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Another Year of EN World Demographics!
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<blockquote data-quote="J.Quondam" data-source="post: 8308048" data-attributes="member: 7030100"><p>Meh, I doubt it. While innumeracy is certainly a problem in the modern US, linking it to the D&D math is a stretch. I could be wrong, but I honestly doubt there's a whole lot of overlap between people drawn to D&D and those exhibiting legitimate math deficiencies.</p><p></p><p>The problem with D&D math is not that it's "hard." The problem with D&D math is that it's basically <em>pointless</em>. Why waste time fiddling with lots of little bonuses and penalties (which don't even model anything especially well), when we already know that end result is going to be a smallish numerical offset? Just make a Dis/Advantage roll and be done with it. Seriously, if one is smart enough to do a a few steps of basic arithmetic, one is smart enough to intuit one's way past that arithmetic, and just skip straight to the answer. (Estimation, after all, is a useful mathematical skill, too!)</p><p></p><p>It's got little to do with innumeracy, and everything to do with the simple fact that, over the decades, experienced designers have determined that most players are interested in the <em>game</em> part of the game, not a bunch of fiddly, pointless arithmetic.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="J.Quondam, post: 8308048, member: 7030100"] Meh, I doubt it. While innumeracy is certainly a problem in the modern US, linking it to the D&D math is a stretch. I could be wrong, but I honestly doubt there's a whole lot of overlap between people drawn to D&D and those exhibiting legitimate math deficiencies. The problem with D&D math is not that it's "hard." The problem with D&D math is that it's basically [I]pointless[/I]. Why waste time fiddling with lots of little bonuses and penalties (which don't even model anything especially well), when we already know that end result is going to be a smallish numerical offset? Just make a Dis/Advantage roll and be done with it. Seriously, if one is smart enough to do a a few steps of basic arithmetic, one is smart enough to intuit one's way past that arithmetic, and just skip straight to the answer. (Estimation, after all, is a useful mathematical skill, too!) It's got little to do with innumeracy, and everything to do with the simple fact that, over the decades, experienced designers have determined that most players are interested in the [I]game[/I] part of the game, not a bunch of fiddly, pointless arithmetic. [/QUOTE]
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