Andor
First Post
This is not a review of 4th edition gameplay, or a complaint that it's not "D&D". Everyone got that through their skulls? Good.
When I take a look at 4ed on it's own merits one thing keeps striking me like a cold salmon to the face. It's just so dammed unpolished. In places it seems downright amatuerish.
What do I mean? Take a look at the credits page. The editors couldn't even get their own titles right.
Rules that are absolutely critical to the functioning of the game are stuck in the middle of paragraphs with no highlighting and no clear explaination. The magic item - keyword rule is probably the best example of this. Think it's clear? Have a look at this thread.
There are examples that refer to rules that no longer work the way cited in the example. Look at the second damage example on page 276. It refers to a thundering longsword's encounter power to add 10 damage and push 1 to an attack. Only as printed Thundering Weapons have no such encounter power, they have a daily that adds Xd8 damage and 1 push. Obviously the example is a holdover from earlier rules.
I don't know if I've ever read a product where it was more obvious where different authors were writing different sections with differing ideas about how things were supposed to work. Why else is the Rogue the only class with at-will powers after 1st level? They had to errata Humans over that one. Why do we have on the one hand rules that imply special effects are alterable at will for flavor reasons (Flavor text discussion on page 55) but on the other hand absolutely rigid 'flavor' built into the power structure of some classes like Rogues and their inability to attack with anything but a light blade.
Powers are written up with inconsistent application of formating. Take a look 'Paladin's Judgement' on page 92. On a hit it let's you heal a ally within 5, and on a miss it let's you heal an ally in 5. ... If the power formatting was applied correctly it would have said Effect: One ally within 5 squares of you can spend a healing surge. Since afterall the Effect line is where you are supposed to put effects that are the same regardless of if the power hits or misses.
Important rules are handled by implication or omitted entirely. See this thread for an example.
Regardless of anime, videogameiness, Dragonborn or whatever your issue is, 4e is deeply flawed as a print product. This is not, I think, the fault of the designers. Instead the absurd production schedule forced things to freeze in the middle of development and crippled the editor's abilities to keep on top of things like look-and-feel and consistancy. With another 6 months or a year of development 4e could have been the polished and professional product we've come to expect from WotC, instead it's reminiscent on the sort of games that used to come printed on a linotype machine and bound with staples.
Can it be fixed? Sure. 4.5 might fix it. Or the next edition of the PHB whatever they call it. Obviously the PHB needs revision whether it's called errata or a new 4.x. But the idea pervadeing the 4e design cycle, that you could ship you beta product out the door and fix it later by download in the computer game model has bitten them on the ass. Time will tell if the bite is fatal.
It's a shame, because 4e might have been a great product, instead of a poorly edited mess.
When I take a look at 4ed on it's own merits one thing keeps striking me like a cold salmon to the face. It's just so dammed unpolished. In places it seems downright amatuerish.
What do I mean? Take a look at the credits page. The editors couldn't even get their own titles right.
Rules that are absolutely critical to the functioning of the game are stuck in the middle of paragraphs with no highlighting and no clear explaination. The magic item - keyword rule is probably the best example of this. Think it's clear? Have a look at this thread.
There are examples that refer to rules that no longer work the way cited in the example. Look at the second damage example on page 276. It refers to a thundering longsword's encounter power to add 10 damage and push 1 to an attack. Only as printed Thundering Weapons have no such encounter power, they have a daily that adds Xd8 damage and 1 push. Obviously the example is a holdover from earlier rules.
I don't know if I've ever read a product where it was more obvious where different authors were writing different sections with differing ideas about how things were supposed to work. Why else is the Rogue the only class with at-will powers after 1st level? They had to errata Humans over that one. Why do we have on the one hand rules that imply special effects are alterable at will for flavor reasons (Flavor text discussion on page 55) but on the other hand absolutely rigid 'flavor' built into the power structure of some classes like Rogues and their inability to attack with anything but a light blade.
Powers are written up with inconsistent application of formating. Take a look 'Paladin's Judgement' on page 92. On a hit it let's you heal a ally within 5, and on a miss it let's you heal an ally in 5. ... If the power formatting was applied correctly it would have said Effect: One ally within 5 squares of you can spend a healing surge. Since afterall the Effect line is where you are supposed to put effects that are the same regardless of if the power hits or misses.
Important rules are handled by implication or omitted entirely. See this thread for an example.
Regardless of anime, videogameiness, Dragonborn or whatever your issue is, 4e is deeply flawed as a print product. This is not, I think, the fault of the designers. Instead the absurd production schedule forced things to freeze in the middle of development and crippled the editor's abilities to keep on top of things like look-and-feel and consistancy. With another 6 months or a year of development 4e could have been the polished and professional product we've come to expect from WotC, instead it's reminiscent on the sort of games that used to come printed on a linotype machine and bound with staples.
Can it be fixed? Sure. 4.5 might fix it. Or the next edition of the PHB whatever they call it. Obviously the PHB needs revision whether it's called errata or a new 4.x. But the idea pervadeing the 4e design cycle, that you could ship you beta product out the door and fix it later by download in the computer game model has bitten them on the ass. Time will tell if the bite is fatal.
It's a shame, because 4e might have been a great product, instead of a poorly edited mess.
