Andy "Errata" Collins got laid off

[KarinsDad]

Take Careful Strike, for instance. It was completely inobvious that Twin Strike was hands-down a better choice. Regardless of what the bad-mouthers might contend, there's no way they could have made that determination during the playtesting and design stages. This is all more art than science after all, with little math involved.

Err, no.

Sorry, but this is all Math 101.

Grab a spreadsheet, put a few cells in it, bang. Twin Strike kicks Careful Strike butt by 13% before even getting to better weapons and feats and magic items.

Design is supposed to include math, not just be an artsey fartsey based rule of thumb. And what might have been inobvious to you might be obvious to others. .5(b+m)+.5(b+m)+.75q > .6(b+m+d+q) where b = bow damage, m = magic, q = quarry, and d= dex for b = 5.5, m = 0 to 2, q = 3.5, and d = 4 to 5 at herioc levels (not even including increased number of criticals). Algebra is pretty easy too.

Every power and feat and class ability during design should go through a spreadsheet with a variety of options thrown on. The math is critically important.

This is why heavy Armor AC was fixed in AV and why the Expertise feats showed up.

 

[Obryn]

Err, no.

Sorry, but this is all Math 101.

Grab a spreadsheet, put a few cells in it, bang. Twin Strike kicks Careful Strike butt by 13% before even getting to better weapons and feats and magic items.

You're apparently unfamiliar with snark and sarcasm. And bitterness! Did I mention bitterness?

I disagree with him almost completely, but you've misread his post.

-O

 

[NMcCoy]

WotC is to be commended for learning from the mistakes of the past and a revised edition will not be forthcoming. [...] And if that should prove unwieldy for some, they'll have the option of purchasing the Essential Dungeons and Dragons Rules Compendium for the meager sum of $19.95.

Strawman Has A Point. With the amount of time and money I'm saving thanks to the D&DI Compendium, I'd gladly pay twenty bucks to have a comprehensive single-volume book at the table for rules checks. (Seriously - all the content in a single place, searchable, with errata and new content automatically added! Compare that to the trouble of having 20 or 30 books full of post-its to manage. And for less than the cost of buying a rulebook every three months!)

 

[Felon]

You're apparently unfamiliar with snark and sarcasm. And bitterness! Did I mention bitterness?

"Snark" denoties overt abrasiveness, as does "bitterness". My post was warm, caring, nigh beatific. I suspect you may need familiarization with these terms yourself, for you have mischaracterized my artful screed.

I disagree with him almost completely, but you've misread his post.
-O

Are you aware that "denial" is no longer merely a river in Egypt?

 

[Felon]

Strawman Has A Point. With the amount of time and money I'm saving thanks to the D&DI Compendium, I'd gladly pay twenty bucks to have a comprehensive single-volume book at the table for rules checks. (Seriously - all the content in a single place, searchable, with errata and new content automatically added! Compare that to the trouble of having 20 or 30 books full of post-its to manage. And for less than the cost of buying a rulebook every three months!)

There goes that unseemly word again!

But otherwise, I echo your sentiments. Indeed, I shall echo them a year or two hence, when logic dictates that the Essential Rules Compendium--which, by design, shall always remain in print--itself is updated and thus a new edition released for a meager price. Mind you, I mean a new edition of the Rules Compendium which compiles the current version of the rules, not a new edition of the rules themselves, which will be up-to-date but by no means revised. As I said, they've learned their lesson on this point.

 

[ggroy]

Updated list of WotC layoffs and resignations.

- Peter Schaefer
- Mike Donais
- Torah Cottrill
- Andy Collins
- Jesse Decker
- Ilja Rotelli
- Greg Yahn

Bad Week… « NeoGrognard

 

[Phaezen]

Updated list of WotC layoffs and resignations.

- Peter Schaefer
- Mike Donais
- Torah Cottrill
- Andy Collins
- Jesse Decker
- Ilja Rotelli
- Greg Yahn

Bad Week… « NeoGrognard

And one confirmed promotion - Mike Mearls is now D&D RPG Group Manager

Via Twitter

 

[blargney the second]

throwing in multiple foe area effect powers, using two handed weapons or superior weapons

That's such a fun combo. My mordenkrad fighter has two close burst 1 powers. By level 10 I had regularly had single rounds where I did damn near 200 damage.

 

[Felon]

I have found that because 4E is so simple, it makes for a better starter game for my children and their friends. But we just use the basic books, no sense trying to complicate things even more by adding twenty new rule books every year. That being said, I got some 4E books for sale.

There are some things in your post which I regard as misconceptions.

4e is not simple. 3e is simple: you play a ranger or a monk or a wizard for fairly simple reasons: appealing imagery, a cool concept. What did they actually bring to the party? Well, lessee...a ranger gets Track for free (that's a vital niche, right?) and a monk can do a whole bunch of miscellaneous stuff (if poorly) and a wizard can either do nothing or everything (depending on level). Somebody has to be the healer, but otherwise it's all up for grabs. Do your own thing, and if somebody doesn't like it, tell them to mind their own beeswax. What's it to them?

4e requires synergies that many players simply don't appreciate. I've had to play a class I didn't want to play because everyone else wanted to play some melee brute. I'd bite the bullet and play the caster who attacks NADs, who uses close, range, and area attacks. I've played a leader because I knew the guy who was going to play the leader still calls them "healers" and thinks that's what every power they have should be about. I've had to convince somebody else to play a defender because the guy already playing a fighter doesn't care about defending anyone, he just likes having the highest AC. Mind you, in 3e most of this wouldn't be an issue, but in 4e it makes for a devastatingly bad gameplay experience.

And those books you don't want to use? Hate to say it, but they do address a lot of stuff that has to do with those long combats you can't stand.

 

[blargney the second]

Bad teamplay = bad gameplay... that's not exactly an edition-specific or even system-specific problem.