From the WotC Boards: Mearls on 'Aggro'

[Gloombunny]

You must have missed how he used the term "aggro," then. AND felt the need to test the game mechanic at all.

That wouldn't have happened if MMORPGs hadn't already gotten into his brain. The damage is already done.

Oh please. They got into his brain, he tried them out, and he realized they don't work and stopped trying them. You're talking as if MMO-thought is some kind of malevolent virus that taints everything it touches. D&D4 is not going to have WoW-cooties on it, for chrissake.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I like that it gives the DM options, not restrictions.

"You CAN get through me and hurt the soft guy....but if you do, there's gonna be some consequences!"

 

[Driddle]

MMO-thought is some kind of malevolent virus that taints everything it touches.

THAT's the turn of phrase I was looking for! Thanks.
Yes, a malevolent virus.

 

[Branduil]

You must have missed how he used the term "aggro," then. AND felt the need to test the game mechanic at all.

That wouldn't have happened if MMORPGs hadn't already gotten into his brain. The damage is already done.

Won't somebody please think of the game designers!

 

[Green Knight]

Oh please. They got into his brain, he tried them out, and he realized they don't work and stopped trying them. You're talking as if MMO-thought is some kind of malevolent virus that taints everything it touches. D&D4 is not going to have WoW-cooties on it, for chrissake.

Circle circle, dot dot, now I got my cooties shot!

 

[WayneLigon]

You must have missed how he used the term "aggro," then. AND felt the need to test the game mechanic at all.

That wouldn't have happened if MMORPGs hadn't already gotten into his brain. The damage is already done.

He already test-drove WoW-like mechanics in Iron Heroes and you never hear people say IH is 'too video-gamey'. The entire mechanic where one or two classes 'build up' to a really massive attack is exactly how rogues work in WoW. Or it could just be the idea that game designers are going to think along certain similar lines when they get to thinking 'OK, standing there and hitting people gets the job done but it gets dull after you do it for four hours. What can we do to change things up?'/

 

[Driddle]

We need to bring him to the WOWCVC -- World Of Whatever Cootie Vaccination Center. I remember something like that back in middle school. Worked really well; I'm still cootie-free to this day. But that was generic cooties. No one could have foreseen this horrendous plague.

 

[Driddle]

He already test-drove WoW-like mechanics in Iron Heroes and you never hear people say IH is 'too video-gamey'. The entire mechanic where one or two classes 'build up' to a really massive attack is exactly how rogues work in WoW. Or it could just be the idea that game designers are going to think along certain similar lines when they get to thinking 'OK, standing there and hitting people gets the job done but it gets dull after you do it for four hours. What can we do to change things up?'/

1. Why so much energy expended to defend WoW-think?
2. If players are doing the same dull thing for four hours instead of being involved a decent game of D&D, then testing and/or introducing an online gaming concept isn't going to help. That's a personality glitch.

 

[I'm A Banana]

2. If players are doing the same dull thing for four hours instead of being involved a decent game of D&D, then testing and/or introducing an online gaming concept isn't going to help. That's a personality glitch.

What?

...wait....

What?

Doing the same dull thing for four hours (playing a dull game of D&D) is exactly what testing online gaming concepts in D&D is supposed to alleviate, since people do spend hours...days...playing WoW, obviously not considering it a dull thing (or, at least, more fun than a dull game of D&D).

Purity is a worthless concept. Beg, steal, and rip-off whatever systems work well. If they come from videogames, from literature, from movies, or from monopoly, who cares, as long as they work well?

Obviously MMO-style aggro doesn't work that well in D&D. Mostly because standing there getting wailed on and dictating actions are things that aren't a whole lot of fun in most cases. In an MMO, a defender in combat is constantly juggling the attention of the monster, giving them something to occupy their mind while they fill their role. A compulsion to attack isn't as exciting in a round-based combat system like D&D uses.

 

[Driddle]

Doing the same dull thing for four hours (playing a dull game of D&D) is exactly what testing online gaming concepts in D&D is supposed to alleviate...

Yeah, I'd agree ... except that D&D wasn't dull to begin with. There's nothing to alleviate.
Which means that they're testing online gaming concepts for the sheer sake of trying to make the game more online game-ish.