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<blockquote data-quote="doctorbadwolf" data-source="post: 8638535" data-attributes="member: 6704184">In case it isn't coming across clearly, [USER=6747251]@Micah Sweet[/USER] , a preference for simplicity is not an indicator of casual engagement with the game or with gaming in general. Many of us have developed simpler preferences as we have become more and more deeply engaged with the hobby, in fact. Many of the most dedicated dnd players i know, the ones who have 1 hobby and it's TTRPGs and primarily DnD, prefer to play mostly at-will very simple characters in 5e, because they don't feel constrained by lists of abilities that way. I have already heard from people who've played a few months of level up that they immediately saw a reduction in improvisational play, or what some folks call &quot;shennanigans&quot;, because people are more inclined to stick to what's on their sheet, the more little mechanical knobs and dials and widgets they have on their sheet. Many people who are quite the opposite of &quot;casual&quot; strongly prefer simpler mechanics that put the onus of creativity in play more strongly on the players and DM. That isn't a casual preference, it's actually rather an advanced preference, IME. The other point that is worth noting, here, is that wotc has made the game more complex and less &quot;easy mode&quot; over the last several years, not less. No longer can you just look at what your class needs for stats and pick one of the races that gets that, you have to actually look at the races and think about them in order to make a choice that you won't be dissatisfied with later. The monster design has shifted to giving monsters more bang for their CR, on average, and making them harder to counter, both by making more abilities not be spells or even magical, and by making PC race magic resistance into spell resistance.Frankly, that last one is overkill, at least for the gnome, IMO, so my group will be treating the trait as advantage against all magical effects that target the mind. Still, it's absolutely not a case of dumbing anything down, making anything easier, or making the game more &quot;casual friendly&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="doctorbadwolf, post: 8638535, member: 6704184"] In case it isn't coming across clearly, [USER=6747251]@Micah Sweet[/USER] , a preference for simplicity is not an indicator of casual engagement with the game or with gaming in general. Many of us have developed simpler preferences as we have become more and more deeply engaged with the hobby, in fact. Many of the most dedicated dnd players i know, the ones who have 1 hobby and it's TTRPGs and primarily DnD, prefer to play mostly at-will very simple characters in 5e, because they don't feel constrained by lists of abilities that way. I have already heard from people who've played a few months of level up that they immediately saw a reduction in improvisational play, or what some folks call "shennanigans", because people are more inclined to stick to what's on their sheet, the more little mechanical knobs and dials and widgets they have on their sheet. Many people who are quite the opposite of "casual" strongly prefer simpler mechanics that put the onus of creativity in play more strongly on the players and DM. That isn't a casual preference, it's actually rather an advanced preference, IME. The other point that is worth noting, here, is that wotc has made the game more complex and less "easy mode" over the last several years, not less. No longer can you just look at what your class needs for stats and pick one of the races that gets that, you have to actually look at the races and think about them in order to make a choice that you won't be dissatisfied with later. The monster design has shifted to giving monsters more bang for their CR, on average, and making them harder to counter, both by making more abilities not be spells or even magical, and by making PC race magic resistance into [I]spell[/I] resistance. Frankly, that last one is overkill, at least for the gnome, IMO, so my group will be treating the trait as advantage against all magical effects that target the mind. Still, it's absolutely not a case of dumbing anything down, making anything easier, or making the game more "casual friendly". [/QUOTE]

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