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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 6067132" data-attributes="member: 7635">Every edition of D&D has been a game of codifying and/or streamlining things. OD&D is really a hodge-podge of rules and systems with very little uniting it except the D&D name and authors. Basic begins the process of streamlining and codifying. Advanced augmented the rules and codified things more (at the expense of streamlining), 2e streamlined 1e. 3e Codified and streamlined 2e. 3.5 codified 3e. 4e codified and streamlined 3.5. Each edition spelled out things that previously was left blank, vague, or given multiple conflicting ways handling. Essentially, the core features of the system are the same (until 4e, which jettisoned a lot of legacy crap for mechanical elegance). I think "loose" and "tight" though are traps; 1e is sure loose because it many of the systems did not interconnect and thus could be added/removed/changed with relatively little detriment to the game. 3e on its own is not loose though; you can't remove elements of the core without replacing them or breaking other things (IE: you can't remove skills without breaking a whole slew of things) but the subsystems were replaceable  4e can do the same thing (witness the Essentials classes replacing the ADEU ones) but required a slew more work to do. But that is purely due to the interconnected elements. The trade-off for streamlining is difficulty in replacing things. Next started out a game which felt like basic marries 3e, with the option off adding AD&D and 4e children to it. Its seeming more and more that it will be 3e wearing 4e's clothes (or vice versa) with AD&D tone and feel. Not bad, but not the loose system it was in playtest 1. Its the price paid for things like CE dice, maneuvers, etc. And we haven't even seen prestige classes, multi-classing, tactical combat, or supplemental classes (other than monk and a version of sorcerer and warlock).</blockquote>

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