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<blockquote data-quote="Thundershield" data-source="post: 3884010" data-attributes="member: 55219">Merely quoting for the truth of it.As a D&amp;D player and CRPG player, I have thought about why the designers decided such a mechanic was relevant in the first place.I didn't want to look at it solely as a D&amp;D player or as a CRPG player, as that would either have me whining about how they were making it &quot;not D&amp;D anymore&quot; or nodding like a fanboy and thinking &quot;that's what tanks are supposed to do&quot;.Instead I came to this conclusion: MMORPGs have a tendency to take the roles of the classic fantasy party and boil it down to easy-to-work-with simplicity. As a D&amp;D player, I'd think &quot;what is a fighter&quot;, but I'd neglect the equally-important question &quot;what is a fighter supposed to do&quot;. In 3E, any monster could simply ignore the supposed tank and go straight for the squishies as the Fighter had no way of keeping the monster's attention on him, meaning his boatload of hit points only meant he was a less desirable target.I realize that moving away from the pure-bred D&amp;D inclination of designing stuff based solely on concept is something that might rub some grognards the wrong way, but let's face it: That's the inclination that's made the Fighter as hopelessly useless in high-level play as they are today. Any monster with a grain of wits goes for the Wizard first, then the Cleric or Rogue, and lastly the Fighter. Great job holding the monster back, Bob.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Thundershield, post: 3884010, member: 55219"] Merely quoting for the truth of it. As a D&D player and CRPG player, I have thought about why the designers decided such a mechanic was relevant in the first place. I didn't want to look at it solely as a D&D player or as a CRPG player, as that would either have me whining about how they were making it "not D&D anymore" or nodding like a fanboy and thinking "that's what tanks are supposed to do". Instead I came to this conclusion: MMORPGs have a tendency to take the roles of the classic fantasy party and boil it down to easy-to-work-with simplicity. As a D&D player, I'd think "what is a fighter", but I'd neglect the equally-important question "what is a fighter supposed to do". In 3E, any monster could simply ignore the supposed tank and go straight for the squishies as the Fighter had no way of keeping the monster's attention on him, meaning his boatload of hit points only meant he was a less desirable target. I realize that moving away from the pure-bred D&D inclination of designing stuff based solely on concept is something that might rub some grognards the wrong way, but let's face it: That's the inclination that's made the Fighter as hopelessly useless in high-level play as they are today. Any monster with a grain of wits goes for the Wizard first, then the Cleric or Rogue, and lastly the Fighter. Great job holding the monster back, Bob. [/QUOTE]

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