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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Argyle King" data-source="post: 6163509" data-attributes="member: 58416">That's a question which I have an answer for, but it's difficult to put into words without it sounding as though I'm bashing a system.  I'll try though.First, I'll again say that I agree that a great GM can make me overlook problems I have with a system.  Also, at the end of the day, I get together to spend time with my friends and have fun, so that doesn't necessarily change with system.  However, being able to overlook something doesn't mean I'm always able to completely ignore it.For example, I believe that the way levels work in D&D tends to reward and support certain pillars of play more than others.  As I am someone who enjoys exploring pillars of play which D&D doesn't often do a good job of supporting, I find myself missing the ability to engage those pillars in a way which I find satisfactory.  An example of that which usually comes to mind is trying to have interests for my character which aren't directly combat related like building a castle or having an army.  Realizing that -by the mechanics of 3rd Edition- one enemy character of my level could single-handedly destroy my entire army is a bit of a buzzkill and often makes trying to explore things which invest my character in the campaign world feel like a waste of time rather than a rewarding experience.  Up until a certain level D&D works adequately enough for the style of fantasy I'd prefer, but then it quickly goes in a different direction.  As such, yes, the mechanics would lessen the amount of fun I'd have.  That doesn't mean I wouldn't have fun at all, but it's a very real possibility that the mechanical choices of the game would be a reason why I wouldn't have as much fun as I may have had with a different system.  Another easy example which comes to mind when thinking about D&D is wanting to play the classic archetype of the mounted knight.  Because of similar problems to what I mentioned with wanting to have an army and such things, a mount usually does not keep pace with me.  It doesn't take long for the warhorse I had at level 1 to become a liability instead of an asset.  The best I can hope for is to play a paladin or a druid with an animal companion choice that I can ride.  There are a lot of different systems in which this is not the case.  In many of the ones which don't have D&D style levels and classes, my mount would remain relevant.  A character type I'd very much like to play -and one which is a classic trope- is more difficult to do in D&D than it would be in a different system.  I'm most familiar with 3rd Edition and 4th Edition, so those are the two editions of D&D I'm thinking of in these examples.  Thus far, my thoughts have been slanted more toward 3rd.  One of the things that bothers me about 4th is that I feel I need to look at the game from a different perspective than I'd prefer to.  When it comes to tactics and choices inside the game world, there are a lot of things I would do if I were facing the situation that would in no way make sense for me to do if I were someone living in a world that worked like 4th Edition.  That doesn't mean I can't have fun with the game; I have and do, but it has some areas which work in a manner different from how my mind works.  I have a great deal of fun if I go into it with a more casual attitude and think more in terms of when I should play a card (use a power,) but sometimes it's more difficult for me to... honestly, I'm not even sure how to describe it.  I guess what I'm trying to get at is that things that are good tactics in 4th would (in my mind) most likely get you killed if trying them in just about any other arena; including other rpgs and how I envision something playing out if I were actually faced with it.  Likewise, things which I feel would be good to do given a situation often don't make any sense at all to do given the context of D&D 4th Edition.  Because there is a conflict of thought and ideology there, there are times when I find I'm hampered in my ability to connect with the character and fully emerse myself in the world the character is in.  I still roleplay; I can still highly enjoy the game, but there's a barrier there created by the system which is difficult for me to push beyond.  That doesn't mean I can't have fun with the game, but, as with other things I've mention, there are aspects of play I want to explore which I find I'm lesser able to explore because of the system, and that does have an impact on how much overall fun I'm having.  Sometimes I highly enjoy 4E as a game while simultaneously not enjoying it so much as a rpg.  That's weird to try to explain, but that's how it is for me.</blockquote>

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