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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kraydak" data-source="post: 4231002" data-attributes="member: 12306">My impression is more that that WotC went: "our groups/play-testing groups don't try for corner cases, therefore we can simplify the rules a lot".  The problem is that if your simplifications result in ugly corner cases, then the net result may well not be simpler.  What is worse is that as a design strategy, it makes life easy for the developers, but harder for the DM (who gets to shoulder all the problems when players deviate from the design).I am seeing many "simplifications", that in groups I play in would derail the game by triggering corner-case problems.  Minions are one of them.  What is really sad is that you could rewrite minion-rules in a way that loses very little simplicity but gains a lot of robustness (going from 1hp/nothing on miss to several hp/extra damage on hit ends up simple when you want it, but can seamlessly shift to a more complex rule set if needed). Robustness of a rule set, even if it costs simplicity, can easily be more playable, but the cost/advantage ratio will be very group dependent.  4e's rules as I have seen them so far makes me feel that the play-testing was inadequate, due to inadequately aggressive/antagonistic/whatever term you want play-testing groups.  (note that adequately and actually in the above are two very, very different things)</blockquote>