evilbob
Explorer
This is really just a small piece of a much larger thought (slash rant) that has been developing over the last few months, but I am really starting to become disillusioned with 4th edition. I loved 4.0 when it first came out - so many things to like, such a bunch of great ideas - but the longer I play it, the more often I look at it and examine it, the more faults I continue to find with it. The longer I look, the more cracks appear, and the bigger they become. The constant release of new materials just further intensifies this problem, as they are throwing more and more out there, and this creates even more errors and imbalances and problems with the game. I am not a professional game designer, nor am I sure that I know better than people who are. But it's getting painfully obvious that there are some real problems with 4.0, and the more I look at them the more they disappoint and frustrate me.
Last night became the latest example. We're playing in paragon tier and one of my buddies is a striker who normally uses a +3 bloodclaw weapon two-handed. For those few still unaware, this is easily one of the most problematic items in the game. I already knew it was problematic, but it's also a little fun when you're stupidly overpowered, so whatever, right? Maybe the designers had some master plan I don't know about. Surely they would have fixed it by now if it were really that broken? This character has been tearing things to pieces, and if everyone else weren't using items that are equally as powerful (i.e. more powerful than the vast, VAST majority of other items) then we might have complained. But we're all using the best items (CLEARLY the best) so it's all good. Then, last night, we managed to find a +4 artifact weapon. This weapon has all kinds of powers and abilities and gives lots of bonuses all over the place, and it was clearly meant to be a powerful uber-weapon for our +3 bloodclaw striker buddy. But here's the thing: the more I think about it, the more I analyze this situation, the more I realized that my buddy should not trade up. The +4 artifact weapon is not as good. A +3 bloodclaw weapon is better than a +4 artifact.
The thing is, it will cause his damage to go down by 8 each hit. Yes, it gives a +1 to hit overall, but the +8 damage is something that is really, REALLY palpable. In fact, as a striker, it is indispensable. Damage is -the- most important thing - especially as a striker. 4.0 tried to get away from this, but they did not. If you're not a striker, there's an argument to be made that you have other abilities that are more important than damage. But even if you're not a striker, if you can find a way to gain additional damage, you should always make that trade. For wizards and other controllers who use staffs, there's only one choice for a weapon. For anyone who uses two-handed weapons, there's only one choice. If you're a two-weapon fighter, you have exactly one choice for each. If you are a melee character, you have one choice for an arm item - and so on and so on. So many items so completely overshadow all other items in the game that they create a situation in which there is only one choice. 4.0 tried to get away from the "6 most common items" or whatever it was, but they immediately recreated them in a slightly different form.
And the frustrating thing is that this is just plain obvious. If you've played the game at all, if you've seen these weapons in action, then you know there is no other choice. Yes, I know there are RP reasons to pick something else, and it's not always about optimization, and it depends on the campaign, and blah blah blah. I'm sorry, but that's just not completely true. I have seen RP players who don't care one whit about optimization play with others who are optimized, and yes, it's not a big deal... at first. But over time, slowly but surely, session after session, they come to realize that their character just doesn't make as much of a difference as everyone else. They just aren't as good at stuff; they just don't help as much. And if you're foolish enough to rely only on the pre-generated adventures that WotC puts out, which as written are about 80-90% battles and 10-20% anything else, then they're REALLY out of luck, because they AREN'T helping as much and their character ISN'T as good. And eventually they'll feel it, and they'll think the class isn't fun or that some power is overrated, and they'll be unhappy and want to change. But really, the issue is that their character just didn't pick the stupidly overpowered 6 items that are all that matters in a game that is pretty much just about damage.
I know a lot of these statements will create defensive reactions from folks, and there will be little nit-picks of each paragraph and counters to each minor example, and I'm sorry I'm overstating things a bit, because I am sure that I am. There -is- a middle ground out there, I know. But I also know it's not as big as I used to think it was.
