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[Very Long] Combat as Sport vs. Combat as War: a Key Difference in D&D Play Styles...
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<blockquote data-quote="Aenghus" data-source="post: 5808649" data-attributes="member: 2656"><p>I prefer Combat as Sport to Combat as War, so I'm trying to articulate my preference. This is a matter of taste and everyone is entitled to their opinion. The issue of concern is that systems are often biased in favour of particular game styles, so everyone wants the new game to address their preferred style. The nasty part is people wanting the new game to neglect styles they don't like - that isn't a good business decision, the new edition is coming because D&D needs a wider audience and this means it has to address 4e player concerns as well as everybody elses.</p><p></p><p>Issues with Combat as War: It tends to be, or wants to be seen as being, a high lethaliy rate style. It's often predicated on a "rules-as-physics" view of the game, when the game wasn't designed in a coherent fashion to support this view, so the gameplay that emerges isn't necessarily fun for everyone. It's often wedded to the exact details of how things work in a particular campaign, details that are not all provided in the rules so they have to be extrapolated - this means no two campaigns make exactly the same set of assumptions, reducing the usefulness of subsequent content. It privileges system mastery above other qualities, and a utilitarian playstyle above other styles. It seriously raises the learning curve for new players, and makes it much more likely new players will lose multiple PCs while learning the game, which can scare players off. It promotes an elitist attitude, which I think is silly in a game involving pretending to be pointy eared elves who fight oversized firebreathing lizards.</p><p></p><p>I think Combat as Sport throws up a lot less barriers to new players, being more lenient and allowing them to survive their initial mistakes rather than rolling lots of new characters. It's easier to learn, and allows a wider range of character concepts to flourish. It's more transparent with regard to mechanics and their interactions, and makes it more obvious what mechanics support or don't support particular styles . It makes it easier to run long campaigns. It typically doesn't assume a strong connection between flavour text and mechanics, making reskinning easier and allowing a wider range of game worlds (rather than just the ones that agree with the systems default flavour assumptions).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aenghus, post: 5808649, member: 2656"] I prefer Combat as Sport to Combat as War, so I'm trying to articulate my preference. This is a matter of taste and everyone is entitled to their opinion. The issue of concern is that systems are often biased in favour of particular game styles, so everyone wants the new game to address their preferred style. The nasty part is people wanting the new game to neglect styles they don't like - that isn't a good business decision, the new edition is coming because D&D needs a wider audience and this means it has to address 4e player concerns as well as everybody elses. Issues with Combat as War: It tends to be, or wants to be seen as being, a high lethaliy rate style. It's often predicated on a "rules-as-physics" view of the game, when the game wasn't designed in a coherent fashion to support this view, so the gameplay that emerges isn't necessarily fun for everyone. It's often wedded to the exact details of how things work in a particular campaign, details that are not all provided in the rules so they have to be extrapolated - this means no two campaigns make exactly the same set of assumptions, reducing the usefulness of subsequent content. It privileges system mastery above other qualities, and a utilitarian playstyle above other styles. It seriously raises the learning curve for new players, and makes it much more likely new players will lose multiple PCs while learning the game, which can scare players off. It promotes an elitist attitude, which I think is silly in a game involving pretending to be pointy eared elves who fight oversized firebreathing lizards. I think Combat as Sport throws up a lot less barriers to new players, being more lenient and allowing them to survive their initial mistakes rather than rolling lots of new characters. It's easier to learn, and allows a wider range of character concepts to flourish. It's more transparent with regard to mechanics and their interactions, and makes it more obvious what mechanics support or don't support particular styles . It makes it easier to run long campaigns. It typically doesn't assume a strong connection between flavour text and mechanics, making reskinning easier and allowing a wider range of game worlds (rather than just the ones that agree with the systems default flavour assumptions). [/QUOTE]
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[Very Long] Combat as Sport vs. Combat as War: a Key Difference in D&D Play Styles...
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