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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kobold Stew" data-source="post: 9645166" data-attributes="member: 23484">I think "gaslit" is wrong: all evidence shows the designers were open to major changes, but those didn't occur. There are a number of reasons. One, as you note, is backwards compatibility. The people who wanted/demanded it were very loud, and I think appeared over represented on the boards. It became a sacred cow, which meant that more uniform subclasses etc. just didn't have a chance.Second was the feedback policy. They wanted to be liked, which is always a problem. The 70% threshold, however it was calculated (and certainly none of us know), was always vague and without granularity. That meant that the feedback could not easily distinguish between "I don't like this" and "There might be something here, but it needs refinement." Would or should all the experiments have made it? No. But I am certain it would be a more exciting release had it not been for the deep conservatism of many players. Third, conservatism. There's a whole thread on this. I think if there is blame, it really likes at the recalcitrance of players who are especially vocal. But I don't think anyone was gaslighting anyone. The list could go on.I agree with you that Backwards Compatibility was a poor motivation. In my mind, it shoudl never have been a concern. It was given a disproportionate weight, and that in the end, limited the innovation in what we received. I'm one of the players who is downplaying 2014 materials. It's not that I don't want them in my game, but I am choosing not to use them because I've (for the most part) made those characters. (The exception is MotM, which I'll continue to play with until a post-2024 savage-species-equivalent comes out. Once it does? I'll remove it from what I draw on for myself.)Some of the things not carried forward, though, I am pleased to see gone. I'm tired of Green Flame Blade as a cantrip, and all of the just-overpowered-enough-that-other-choices-are-too-weak options. Are they all gone? No. Will others be reintroduced? Of course. But I want to see greater variation in character builds, not more of the same. But that's me, and there are a lot of players out there that feel different. I want them to feel excited to play as well.</blockquote>

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