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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gothmog" data-source="post: 4274922" data-attributes="member: 317">Simplified, yes.  Stupefied, no.  The 3.x rules were in dire need of revision, simplification, and streamlining.  3.x plays great if you're playing a computer game of it- Neverwinter Nights for example is a lot of fun.  The computer is designed to perform millions of operations per second, and keep up with all the nit-picky bits of the system.  However, a computer game also keeps you on the straight and narrow path, not allowing anything outside what its programming allows.  Thats exactly the experience I had running and playing 3E.  If the rules don't tell you how to do it, or if there isn't a feat for it, then sorry, can't be done.4E is a quantum leap forward in game design.  The main influence I see on 4E is a LOT of Savage Worlds design elements, placed into the context of D&D.  4E supports character building, but without the glory-hogging and ego-tripping of 3.x.  In 3.x, PCs were powergamed and min-maxed to become lone-wolf powerhouses to such a degree that rules mastery took over the game, trampling all over DM fiat, plot, setting, and story.  PCs are designed to be part of a team in 4E, and if you don't play with the team, you die.  4E also has decreased the need for rules master, which is a HUGE plus in my opinion.4E does feel a lot more like 1E and 2E to me- giving the DM more options and ways to handle situations according to his playstyle.  4E is much more freeform, flowing, and streamlined, and plays like a dream- I do a tenth the bookkeeping and prep I did when I ran 3.x.  In fact, I got so disillusioned with the needless complexity, implied assumptions in the rules, and rules mastery elements of 3.x D&D that I swore off it completely and went to other systems.  3.x wasn't the D&D I fondly remembered from my childhood- it was a Frankenstein's monster of mathematical gymnastics consisting of mismatched and non-intuitive systems that felt and played completely differently than the D&D I loved.4E on the other hand, while having different details (class powers mainly), FEELS like the D&D I loved when I play and run it.  For me, the less intrusive the game elements are in the game, the more I get into the game and can visualize the world and my character.  4E has much more transparent mechanics in that regard, while we have found that after playing 6 sessions, combat flows about three times more quickly than a 3E combat, with little rules referencing in the middle of it.  THAT is great game design.  I bought over $5000 of 3.x books over the years it was out- I got some great ideas with them, and had some fun, but ultimately it wasn't the system for me.  4E is a much improved system over 3.x, and I have no problem giving WotC my money for this incredible game.  Thanks WotC for bringing D&D back to us!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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