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<blockquote data-quote="TwoSix" data-source="post: 9485648" data-attributes="member: 205">I don't think it's design, per se.&nbsp; It's that multiplayer games usually serve two roles; at one level as a challenge and the other as a participatory activity.&nbsp; And making any game a better challenge, a better game qua game, will often weaken its role as a participatory activity.It's why the highest rated games on BoardGameGeek aren't generally the best-selling games people pull out for Family Game Night.&nbsp; It's why Mario Kart has the blue shell; it weakens Mario Kart as game (in terms of being a fair test of player skill) but strengthens it as an activity that many people can play together.&nbsp; Or why most Jackbox games are either based on voting or have heavy doses of randomness.&nbsp; Making 5e a better game (in terms of measuring player skill) by making it harder, or balancing combat encounters more closely, or adding more features, wouldn't help its focus on imagery and concept embodiment; which are key to making it such a strong game to introduce people to the TTRPG space.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="TwoSix, post: 9485648, member: 205"] I don't think it's [i]design[/i], per se. It's that multiplayer games usually serve two roles; at one level as a challenge and the other as a participatory activity. And making any game a better challenge, a better game [i]qua[/i] game, will often weaken its role as a participatory activity. It's why the highest rated games on BoardGameGeek aren't generally the best-selling games people pull out for Family Game Night. It's why Mario Kart has the blue shell; it weakens Mario Kart as game (in terms of being a fair test of player skill) but strengthens it as an activity that many people can play together. Or why most Jackbox games are either based on voting or have heavy doses of randomness. Making 5e a better game (in terms of measuring player skill) by making it harder, or balancing combat encounters more closely, or adding more features, wouldn't help its focus on imagery and concept embodiment; which are key to making it such a strong game to introduce people to the TTRPG space. [/QUOTE]

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