D&D 3E/3.5 (3.5) People complain too much

[orion90000]

I've recently leveled a group to 20 (core only) and had the time of my life. I had a cleric, fighter, rogue, and sorcerer. I kept them pure and had no complaints about any of them.

From reading forums and whatnot, all I hear about is how this class is broken and how that spell is broken. I don't get it. Either people are extreme power gamers or they just don't appreciate the wonderful game that Wizards of the Coast designed for them.

I didn't find any challenge to be overpowered (I did the random dungeons from DMG), I did die from time to time (There is a 1 on every d20... and it always comes up when there is a Save or Die effect). I did learn not to laugh at a kobold sorcer... with prismatic spray (TPK... damn 1's) and I learned that the Fighter will always roll a 20 when he is Dominated/Confused and the Sorcerer is trying to disable him. Rogues enjoy being turned into statues, and subsequently dying from shock when being turned back to humans. Also Tarrasque was a piece of cake at level 20 - Although the Rogue died of Massive Damage (damn 1's).

The hardest fight was the Pit Fiend at level 19, he disabled my Fighter with Mass Hold Monster and the Sorcerer had a challenge with his high SR.

My chief complaint is that WotC didn't provide as many examples of the special attacks of monsters as they should have, like the mechanics of negative levels. Or explain whether or not you can stack flaming on a magic weapon. On top of the ambiguity (which can be resolved at the table with house rules) is the constant stream of splat books that IMO added too much to the game and took the game away from the basics.

 

[Dandu]

Back in my day...

Shall I get off your lawn?

 

[DumbPaladin]

I have complaints about this thread.

 

[Piratecat]

I love D&D, but I have complaints about your complaints.

 

[Alexander123]

I don't think that the splat books have taken away anything from playing the game with only core. I think that the splat books have added a tremendous value to my games both from the aspect of mechanics and optimization and roleplaying.

 

[CuRoi]

I believe in 3.5 there is a rule for that... It's an opposed Craft: Prodigious Complaint check or Profession: Whiner. I'm pretty sure there may even be a synergy with the Bluff skill (cause, what doesn't have synergy with Bluff...) If all that fails, people who don't like the complaining can begin heckling and jeering which also has it's own mechanic (an opposed Charisma check). Barring this, you just elect to play Basic DnD and create characters every 30 minutes or so as they die off. This causes discomfort among players, but lacking a "complaint" skill resolution, they have no outlet so at least you no longer have to listen.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

D&D 3E is an awesome game, and I like the splat books for the most part, with some notable exceptions (like Savage Species...grr...). It always seems like a lot of the "problems" are game-breaking rules exploits that no DM would allow in a real game and no decent human being would actually wish to derail a game with. Would it be better if the abuses weren't possible due to better rules writing or whatever? Sure. Is it the huge deal-breaker issue people on the internet make it out to be sometimes? I don't think so.

 

[Empirate]

I think many of the complaints we hear ("Casters too über!","This feat combo broken!","Animal Companion better than Fighter!" etc.) are due to the expectation that a game needs to be balanced.

D&D isn't balanced. In fact, Game Balance has been the first guy to be taken out and shot when the 3.x revolution came. However, his desk is still there in WotC's office, and people have started to revere him as a martyr. His legacy lives on in a game design world in which there is nobody left to live it. Game Balance is mourned and treated like a saint. But that doesn't make him any less dead.

And you know what? That's fine. Game Balance never did much for the game anyway. His work didn't bring anything to the table that was needed to play, and play well. So treating him like a saint is retarded.

Game Balance had a son. His name's All Characters Are Created Equal. WotC hired this guy and gave him a job pretty high up the pecking order. The even put All Characters Are Created Equal in charge of 4E. He messed it up good, not because he didn't live up to his father's legacy, but because his father's legacy is a useless idea in creating an RPG.

We don't want to play a MMORPG (but with pencils and worse graphics). We want to play an RPG. An RPG doesn't need Game Balance, or All Characters Are Created Equal. In fact, their whole boiling can go to hell for all I care. The game's good as is. No need to complain. Also, no need to complain about complaining.

[/ramble]

 

[billd91]

People complain too much? On the internet? Preposterous! Impossible! Unbelievable!

Well, OK, maybe I can believe it a little...
maybe a lot.
OK, so I got nothin'.

 

[billd91]

A bit more seriously, I think people do complain a lot. But I think some play styles tend to punish rules far more than others do - I'm thinking of the hard core optimizers here. Hard core optimizers are like people who buy cars, constantly redline the engine, and then complain that it's broken because it breaks down under those conditions.

For most people, the car's engine works fine and will for a long time. It may need a little tweaking and maintenance to better fit their driving style, but the modifications are ultimately pretty minor.