Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="rounser" data-source="post: 4324492" data-attributes="member: 1106">It takes more than the price of plate mail to make a game retro.I don't.&nbsp; Early D&amp;D was goofy and slapdash, and had &quot;simulate a fantasy novel&quot; compromises.&nbsp; 4E is antiseptic and logical, and has marketing and rules-before-flavour compromises.&nbsp; In many ways, it's the anti-retro.I completely understand how it happened, too, because it reminds me of the D&amp;D clone I once tried to create myself - high on logic and rules symmetry that an autistic would adore, but lacking in vibe, nuance and soul.&nbsp; My D&amp;D clone was sterile, and so is WOTC's, IMO.&nbsp; That's why it doesn't inspire me, and why some of it seems so thematically ugly and disjointed, even as it's a technical masterwork.*One of the former TSR designers was right with regard to 4E, IMO:&nbsp; The inmates have finally taken control of the asylum.*: Not all of it's thematically ugly to me.&nbsp; I really dig warlocks, and what they've done with fey.&nbsp; And the plane cleanup just leaving the useful ones is nice.&nbsp; Just too much of it is - stuff like warlords, dragonborn, eladrin, tieflings without aasimar, LG and CE feeling lonely, many of the powers making no sense when you try to envision them, healing surges making no sense in terms of their relationship to damage except by employing popcorn logic etc.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="rounser, post: 4324492, member: 1106"] It takes more than the price of plate mail to make a game retro. I don't. Early D&D was goofy and slapdash, and had "simulate a fantasy novel" compromises. 4E is antiseptic and logical, and has marketing and rules-before-flavour compromises. In many ways, it's the anti-retro. I completely understand how it happened, too, because it reminds me of the D&D clone I once tried to create myself - high on logic and rules symmetry that an autistic would adore, but lacking in vibe, nuance and soul. My D&D clone was sterile, and so is WOTC's, IMO. That's why it doesn't inspire me, and why some of it seems so thematically ugly and disjointed, even as it's a technical masterwork.* One of the former TSR designers was right with regard to 4E, IMO: The inmates have finally taken control of the asylum. *: Not all of it's thematically ugly to me. I really dig warlocks, and what they've done with fey. And the plane cleanup just leaving the useful ones is nice. Just too much of it is - stuff like warlords, dragonborn, eladrin, tieflings without aasimar, LG and CE feeling lonely, many of the powers making no sense when you try to envision them, healing surges making no sense in terms of their relationship to damage except by employing popcorn logic etc. [/QUOTE]

Verification