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<blockquote data-quote="rounser" data-source="post: 259123" data-attributes="member: 1106">Which touches on one of my big complaints about the core books.&nbsp; I'd also say that when people say &quot;soulless&quot; that they don't really mean &quot;lack of advice on how to use it&quot;, or, &quot;not enough fluff included&quot;, but rather, &quot;uninspiring&quot;.&nbsp; D&amp;D has an X factor which, ideally, all of it's products should tap into.&nbsp; Easier said than done, and I can understand how hard it is to keep one's eye on all balls at once.I'm not having a dig by saying this, because they excel in other areas, but little in the 3E core books gave me the bug of enthusiasm for the game present in, say, the Rules Cyclopedia.&nbsp; YMMV.&nbsp; When it comes to a game book, this sort of thing does matter, IMO - and it doesn't imply fluff, nor hand-holding advice.&nbsp; It's related to richness of ideas and presentation, atmosphere and &quot;cool factor&quot; in everything from the writing style and artwork to the content itself.&nbsp; This is the sort of thing brand managers are supposedly looking after, no?Perhaps it was inevitable that certain features of the ELH would be uninspiring because they represent a pure escalation of something we have seen before, yet I do not believe that a book of crunch as a whole must be uninspiring and soulless in order to do it's job.&nbsp; As a result, I side with both sides of the argument here - everyone has a point, IMO...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="rounser, post: 259123, member: 1106"] Which touches on one of my big complaints about the core books. I'd also say that when people say "soulless" that they don't really mean "lack of advice on how to use it", or, "not enough fluff included", but rather, "uninspiring". D&D has an X factor which, ideally, all of it's products should tap into. Easier said than done, and I can understand how hard it is to keep one's eye on all balls at once. I'm not having a dig by saying this, because they excel in other areas, but little in the 3E core books gave me the bug of enthusiasm for the game present in, say, the Rules Cyclopedia. YMMV. When it comes to a game book, this sort of thing [i]does[/i] matter, IMO - and it doesn't imply fluff, nor hand-holding advice. It's related to richness of ideas and presentation, atmosphere and "cool factor" in everything from the writing style and artwork to the content itself. This is the sort of thing brand managers are supposedly looking after, no? Perhaps it was inevitable that certain features of the ELH would be uninspiring because they represent a pure escalation of something we have seen before, yet I do not believe that a book of crunch as a whole must be uninspiring and soulless in order to do it's job. As a result, I side with both sides of the argument here - everyone has a point, IMO... [/QUOTE]

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