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And you have citations for this "overwhelmingly negative" claim, yes?

No, it isn't. But people will not realize that until it's far too late to do anything about it.

Still a spellcaster? Then still a 100% non-starter for me. I'm glad Psion fans will actually get a real, actual class with the name "Psion". I just (probably) won't ever play one, because this is just the most recent example in the cavalcade of "if it's supernatural, 99.9% of the time, it's...

It's a no-man's-land problem. The absolute titans of the industry, like Microsoft or Square Enix, can bite the bullet and pay for the enormous cost of a maximum-budget game, knowing that as long as it's at least pretty decent they'll make their money back eventually. And then, as you say, the...

The thing that gets me about Payday is... It's online Cops & Robbers. Like, that's pretty much literally what it is. You would think this would be a competitive space, particularly since being a robber is, mechanically and thematically, much more interesting than being a cop. And yet, Payday is...

This is why I recommend situations, locations, and events--not plots, arcs, or sequences of player actions. I can't presume the players will do specific things. Sure, I can usually guess where their choices are likely to go on a small scale, but not much more than that. By not expecting...

Does "thespian" play require...well, for lack of a better term, "theatrical" acting? Because I don't see these benefits as confined solely to folks I would consider engaging in "thespian" play. E.g. I can see pawn-stance groups still preferring this approach over the immediate "you are at the...

While I think the literary tropes likely help, I don't think they're responsible for causing it. Pure speculation, of course, but I think the idea is, when players don't yet know any of the rules, starting in a tavern is a rules-light place. Conflict is possible, but unlikely, you don't want to...

Perception: Noticing physical observables (sights, smells, naturally-occurring sounds, etc.) Investigation: Piecing together circumstantial evidence into a resultant conclusion For me, the difference is that Investigation is about proposing a theory and taking actions which generate evidence...

Do you have any items, regardless of edition, that the rules treat as being pretty minor, but you've seen them prove their worth time and time again? Because I've discovered one in 5.5e that I genuinely think should be a top-priority pick for anybody in the party who tends to stick in the...

Sure, but how much of the D&D Barbarian is actually Conan? Conan's "rage" is almost nothing like how D&D rage is portrayed. It's basically just him being high on battle-induced hormones. Further, Conan wasn't illiterate, even if he wasn't educated in the usual sense (having been enslaved as a...

Still wish 5e hadn't deleted the Endurance skill from 4e. Because that skill would be perfect for addressing several of these issues with skill checks rather than having to depend on spells.

Perhaps some written stuff in advance? Maybe in the lead-up to the adventure starting, RP through doing investigations, collecting witness info or the like, and then it's a "report" from the party's sources? I dunno if that would actually achieve the goal you're seeking, but it might help ease...

This is good, for moments when action is expected and details are best discovered rather than laid out. I do think there's still room for the other, flowery kind of exposition--when a slow-paced moment befits the scene. For example, a situation of dawning horror or awe, where it makes sense...

If you have proof that it is essentially ignorable, I'd love to see it. Otherwise, requests for "proof" are irrelevant, time-wasting, and an effort to conquer the discussion through "you didn't jump through the hurdles I invented, therefore I win".

Because that's how the words read to me. Things like... It seemed quite clear to me that this proposal was "This is what D&D should be doing for everyone". If the intent was purely opt-in alternative, words like "what if players were forced" and "enforced externally" were not, in my opinion...

My problem here is that what most people refer to as "optimization" is seeking to exploit enemy weaknesses--or, more often, to create weaknesses, since that's a thing D&D play permits that a simple game like RPS cannot represent--is avoiding exploitable play and over-reliance on perfect...

Pre-written adventure paths certainly do this, yes. But so does making the GM the absolute arbiter of absolutely everything. Telling one person, "Everything you say goes, and nothing you don't like ever goes" is, I should think, at least plausibly going to lead to some people saying, "It's...

All I can say, then, is that it is self-evident that (a) this is a practice, and (b) this practice is fairly widespread, even if it is not universal. Further, I think it's blatant rhetorical trickery to insert things like the concept of a "crisis" or "gaming is facing a problem" or the like...

Seems to me that this is an agenda. Now, we can't just be making a point about approaches and their flaws. We have to be identifying a horrible existential threat that must be stamped out. Now, we can't just be critiquing a known, oft-discussed, and fairly likely behavior from inexperienced...