Yaarel
🇮🇱He-Mage
My impression is, 4e was designed as a classless system. But the designers found it to be "too wild". Freeform character generation rewards system mastery, allowing the experienced player to combine powerful options, and the newb to pick useless combinations. The system rewards min-maxing. The designer playtesting was volatile, fast and furious in any direction.
Even so. The attention to how much each feature is worth, was a breakthru in understanding how a gaming ecology functions. 4e ended up being the most balanced version ever.
Ironically, 4e ended up as the most mechanically stratified edition, with little mechanical flexibility. (Albeit the reflavoring of mechanics is amazing.) It was more difficult for DMs to homebrew new mechanics, and the 4e culture generally waited for new official options, dependent on the designers to innovate new balanced mechanics.
In comparison, 5e seems less balanced, but is more robust and harder to break. So it can handle the stress of DMs making up new mechanics on the fly.
Even so. The attention to how much each feature is worth, was a breakthru in understanding how a gaming ecology functions. 4e ended up being the most balanced version ever.
Ironically, 4e ended up as the most mechanically stratified edition, with little mechanical flexibility. (Albeit the reflavoring of mechanics is amazing.) It was more difficult for DMs to homebrew new mechanics, and the 4e culture generally waited for new official options, dependent on the designers to innovate new balanced mechanics.
In comparison, 5e seems less balanced, but is more robust and harder to break. So it can handle the stress of DMs making up new mechanics on the fly.