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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SarahDarkmagic" data-source="post: 5739918" data-attributes="member: 87691">One way to read it is to say they don't trust DMs. Another way to read it is to say that they had other design goals and trusted that good DMs would bring these things to their games if they desired it.My understanding from listening to a number of 4e designers is that one of their big goals was to make the game easier to run for the DM both to help the aging audience who sees their time split between work, family, and fun, and to get new DMs into the fold. Add to that another desire to make organized play easier to run and participate in, and that, in my opinion, explains a lot of the design changes made in 4e. To me, it seems primed to produce a consistent play experience game after game with very little prep on the part of the DM.The problem as I see it is that most games aren't run in an organized play environment. They are home games run by people who don't all have the same opinion about the value of consistency and where the concerns of moving a character between tables doesn't matter. It's also not as important in a home game environment to "cover" for average or even bad DMs; groups who want to have fun tend to find their fun in what they do. But the rules set up for those other groups often feel like they are in the way of the good home DM.In my opinion, a nice side benefit of the rules changes is that optimizing a single character was nerfed considerably. I honestly think that attracts more women, as well as others, to the table. The changes also made group composition and optimization more important which, in turn, emphasizes cooperative group play over individual competition for the best build. This too should attract more women to the table, especially the change to having the "healer" be able to accomplish more in combat. That's why I don't think it's the rules that have to change as much as the mindset around women and the game does, both at WotC and in the community.Of course, much of this could get wiped away if the designers decide to bring back those elements that emphasized individual builds and player knowledge over character knowledge.</blockquote>

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