D&D 4E 4E is like WoW (NOT!)

[Nytmare]

Heck, if I see people slagging others about their 'spec' I might just crack.

I had someone in one of my past campaigns tell me that he wanted to "Spec a new toon." He was confused cause he had assumed that was a tabletop RPG term. This was also the guy who we had to break out of the habit of roleplaying in leetspeak.

 

[Gargazon]

I had someone in one of my past campaigns tell me that he wanted to "Spec a new toon." He was confused cause he had assumed that was a tabletop RPG term. This was also the guy who we had to break out of the habit of roleplaying in leetspeak.

Wow... just... wow...

 

[GoLu]

I hope that, after 4e comes out, the Character Optimisation boards do not become filled with such terms as "Brutal Strike Fighter" and "Positioning Strike Rogue", like the WoW forums of today. Heck, if I see people slagging others about their 'spec' I might just crack.

Don't the Character Optimization boards already look like that, except with 3e terms?

 

[Leatherhead]

Uh huh. So when the very first people to ever play D&D with Gygax decided it would be smart to have fighters stand in front and the wizard stand behind them so the orcs couldn't get to him... that was an aggro rule similar to WoW taunts? I mean, it's a different implementation, but it's the same idea of getting the monsters to attack the tough guys instead of the squishies.

(I know this is from way back in the thread, but I couldn't let it pass without comment.)

But is that a bad thing? I realize you're being devil's advocate so I will be imp to your devil. You said it yourself that new players probably recognize what a fighter "does". I would say this is true and it probably comes by virtue of 25+ years of fantasy video games, rpgs, books, comics, movies etc. The archetype is easily recognizable. Then why keep roles in the closet? Why not print it on the page in the PHB next to the class name? More importantly (but perhaps more subtly), why not have designers designing classes with an eye toward role from the ground up? If this gets us a better version of the bard or monk somewhere down the line, I'm all for it.

To me this 'meta-gameness' is the designers seeing how people actually play these games and addressing it directly. Writing 'role' on your sheet is no more meta-game than 'class', 'AC' or 'HP'.

I would like to point out that one of the main reasons they have Aggro mechanics in MMOs is because physically interposing ones self between the bad thing that wants to kill everyone and the people who it wants to kill, or "clipping" I believe the term is, would have been a nightmare for the servers to handle. Which is why you can walk right threw the monsters in such games.

Edit: Not the only reason, but a big one.

 

[hong]

I would like to point out that one of the main reasons they have Aggro mechanics in MMOs is because physically interposing ones self between the bad thing that wants to kill everyone and the people who it wants to kill, or "clipping" I believe the term is, would have been a nightmare for the servers to handle. Which is why you can walk right threw the monsters in such games.

Edit: Not the only reason, but a big one.

? Bodyblocking the monsters works fine in Guild Wars.

 

[AllisterH]

? Bodyblocking the monsters works fine in Guild Wars.

I always assumed the reason for AGGRO mechanic in MMOs was because in PnP RPGs, DMs CHEAT and don't send their monster at the squishy.

Most party-boss monsters in MMOs are usually big enough that they should have no problem simply walking around the fighter and laying the smack on the wizard who just blasted them.

 

[Leatherhead]

? Bodyblocking the monsters works fine in Guild Wars.

Haven't played it, do they have "taunt" in that game too?

 

[hong]

Haven't played it, do they have "taunt" in that game too?

Aggro in GW works by how much health you have left, not how much damage you do. They can and will go past your frontline to attack the rear, if you let them.

 

[Leatherhead]

Aggro in GW works by how much health you have left, not how much damage you do. They can and will go past your frontline to attack the rear, if you let them.

But they have no power that that forces the monster to hit people?

 

[small pumpkin man]

Fighters do very good damage, yes.

Now look at a striker like the ranger... similar damage... oh, and a whole extra die added right on top

Yeah, I know, it almost makes up for all of the extra OAs the Fighter's getting, doesn't it?