that only extraordinarily rigorous mathematical analysis of feat power levels could tighten the distribution (which isn't likely to happen), and having more options is, in general, a good thing, I find it pretty hard to complain about the current situation with the number of feats available and the power levels they encompass.
Lemma one: Subdividing feats will not help at all. Feat power levels presumeably do not form a discrete spectrum, so no matter how you divide them up you'll still have feats which are particularly strong (or particularly weak) for a Minor feat, and the same for the Major feats. You end up with more arbitrary categories, and the same problem you started with. Again, without some extraordinarily rigorous mathematical analysis, there will always be a 'best' and a 'worst' choice within any given pool of options (though those may be context sensitive, based on character race/class, campaign type, etc). Aside from being intuitively obvious (which, sadly, is not a valid method of proof), this is a fairly basic part of game theory.
Man, I don't even study this stuff and I still spout off. :\ Consider yourselves lucky I was too lazy to draw up diagrams and examples, because I seriously considered it.
--Impeesa--
Lemma one: Subdividing feats will not help at all. Feat power levels presumeably do not form a discrete spectrum, so no matter how you divide them up you'll still have feats which are particularly strong (or particularly weak) for a Minor feat, and the same for the Major feats. You end up with more arbitrary categories, and the same problem you started with. Again, without some extraordinarily rigorous mathematical analysis, there will always be a 'best' and a 'worst' choice within any given pool of options (though those may be context sensitive, based on character race/class, campaign type, etc). Aside from being intuitively obvious (which, sadly, is not a valid method of proof), this is a fairly basic part of game theory.
Man, I don't even study this stuff and I still spout off. :\ Consider yourselves lucky I was too lazy to draw up diagrams and examples, because I seriously considered it.
--Impeesa--