Recent content by JeDiWiker

Actually, that's not accurate. First, I wouldn't say I was bitter toward Wizards after my layoff (though I have had some issues with their accounts payable department). Likewise, Sean volunteered to be laid off so he could move to New York, so I don't think he had much reason to be bitter. As...

The funny thing is--and I think people who respond to me lose sight of this--I think it's very possible that 4E will grow on me, and I'll eventually come to like it. Maybe not within minutes of finishing reading the Monster Manual, but eventually. The fact is that Wizards has played things so...

The major difference I see is that the refresh rate is so short that it becomes far more attractive. In previous editions, knowing that you were going to be "out of action" for 6-8 hours was a tactical concern--the monsters might be ready for you next time. In 4E, as near as I can tell, the...

Your confusion may stem from the fact that you've got it backwards. Apparently, you don't understand me. My complaint, as referenced in the post that started this thread, is that 4E does not feel like the D&D I'm used to. Two of the causes are that it reminds me of CCG mechanics and MMO...

I'm not saying it's worse, but I do think it *feels* different. You can reasonably expect a PC who's lost a lot of his hit points to want to be healed up to at least half his normal total before continuing. (Players who insist on "topping off" their characters are always going to do so...

Well, sure, except that it's not the DM who gets to make the call. When he announces that the last orc has fallen, the players will be the ones saying "We take a coffee break to get our per-encounter powers back." At the very least, after they've wandered about a bit, healing, searching...

I honestly hope you're right. JD

Unfortunately, mechanically, they *will* be sitting around waiting as though for a waffle iron. In theory, the players can assume that they're healing, searching, and looting--but, if the encounter was very easy for them (as we've heard some were at DDE), *sometimes* the PCs take no damage, and...

If the goal is to preserve the feel of D&D, then anything that reminds players of TCGs, MMOs, or CMGs while they're playing runs counter to the goal. Here's an analogy: A few years back, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and Carrie-Ann Moss were extraordinarily popular. Not everyone liked them, of...

See, statements like this make me think you might have a misconception about my perspective. I am by no means arguing that 3.X is perfect. I agree that the pacing leaves a lot to be desired. I just feel that the mechanic they chose to correct the pacing issue feels more like a TCG than D&D--and...

... which is kind of my whole point. JD

If the difference appears artificial, then perhaps I didn't express it well enough. Here's another try: While 3.X has plenty of mechanics that can only be used once per "encounter" (and let's not get bogged down in the semantics of "day," "round," "encounter," and any other division of time that...

Actually, I learned recently that the decision might have boiled down to "Do you work for another game company?" Since I run The Game Mechanics, they may have decided that giving me a copy of the rules (without charging me $5,000) would have been unfair to the game companies they actually...

First, the adventure in question has numerous precedents in the Tales of the Jedi era (where numerous Sith wannabes visit ancient Sith tombs on Korriban. Second, the adventure in question was published over a year after the release of the original core rulebook--well after the playtesters had...

A duration of "until end of encounter" and a "cooldown" of "at end of encounter" are very different mechanics. The former provides you with its benefit for the duration; the latter is a benefit that applies once, then can't be used again until you've "untapped," to borrow a CCG term. And...