Folks, what do you do? What do you do when the game is getting more imbalanced but house rules are more discouraged than ever? What do you do when some items are so brokenly powerful that nothing else is really useful, and everyone in the party ends up looking the same - cookie-cutter carbon copies who all use the same BEST equipment and half of them use the same power? What do you do when a +3 bloodclaw weapon is more powerful than a +4 artifact?
What is left to do other than stop purchasing products with known defects.
Last night became the latest example. We're playing in paragon tier and one of my buddies is a striker who normally uses a +3 bloodclaw weapon two-handed. For those few still unaware, this is easily one of the most problematic items in the game. I already knew it was problematic, but it's also a little fun when you're stupidly overpowered, so whatever, right? Maybe the designers had some master plan I don't know about. Surely they would have fixed it by now if it were really that broken? This character has been tearing things to pieces, and if everyone else weren't using items that are equally as powerful (i.e. more powerful than the vast, VAST majority of other items) then we might have complained. But we're all using the best items (CLEARLY the best) so it's all good. Then, last night, we managed to find a +4 artifact weapon. This weapon has all kinds of powers and abilities and gives lots of bonuses all over the place, and it was clearly meant to be a powerful uber-weapon for our +3 bloodclaw striker buddy. But here's the thing: the more I think about it, the more I analyze this situation, the more I realized that my buddy should not trade up. The +4 artifact weapon is not as good. A +3 bloodclaw weapon is better than a +4 artifact.
The thing is, it will cause his damage to go down by 8 each hit. Yes, it gives a +1 to hit overall, but the +8 damage is something that is really, REALLY palpable. In fact, as a striker, it is indispensable. Damage is -the- most important thing - especially as a striker. 4.0 tried to get away from this, but they did not. If you're not a striker, there's an argument to be made that you have other abilities that are more important than damage. But even if you're not a striker, if you can find a way to gain additional damage, you should always make that trade. For wizards and other controllers who use staffs, there's only one choice for a weapon. For anyone who uses two-handed weapons, there's only one choice. If you're a two-weapon fighter, you have exactly one choice for each. If you are a melee character, you have one choice for an arm item - and so on and so on. So many items so completely overshadow all other items in the game that they create a situation in which there is only one choice. 4.0 tried to get away from the "6 most common items" or whatever it was, but they immediately recreated them in a slightly different form.
And the frustrating thing is that this is just plain obvious. If you've played the game at all, if you've seen these weapons in action, then you know there is no other choice. Yes, I know there are RP reasons to pick something else, and it's not always about optimization, and it depends on the campaign, and blah blah blah. I'm sorry, but that's just not completely true. I have seen RP players who don't care one whit about optimization play with others who are optimized, and yes, it's not a big deal... at first. But over time, slowly but surely, session after session, they come to realize that their character just doesn't make as much of a difference as everyone else. They just aren't as good at stuff; they just don't help as much. And if you're foolish enough to rely only on the pre-generated adventures that WotC puts out, which as written are about 80-90% battles and 10-20% anything else, then they're REALLY out of luck, because they AREN'T helping as much and their character ISN'T as good. And eventually they'll feel it, and they'll think the class isn't fun or that some power is overrated, and they'll be unhappy and want to change. But really, the issue is that their character just didn't pick the stupidly overpowered 6 items that are all that matters in a game that is pretty much just about damage.
I know a lot of these statements will create defensive reactions from folks, and there will be little nit-picks of each paragraph and counters to each minor example, and I'm sorry I'm overstating things a bit, because I am sure that I am. There -is- a middle ground out there, I know. But I also know it's not as big as I used to think it was.
Folks, what do you do? What do you do when the game is getting more imbalanced but house rules are more discouraged than ever? What do you do when some items are so brokenly powerful that nothing else is really useful, and everyone in the party ends up looking the same - cookie-cutter carbon copies who all use the same BEST equipment and half of them use the same power? What do you do when a +3 bloodclaw weapon is more powerful than a +4 artifact?
What is left to do other than stop purchasing products with known defects.
