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You know, the Mearls quote stands out as strange to me for all kinds of reasons. The first D&D product to take inspiration from videogames was the 3E Tome of Battle, not 4E. It explicitly cites the videogame Soul Calibur as one of its inspirations on the first few pages of the book. Sure, the...

I really just threw out some random example numbers to illustrate a point... Well, your players are playing it right. That's how the game should play. Players never should have to think otherwise. That's exactly why designers need to approach the game the way I've been talking about. Things...

I'll be blunt. Based on your ignorance of why weapon specialization leads to one-trick characters, I can safely say you overestimate your grasp of game balance and design. This is normal enough, since game design is generally far more tricky than most people expect it to be. Also, what you...

There are a few important reasons for this. The most important is opportunity cost. Do you go for the attack that has a 45% chance of succeeding or the attack that has a 65% chance of succeeding? Do you go for the attack that does 7 damage or the one that does 14 damage? A choice between a 45%...

You know, I don't agree with the phrasing I'm about to use very often but... You make a good argument that we should just take all the problem spells like save-or-die, teleport, scrying, and so on, and stuff them in an optional module far away from the core. They're landmines, not brakes. They...

Yes, the optimizer's mind is something that should be embraced. If the game is balanced and fair for the optimizer, it is balanced and fair for everyone. There is a reason that games like Magic: The Gathering and all competitive videogames rely most heavily on the feedback provided by high-level...

I didn't realize you were quoting me at first... I'll stand by that comment. I'll admit "no one" is a little bit of hyperbole, but not to any unreasonable degree. I sincerely doubt people find doing the exact same thing over and over again against every foe to be all that enjoyable compared to...

I'm not certain I completely understand the question that is being asked, but I wouldn't mind seeing a return of the Book of Nine Swords styles. White Raven, Iron Heart, Diamond Mind, Stone Dragon, and all of that. Most of the background story for them in the Tome of Battle was pointless and...

I wouldn't be against a revival of BECMI-style weapon skill levels, but I don't like the idea of making the fighter unique through weapon specialization, for a number of different reasons. Reason 1: The fighter is supposed to be the character who can use every weapon, but is also supposed to...

You know, stuff like this is what makes me wonder if the whole "three pillars" thing is just marketing fluff, rather than an actual design goal. If the three pillars mattered, why only give experience points for one? If they mattered, why have they basically already said that they don't intend...

The rogue isn't quite as far beyond the Fighter as the others you mention, but you've reminded me of something I've thought about before. Why can't the Fighter use magic wands? Why can a Rogue only use them with over-complicated Use Magic Device rules? I've always thought that part of 3E was a...

If that breaks your suspension of disbelief, then you clearly didn't grow up watching Dragonball Z like I did. ;) Unless you are talking about 4E, Fighters have a long way to go before they need to worry about being overpowered. I mean, 3E's Warblade and other Tome of Battle classes are...

I'm completely confused by this. First you create stats, and then you add different "skill" and "natural armor" modifiers to transform those stats to conform to expected ranges for their level? They recognize that level is an important number to know for judging a monster's strength, but you're...

I think the best way to do this is to simply create gaps in the abilities of any one class, while allowing other classes to excel to an unmatched degree in that same area. For example, some classes should be extremely capable at moving around and reaching hard-to-reach areas, while other...

Interdependency is indeed the ideal. That's why the 4E role system works so well and should be continued forward into the future. 4E was a great game for this kind of thing. That said, a lot of the examples in the opening post are not quite what I'd call the ideal. Needing a leader is fine...

I'd rather eat nails than play a point-buy RPG system like HERO again.

I think they'd have to do a new total 180 on the direction they've taken 5E so far in order to really sell me on the game... I want a game that takes the core of 4E, and works to improve its many flaws to create a better game from 4E's solid foundation. For example, the entire power system...

You know, from my perspective I'd probably phrase this one as "you were united", rather than "we were united". You see, you're ignoring the generation gap here. Younger players like myself got into the game well after the fanbase had ceased to play the same game. I started playing non-simplified...

I really like how this was done in 4E, for the most part. Short-duration negative effects last one turn. Long-duration negative effects last until a saving throw is made. Short-duration positive effects last one turn. Long-duration positive effects last as long as they are sustained. Some...

I suspect no one talks about surge values because most people lump it in with the daily number of healing surges as part of the concept of the "Healing Surge mechanic". That's what I did. Healing surges are composed of both the daily healing surge limit and the surge value. Without both of...