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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 5517292" data-attributes="member: 996">I played & ran AD&D, both editions, for quite a while, and played 3.x extensively, I'm familiar with the reality of game balance in systems that mix classes with highly-limited/high-power abilities and those with largely-unlimmited/lower-power ones.  Meh. I'm sure Arcane Power 2 & Divine Power 2 & Primal Power 2 would have been on their way but for Essentials.  But, if HotFL did 'merely' bring the Wizard up to MP2 standards, what about HoS and its two new Wizard builds?  Besides, while the 4e martial classes have MP2, the Essentials Martial classes, even if older material is allowed into a game, do not - they have the utilities from MP2, FWTW.   The 4e Martial classes not only got nothing from Essentials, they're getting nothing from post-E, and it seems all to likely that how it's going to be, going forward.  The classes that got the non-AEDU treatment in Essentials have been split by the basic incompatibility.  A situation much like what dual-primary classes, like the Warlock, have struggled with.The impression I'm getting really is that balance is a lower priority going forward.  If developers see an easy way to represent a new idea as a Wizard build, it'll be a wizard build - the synergies it may open up for prior wizard builds not withstanding.  If they have a concept that should clearly be martial, it'll be implemented as a non-AEDU sub-class, so as to maintain the mechanical distinction between casters- and non-casters.   If they don't see a way to make a new idea a build of an old class, they'll make a new class, and leave it 'orphaned,' with no prior or future support.  Classes that are compatible with their sub-classes will see continued support, incompatible and novel classes probably won't.  It's consistent with the vision of 'opening up design space' that has been articulated, and it's a sensible design aproach: it takes fewer resources to produce a sub-class or a non-AEDU class than to create balanced new classes within the 4e class structure.  Classes can be differentiated more strongly on mechanics, so much more tenuous concepts can be used.  For all that I disagree with this new direction, I can't call it 'stupid' or anything.  WotC is in a tough spot, and they're making the decision they need to.</blockquote>

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