Critical Hits Report: Mearls on 4E

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

From the news page, I found this interesting piece:
http://www.critical-hits.com/2008/0...hing-you-wanted-to-know-about-fourth-edition/

A lot of interesting information and a few "teasers" on what is yet to come.

A European gamer demands to know: What are "Eurogames"?

Spoiler

And does this mean D&D is not video-gamey, but eurogamey?

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Carcassone

Cataan

El Grande

Games with variable maps, trading, scoring, and downplayed agonistic components versus something like Risk or Monopoly.

Which isn't to say they aren't competitive. A husband and wife I know refer to Carcassonne as divorce in a box.

The term Eurogame came to have a lot of significance in the US because prior to the advent of Cataan in the US market games had sort of stagnated. There were:

Party Games - Had a lot of variety but not much innovation and though the genre had lots of appeal not individual game did.

Traditional American Games - Scrabble, Monopoly, and so forth. Also, toy based games like Connect Four or Mousetrap. Scrabble's great but nothing had happened here for decades.

The Fading Legacy - Avalon Hill and other Wargame manufacturers chugging along. There was some innovation and variety here but the basic experience and assumptions of game play rarely changed. Getting into them was difficult and most games were really static. Even Diplomacy with it's variety of strategies and personal relationships still just had the same map. The relationship between Germany and Britain might change but Britain's basic problems would be the same from game to game.

Cataan really opened all of this up.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Which isn't to say they aren't competitive. A husband and wife I know refer to Carcassonne as divorce in a box.

Scrubs Carcassone off list of family games to purchase

 

[Stormborn]

I could be wrong but I am pretty sure that "Eurogames" are those board games that orginated in Europe, usually Germany, that (at least to Americans) have a fairly different feel. Usually by being more involved than typical american board games whose rules are meant to be learned quickly and played without much strategy from turn to turn. Settlers of Catan might be the classic example. I am sure that someone else will provide far more detail.
Or you could always just check out Wikipedia:Eurogames.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I found the following bit interesting

Q: There’s a big thread on ENWorld about the math behind skill challenges. There’s been experience that shows that they work, but the math to prove that they are broken seems solid.

A: Skill challenges are interesting, since they are not reflected in the written rules as they were intended. They started as more “combat” with intiative, etc., but eventually moved them to be more freeform. They were intended as more of a framework, not strictly mechanical. When planning a non-combat encounter, try to come up with options, different ways to play out while not stopping the game. (i.e. don’t build in a roadblock if they don’t succeed at the skill challenge.)

They want to address different ways to handle it without errata-ing. That might make it into a future DMG. Here are ways to do things differently, not “these rules are different.”

I remember early hints about 'social combat' and was disappointed to see it not make it into the actual game. I'd love to see some of their original plans for "combat-like" skill challenges.

 

[Forgefly]

Carcassone isn't any more competition inducing than any other board game. If you're already so competitive that a board game would make you consider divorce you've got worse problems than Carcassone

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

To be specific, "Eurogames" usually means German board games - which have gotten a lot of press in the United States in the last decade or so and are frequently exported there. The general level of abstraction in 4E certainly seems to fit...

 

[Wormwood]

A husband and wife I know refer to Carcassonne as divorce in a box.

Adds Carcassone to shopping list.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Another interesting bit from Mike:

Grab (as it is now called) is just to stop somebody from moving, not a full-on wrestling system. You’re just trying to stop someone moving. Get the intent, then support it. The monk will be able to take grappling powers.

So, the monk will have grappling powers. Yay!

 

[davethegame]

A European gamer demands to know: What are "Eurogames"?

You're in Germany, and aren't familiar with Eurogames? You're missing out! In addition to the titles already suggested, check out boardgamegeek.com and in particular http://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/glossary#toc78

And on the subject of Mike Mearls, I also recommend checking out LivingDice's report: http://www.livingdice.com/index.php...-Edition-Dungeons-and-Dragons.html&Itemid=117