S'mon said:In 3e though 'beating up hapless monsters' is really non-core; by the book, almost every encounter is a serious threat - 'challenging' or worse - and this is true at all levels. In 1e/2e, as in C&C, high level PCs especially will often wade through dozens of encounters with barely breaking sweat, though always there's the possibility of something dangerous or overwhelming. High level AD&D, OD&D, and C&C give a real sense of power as you trash dozens of the same (eg) trolls you ran from when low level. In core 3e you rarely get to do this, in fact IME players often positively _resent_ 'underpowered' encounters, because they still take a good while to set up and run (often a very long time to run), with no payoff in XP or danger.
So, in terms of 'threat demographics' C&C is very much old school. This is one of the things I like about it. I like 3e tactical combat, especially at lower levels, but I also like a game where PCs can become genuinely and obviously powerful in-game.
3E's idiotic skills feats and class attachments to monsters was one of the worst things 3Es designers came up with . Its nice that C&C didn't follow 3E in this regard, but neither did alot of other games (also NOT "old school) so it takes more then that to qualify, but your point is well taken.
Also, C&C has many annoying 3E similarities, for instance the Illusionist (WTF) and too many open doors to import 3E. That sort of adaptability isn't a strength, its a weakness, it comes off as wishy washy and unfocused (thats why I say its really 3E light, because thats where its most useful (something the Trolls are well aware of)...3Eers wanting something faster).
C&C suffers from a lack of true identity. It isn't old school, isn't 3E, and isn't unique enough on its own to make a splash. And now with PPP and OSRIC there's no reason to publish modules using C&Cs platform either. As Melan mentioned, just what is the point in publishing the game?
Gideon, besides the C&Cs usual marketing squad (most of them involved in its creation somehow), I have yet to see anyone whos ever played the game. The few copies our local gaming store did have sat in a sales rack for well over a year and then disappeared (I don't think they sold, though I didn't ask).
Anyhow, who's saying people should care if a game is "old school" or not to play it? No one on this thread has suggested that.
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