Mike Mearls comments on design

[Rechan]

Are not the hardcore gamers with the same complains a part of the problem - what they see as good complexity is in reality confuse and hard to get for the newcommers or less hardcoe gamers?

I've heard that yes, casual gamers just don't get excited about making characters. I recall during the Women & D&D thread, someone said every woman they've ever played with just wrinkled their nose and looked lost whenever character creation was explained; all they cared about was getting elbow deep into the roleplaying.

Admittedly, when I'm first learning a system, I dread character creation.

 

[BryonD]

Thin skin much?

please don't try this double talk crap. Saying that I need to understand is saying that up to that point I don't.

I wasn't implying that you don't understand. I was imploring you to take that more into consideration.

I reject your implication that I wasn't taking enough into consideration.

I all ready said that it would lose some people.

I mean net lose.

Eh? Simplicity isn't for newer gamers. I run 3.5 and I beg for simplicity.

Huh? I didn't say it wasn't. I said I'm not convinced it will grow the total player base. Again, simplicity with a lack of any negative impact is all good. But we can't keep just saying "simplicity" without admiting to the trade offs.

 

[Firevalkyrie]

Not trying to get flamed here but that sounds a lot like a quest log in say, Guild Wars.

Her'es your quest.

Here's the XP and items you'll get if you do it.

But it's a suggestion. For new DMs. To help them get up to speed on the whole story xp thing. You know, to give them ideas that don't involve "go here, kill every monster, come back."

 

[Odhanan]

You don't think that a company designing a game shouldn't have a target goal of making it fun?

That's not his point. His point is that the use of the word "fun" doesn't give any information because it varies with each and everyone. He has to define what he thinks is "fun" in order to give it meaning through context.

Some people love to have tons of charts to check out to see what type of weapon does what type of damage down to the very last detail during the game. They enjoy that part, ergo, for them, it is fun. It might not be for you or I. So "fun" is meaningless without context and says nothing about a design philosophy.

 

[JoeGKushner]

But it's a suggestion. For new DMs. To help them get up to speed on the whole story xp thing. You know, to give them ideas that don't involve "go here, kill every monster, come back."

Sure.

And it's not a bad suggestion either.

I've often thought of using something like that for Rolemaster.

 

[Rechan]

please don't try this double talk crap. Saying that I need to understand is saying that up to that point I don't.

And I reject your claim that I was trying to insult you.

You're reading into it what you want.

Huh? I didn't say it wasn't. I said I'm not convinced it will grow the total player base. Again, simplicity with a lack of any negative impact is all good. But we can't keep just saying "simplicity" without admiting to the trade offs.

And I'm just not seeing "simplicity without tradeoffs".

 

[Rechan]

But it's a suggestion. For new DMs. To help them get up to speed on the whole story xp thing. You know, to give them ideas that don't involve "go here, kill every monster, come back."

That, and a suggestion for groups who are scatterbrained, or game once a month, and thus don't recall "Why are we in this dungeon, again?"

 

[BryonD]

And I reject the implication that I was trying to insult you.

You're reading into it what you want.

I didn't say you were trying to insult me. (now you are reading things that are not there.)

You said I needed to understand with specific regard to something that I did in fact already understand. I corrected the statement.

 

[Rechan]

I didn't say you were trying to insult me. (now you are reading things that are not there.)

You said I needed to understand with specific regard to something that I did in fact already understand. I corrected the statement.

Are you done? I was trying to be polite and you jumped down my throat.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

I was hoping this thread wasn't going to be derailed into yet another Golden Wyvern argument.

Fair enough, I'll shut up about it here.