Search results

But again, I think you are equating "can be boring" with "always is boring". The folks who want to just rush in and hit things - in my experience - don't find it boring. Maybe they enjoy the descriptive aspect of combat more than they actually care about using a new or interesting power. Maybe...

Er... no it's not. They are explicitly allowed to choose from the normal list at any point where they are given a power of a listed level. How many design resources were wasted? The new powers are also usable by the cleric. It let them provide the cleric in the Essentials book that used 95%...

I like the concept of themes. Not as big a fan of some of the specific ones which have come out, which have not seemed especially well balanced. Some do a great job of encouraging RP of the concept and mechanically supporting the flavor - others are just some free stats and powers. However...

Oh, come on. Your experiences are not universal. I am confident than many groups have played through a decade of 3rd Edition without encountering the fighter/caster imbalance. Maybe because of the classes being played, maybe because of how those classes are played - nonetheless, it is totally...

It might be that alternate meanings are being given to 'easy mode button'. I've been interpreting it as, "A build or tactic that is easy to use while remaining effective", rather than, "An approach which makes the game trivially easy." Plenty of folks might find a Slayer with few options...

Why isn't it a fun or balanced choice? If a new character (or character deciding simplicity) can pick up the class and know that Option 1 will be easy to use and effective to play - while a more advanced character can assemble their own selection of options to achieve a desired level of...

Yeah, this. Honestly, I care less about multi-classing and more about multi-abilitying. In other words, I want a system that can handle a player who says "I want to play a skilled warrior in heavy armor - who is also good at picking locks and dodging fireballs!" Or even, "And one who is good...

To be fair, though, this (at least for me) was largely the case for the Rogue as well. High accuracy was always a strong suit. Piercing Strike means they get to target reflex at Heroic, rather than waiting until Paragon, which I think balances out against the Thief's boost in charging/backstab...

What statistics, if you don't mind sharing? I'd be inclined to believe that it might be an accurate reflection of the book market as a whole, but it seems very unlikely to me for it to even remotely reflect the impact of DDI, for example.

I like having multiclassing... I just so rarely see it done well. If you can make it happen without unbalancing the system, then I absolutely want it. But if not... would rather err on the side of caution.

I'm not sure what scale you are going by. Both 'poorly-played' and well-played Slayers are perfectly effective in an average party - having a good attack roll, decent damage, solid defenses and good hitpoints. In the typical encounters for an average party, they will do just fine at contributing...

Well, I think it depends what one means by casual. Not pursuing system mastery? That certainly applies here. But in terms of only occasionally plays? Some of them, maybe - but others are smart and clever players who play in 2-3 campaigns a week or more - they are invested quite heavily in the...

Given how long its been since the last D&D CRPG, I'd say anytime later would be a worse time. :) I know plenty of folks who are awaiting another solid D&D computer game, regardless of what other products may be coming out around the same time. I mean, I get that they can't really help with...

I'm all for a demo mode, but I don't think the product as a whole should be free by any means. I think the approach to selling books that won't be undercut by DDI is to sell ones with other benefits - tokens, maps, etc in some cases, but also often simply flavor and background and other material...

Maybe true, maybe not. But I think it easy to miss the fact that new players aren't always the only ones want 'easy mode'. I mentioned a couple times having players who will just roll the dice, not wanting to have to choose a power, compare at-will vs encounter, etc. These aren't necessarily new...

I admit, when I first heard about the approach being taken with Essentials, this was my worry. But they've done a remarkably good job of preserving balance despite a disparity of resources. I haven't see any indications that any E-classes are fundamentally unbalanced with prior material...

Your definition of overpowered is "effective"? That seems a bit odd. Or are you saying that poorly played Slayers are effective, but this is problematic because well played Slayers are too powerful? (Which I'd certainly disagree with. They can be good, but I haven't seen any indications of them...

I'm not sure how they could have done so, though - how do you reinvent what you see as a flawed system while still preserving elements for those who enjoyed them? I think they tried to capture that in various ways, via the Elemental Chaos, but I think they felt the game as a whole would be...

Everything to everyone? Probably not possible. But I certainly think it is possible to aim for multiple levels of complexity and make it somewhat customizable for different purposes.

I'm not sure the two are incompatible, though - I think the thought process consisted of, "Hey, we want a game that sells well... so lets address all these problems we believe the game has!" I mean, I'm sure corporate influence was felt in some areas, but I think more in the peripherals like...