Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
Yes, I think there might be a need for a distinction.hong said:I take "Christmas tree effect" to be a generic description of PCs with dozens of items hanging off them, like a Christmas tree. The specifics of what those items do are the subject of other debates, like the ubiquity of the "big 6" (which is what the MIC was trying to address, by making non-big-6 items cheaper and more useful/interesting).
Chrismas Tree: Loaded with magical items.
Big Six: Everyone uses the same/similar items to get the best out of magical items.
Big Six => Christmas Tree, but not Christmas Tree => Big Six.
The Big Six automatically lead to the Christmas Tree, because everyone has these 6 items, and seems even to be required to do so to "compete" with the monsters of his level range.
The Christmas Tree in turn was made possible with the "magical item shops" implied by the market price limits on towns/cities. But it wouldn't have helped removing them,, there was still the fact that you needed these items to get the "expected" numbers for a given level, and so you either have a Christmas Tree, or TPKs (at worst).
4E seems to reduce the "Big Six" to the Big "3" (Weapon/Implement, Armor, Cloak/Vest). What it does with market price limits and so on remains to be seen...