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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 6796605" data-attributes="member: 6790260">Sounds like just a huge difference in our mental spaces. I never, ever lack for space to think about the story. When combat becomes hypersimplified, I find myself with a large and completely unused mental space, which then leaves me antsy and grasping for something to fill it. Ironically, filling it (since I usually play over the internet, with stuff like Minesweeper) can easily cause me to be distracted. So I'm either bored out of my mind because I don't have to exert any cognitive effort at all, or (frequently) I'm scatterbrained instead, slowing things down.Making &quot;choices that align with [my] character's personality, flaws, bonds, and ideals&quot; comes as natural to me as breathing. The only times I need to really think about those things are when the characters themselves need to really think about them. And having spent a good year and a half playing Dungeon World, I'm well-versed in those sorts of mechanics. I guess I just have a somewhat...skeptical perspective on 5e making it so &quot;more people&quot; can enjoy this stuff. BIFTs had plenty of forerunners, some of which were quite popular in 4e (Backgrounds and Themes), and nobody made a splash about them back then. Sure, 4e BGs weren't in the PHB1, but they did appear in the PHB2, which was equally &quot;core&quot; and less than a year into release.The only 5e character I've meaningfully played was a Valor Bard, geared for grappling. Which was completely useless and got him killed (he got better, with significant DM lenience). We only just barely reached level 3 before the DM called off the game, both because he's busy and because he was getting frustrated at how fragile our party was compared to the other 5e group he DMs for.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 6796605, member: 6790260"] Sounds like just a huge difference in our mental spaces. I never, [I]ever[/I] lack for space to think about the story. When combat becomes hypersimplified, I find myself with a large and completely unused mental space, which then leaves me antsy and grasping for something to fill it. Ironically, filling it (since I usually play over the internet, with stuff like Minesweeper) can easily cause me to be distracted. So I'm either bored out of my mind because I don't have to exert any cognitive effort at all, or (frequently) I'm scatterbrained instead, slowing things down. Making "choices that align with [my] character's personality, flaws, bonds, and ideals" comes as natural to me as breathing. The only times I need to really think about those things are when the characters themselves need to really think about them. And having spent a good year and a half playing Dungeon World, I'm well-versed in those sorts of mechanics. I guess I just have a somewhat...skeptical perspective on 5e making it so "more people" can enjoy this stuff. BIFTs had plenty of forerunners, some of which were quite popular in 4e (Backgrounds and Themes), and nobody made a splash about them back then. Sure, 4e BGs weren't in the PHB1, but they did appear in the PHB2, which was equally "core" and less than a year into release. The only 5e character I've meaningfully played was a Valor Bard, geared for grappling. Which was completely useless and got him killed (he got better, with significant DM lenience). We only just barely reached level 3 before the DM called off the game, both because he's busy and because he was getting frustrated at how fragile our party was compared to the other 5e group he DMs for. [/QUOTE]

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