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<blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 5196976" data-attributes="member: 20741">I agree with you.The problem is, the suggestion by WotC that the designation of &quot;core&quot; or a ruling as to what is and isn't &quot;official&quot; or is a &quot;house rule&quot; is somehow a pronouncement of what is objectively &quot;best&quot; for game balance?&nbsp; That's the part where the conflict of interest can arise when it comes to discussing splat books - as should be obvious to all.&nbsp; I'm not saying a game designer is out to sucker us. But at a certain point, economic realities can get in the way -- and motivate -- corporate pronouncements of what is &quot;best&quot;.Accordingly, that's the part where a gamer must exercise his or her own discretion and we can find ourselves back in the 1st edition soup, as it were, when it comes to house rules.At least these days, hopefully, a gamer can make up his or her mind after having the benefit of&nbsp; reading the opinions of many others here on ENWorld.&nbsp; In most cases, a broad selection of opinion is a better overall judge of good design and acceptable game balance than is any other yardstick yet conceived by man.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Steel_Wind, post: 5196976, member: 20741"] I agree with you. The problem is, the suggestion by WotC that the designation of "core" or a ruling as to what is and isn't "official" or is a "house rule" is somehow a pronouncement of what is objectively "best" for game balance? That's the part where the conflict of interest can arise when it comes to discussing splat books - as should be obvious to all. I'm not saying a game designer is out to sucker us. But at a certain point, economic realities can get in the way -- and motivate -- corporate pronouncements of what is "best". Accordingly, that's the part where a gamer must exercise his or her own discretion and we can find ourselves back in the 1st edition soup, as it were, when it comes to house rules. At least these days, hopefully, a gamer can make up his or her mind after having the benefit of reading the opinions of many others here on ENWorld. In most cases, a broad selection of opinion is a better overall judge of good design and acceptable game balance than is any other yardstick yet conceived by man. [/QUOTE]

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