"Syndrome" Syndrome: or the Fallacy of "Special"

[J.Quondam]

The "how to pronounce EN World" thread was necro'd yesterday. It's about three months shy of 20 years old.

 

[Argyle King]

Lately, I have noticed that the talking-point criticism of the 4E system has been a co-opted quote from the movie The Incredibles, in that "When everyone is special, no one will be."

Lets ignore the fact that the source of the quote is a deranged maniac; the quote itself, when applied as it has been here, is completely dismantled by the actions of the movie.

Within the movie, you have the super-family Parr (a Captain Ersatz version of the Fantastic 4) that is, ostensibly, no less powerful than one another. One person's Super Speed doesn't take up more time or succeed greater than another's Invisibility/Forcefields: one character's Super Strength is proven to be as useful or better than another's Elastic Limbs.

Yet it is in the full amalgamation of the Five Man Band (The Incredibles plus Frozone) in which the team itself is "special". The climax of the movie is that the Team completed the mission together.

Therefore, I don't see how someone can use the Syndrome quote honestly and without irony when comparing it to 4E: The 4 Roles (plus Frozone!) creates mutually-"special" characters that divorced from the world around them does special things.

The last part of what you said is what sticks out to me: "...divorced from the world around them..."

In the past, most of my criticisms of 4E came from that.

 

[Silvercat Moonpaw]

Especially weird for me, because I just signed on today after years of not paying attention to ENWorld, and I see a thread marked with my little dot and had to wonder if I'd totally forgotten coming here recently.
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I also have to say, I think I'm someone who prefers to be special because of how my character acts rather than because they're by-the-rules-stand-out.