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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercule" data-source="post: 3782013" data-attributes="member: 5100">Important passages bolded.I've played D&D for, apparently, as long as the OP.  In 1E and 2E, I had no problem with GMing on the fly or prep time.  Most of my prep time was in worldbuilding, actually.I don't know whether it's been 3E or the coming of four kids, but I don't find that I have enough time to reasonably prep for games anymore.  I GM mostly because I enjoy the worldbuilding, but I find that I must spend most of my prep time in 3E on adventure prep.I have to evaluate monster threats vs. PCs for fairness.  I have to ensure I'm giving appropriate treasure to keep the PCs balanced both within the party and against the appropriate monsters.  The 3E balance structure means that, if either my PCs or I forget some option (whether our own or the "other team's"), a balanced encounter can turn into a cake walk or a slaughter.  I don't mind the occassional TPK-or-flee encounter, but it shouldn't come because one PC forgot about one niche ability, which I've seen happen multiple times.You may be a superGM with all the time you need to devote to your game.  Some of us still rate D&D as a hobby, and pretty far down on the list.  Wife, kids, church, job, housework, recreation.  That's #6, at best.  When I often have to choose which of the top 5 get my attension in any given week, the item on my list for unwinding had best not feel like a chore.  If it does, it gets dropped.  Movies, my PS2, and just plain reading Harry Potter (etc.) are all competing for that coveted slot.  Money isn't the issue, for me.  Gaming is competing with the others for greatest reward for least opportunity cost.  I use that term "opportunity cost" intentionally, BTW.  Every minute I work on my game is time I can't devote to my wife, kids, or something else I consider a priority.  The relaxation I get from my time prepping for D&D (or the fruits of that labor) has to be better than any of the other options available to me.Heck, prepping for combat encounters even has an opportunity cost compared to the other aspects of game prep.  My (YMMV) entire reward for combat prep is in the execution of the combat and the reaction of the players.  When I do a write-up for a deity, a nation, or an organization, I definitely get pay off from sharing it with the players, but I also enjoy just sitting down and being creative.  In 3E, my ratio of good prep (setting) vs. bad prep (disposable paperwork like combat encounters) has been horrible.  Again, my heady school days of old may just have had enough free time that the paperwork was transparent, or maybe I've just grown up too much to really enjoy gaming, but I really don't think so.Although I really, really like some of the advantages that have come with 3E (shared systems for PCs and NPCs, mathematic progressions for attacks and defenses, freer multiclassing, skills, etc.), I find myself having arrived at a point where the benefits do not outweigh the costs.  One way or the other, I expect to exit D&D 3E when my current campaign ends (other than maybe keeping my 3 core books for running modules or playing in someone else's game).  If nothing else, I am sure that Fantasy Hero would be no more complex to run/prep -- possibly easier -- and it is much more flexible in terms of how characters can develop and how the rules can be fit to the built world which gives me a better RoI even if the cost doesn't go down.  Alternatively, Savage Worlds promises significant cost reduction and only marginal reward reduction, which is pretty good.This is what 4E has to compete with for my time.  I really like the idea of staying with the best supported system on the market.  That means, if WotC can reduce the (opportunity) cost to me, without reducing my reward, I'm all over it.Or, put another way: Just because something can be done for a high cost doesn't, in any way, shape, or form mean that reducing the cost reduces the value.</blockquote>

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