D&D General Does D&D (and RPGs in general) Need Edition Resets?

[Micah Sweet]

That’s not the way in which the design is outdated. The huge number of very specific skills, as well as some of the choices as to what should be a skill vs what should be a different aspect of the character.

Tweaking stuff like that is a pretty minor change compared to the mass overhauls of the WotC era. Degree matters here I think.

 

[CapnZapp]

Or is RPGs one of those things that benefit from a good reset ever so often?

The one thing that absolutely benefits from a reset is sales. You start a new edition because sales start to decline.

 

[Corinnguard]

Tweaking stuff like that is a pretty minor change compared to the mass overhauls of the WotC era. Degree matters here I think.

Especially the 4e era. That edition completely overhauled everything regardless of whether a given feature was broken or everybody's favorite. The only good thing about that era was that it lead to the rise of Paizo's Pathfinder RPG.

 

[Charlaquin]

No, I don't assume that quality equals "wuality", bit...how do you measure quality in a game? I cannot think of a better measure than being played, and people having fun. That's the  telos of a game, after all. So the more it is played, the more fun is had...ghe more the game is acheiving the purpose for whichbit was designed.

Sure, people playing and a game and having fun with it is how its quality can be determined. But, is a game that millions of people enjoy well enough better quality than one thousands of people absolutely love? And what about games, like monopoly, that are designed to accomplish something other than being fun to play? I would say the quality of a game is in its ability to deliver an intended experience to an audience who wants to have such an experience. In some cases, that audience may be small, and that’s ok. That game would only be made worse by compromising its commitment to that experience for the sake of reaching a larger audience.

 

[soviet]

Especially the 4e era. That edition completely overhauled everything regardless of whether a given feature was broken or everybody's favorite. The only good thing about that era was that it lead to the rise of Paizo's Pathfinder RPG.

?

4e is universally accepted as an improvement

 

[Charlaquin]

Tweaking stuff like that is a pretty minor change compared to the mass overhauls of the WotC era. Degree matters here I think.

It’s just one example of how stagnation can cause a game’s design to suffer.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Yes. Those are good things (which I would expect someone with your username to appreciate )

I am going to disagree here.

Design should have a purpose- and if it's for a commercial product, you probably want it to appeal to ... you know, consumers.

If designers create something to make it "revolutionary" and "ideological," then they might design something that sucks. Or, they might design something awesome that very few people will want.

There is nothing wrong with designing for an ideological or revolutionary purpose, but generally, those products are commercial failures.

 

[GuardianLurker]

What's your take on the Para-Elemental and the Quasi-Elemental Planes?

Pretty much the same, just with the "mixed" instead of "pure" elements. And yes, I include the "Positive" and "Negative" energy Planes as "pure" elemental planes. That is the "Gygaxian" model, after all.

Heck, I extended the Energy Elemental Planes to the immaterial Planes of Creation and Destruction, giving the outer planes a third axis. Not that either of those ever got much use, and I certainly never bothered really detailing the Planes of Creation or the Planes of Destruction (Law/Neutral/Creation is....? Chaos/Good/Destruction is...?). But conceptually, the planes were there to explore.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

4e is universally accepted as an improvement

I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know. They’re outside my ken. But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel them.
-Pauline Kael

 

[Charlaquin]

?

4e is universally accepted as an improvement

Huh? I love 4e, but come on. It was famously disliked by a huge portion of the D&D playing audience.