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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ratskinner" data-source="post: 5833792" data-attributes="member: 6688937">I'm not sure I buy it, one way or the other.I guess I don't like the term "Player Entitlement" because I don't think that it accurately describes the phenomenon. I feel that "Player Expectation" is more the issue. That is, more mechanics lead players (and DMs) to expect the game to work a certain way. This tends to pin games into a certain mode of operation. This is, I feel the root of 4e's problems with acceptance. It really tended to lock down playstyle. While that was great for those who enjoyed that playstyle, it was very hard on those that liked other playstyles.  That is, it made it hard to push the game in that direction.  "With fourth edition, there was a huge focus on mechanics. The story was still there, but a lot of our customers were having trouble getting to it. In some ways, it was like we told people, ‘The right way to play guitar is to play thrash metal,’ But there’s other ways to play guitar.” - <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2012/01/09/wizards-announce-new-dungeons-and-dragons-an-inside-look-at-the-game/2/" target="_blank">Mike Mearls</a>. Personally, I feel 3e had this problem as well, just not as strongly and better hidden beneath the avalanche of supplements from 3PP who did the work for you.On the other end, "DM Empowerment" seems to conjure up nightmare scenarios of cackling fiends in their basements torturing their friends. I'm not sure that's fair or prominent enough of a concern to warrant all the hand-wringing that its producing. Basically, in any edition, the DM has the power to just end it whenever he wants. If that isn't empowered, I don't know what is. (This is balanced by the players not having to show up and take abuse, either.)I think, though, that what they're really talking about is just loosening up the screws a bit. It sounds like they want to make the game very flexible and a lot less defined. So individual DMs and groups could play wildly different games under the Aegis of D&D and have those games be inter-intelligible. I'm in favor of it, basically because I hope the game recaptures the wild feeling that seemed to die with 2e.</blockquote>

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