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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LurkAway" data-source="post: 5744705" data-attributes="member: 6685059">Maybe/probably, but when I got into the hobby at a young age, I didn't have friends who played alternative systems. Everyone I knew played D&D. And I was loyal to the D&D brand (I suppose I assumed it was the best system because it was the most popular).Although there were definitely gamist elements from the beginning (monsters that sat passively in empty rooms, the correlation of dungeon levels to monster strength, etc.), I felt the game was flexible enough to allow players to be engaged inside the story. As a kid, I remember some scenes where I was literally scared as if I was trapped in a dungeon room and didn't know what to do. Maybe kids and teens today feel that with 4E, feeling like they're in the story instead of outside looking in, I don't know.I'd guess that WoTC will probably put their eggs in one basket, but if I was in their marketing department, ignorant of the crunchy game design challenges and just thinking theoretically, I'd suggest a dual approach:D&D Legends- core game- a streamlined 4.75E- default campaign setting like FR- gamist/tactical/narrativist playstyle- rules are codified by default for tight optimal focus on playstyleD&D Lore- mature/advanced DM/players- a streamlined 3.75E/OSD hybrid- default campaign setting like Greyhawk- simulationist/immersionist or TOH-thief-on-a-rope playstyle- sandbox/exploration-based, flexible class generation- rules are guidelines by defaultTying the ruleset to a campaign setting is an acknowledgement that a) there are no "best" rules, just optimal rules for a certain narrative feel and fictional tropes, b) unlike a generic RPG, many D&D rules are interweaved with fiction and inform the flavor of the campaign setting and can't be cleanly disjoined. You could still swap campaign settings, of course, but Ravenloft under D&D Legends would play rather differently than Ravenloft under D&D Lore.I lumped simulationist/immersionist and TOH-thief-on-a-rope (is there a better term?) playstyle together, because I think they are compatible. That is, if you play simulationist-immersionist, you won't choose to jump off a 100' cliff, even if you know you'll survive, but you need to know that you could jump off the cliff if you needed to and there isn't some gamist codified insulation that hinders you from doing so.There are many different opinions out there, so I don't know if that dual approach ties them together, but I think it's worth exploring when you're between a rock and a hard place.</blockquote>

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