The point Mearls made was not that the rules were clear or easy to use, but that you immediately knew what to do with them -- draw a map, fill the rooms with monsters and treasure, and lead the party through the dungeon so they could kill things and take their stuff.imbiginjapan said:I don't really agree here, as I think D&D can be pretty daunting out of the gate. It seems more playable because people around here are used to it. For example I'd argue that a truly "playable" game shouldn't require its users to reference charts in three separate books to find a particular result.
It's easy to play -- not in a mechanical sense, but in the larger sense that you don't stare at the book thinking "cool!" but not knowing how to make it all happen.
It obviously hasn't been a disaster, but I think it could do much better by making it as easy as possible to dip one's toes in the game.imbiginjapan said:I don't really think it's a leap, considering that for many people D&D is the only RPG that they are aware of. If it were such a big financial leap D&D wouldn't be selling such vast quantities in comparison to every other RPG out there.
Hmm...perhaps D&D needs to include Robert E. Howard's "Tower of the Elephant" to set the tone...imbiginjapan said:I think the BRP Call of Cthulhu book is close to the best example. In fact the monster list could probably be trimmed and it would still be fine. It offers enough flavor for just about anyone to get a clear idea of the setting, and my 5.5 edition even includes an actual Lovecraft story.