It is indeed very similar to min-maxing ability scores. (Though min-maxing ability scores isn't always a bad thing. Rudgar, filler of Graves the claymore wielding beserker
ought to have a high strength and be able to kill two orcs with one stroke. If you describe the character you want to play as Rudgar filler of Graves but have an 8 strength and an 18 charisma or a 13 strength and a 7 con, you're either role-playing a liar or you're not role-playing. If you ask me, proper role-playing requires you to arrange the character's ability scores so that he can accomplish what the character is supposed to be able to accomplish.)
But, back to the point. While it is often distained, min/maxing is simply a fact of life. The vast majority of players, if they understand the rules, use them to make effective characters. (And those who don't make effective characters are often the victims of unsuccessful min/maxing rather than being principled avoiders of min/maxing--the guy in my first 3rd edition campaign who made an 8 con fighter/wizard as his first character was one such. It was his first 3rd edition game and in 2nd edition, it wouldn't have been a bad choice--he just wasn't familiar enough with the changes in 3rd edition to understand that it was a bad choice in 3rd edition). I would bet that, if you pick any game at random and look at the character's ability scores, the wizard will have a high int, the cleric will have a high wis, the archer will have a high dex, and most melee type characters will have a high strength. They will all have a high con. It's certainly been true in all the campaigns I've played in. And, to discuss the largest sample size I have available to me, at least 75% of Living Greyhawk or Living Arcanis characters I've seen (which is quite a few) have had ability scores within the ranges that I would designate as optimal if Goodman Games asked me to write the Powergamer's Guide to Every Third Edition Class. (I've written, DMed, and played in the campaigns for nearly eight years all up the west coast, so my anecdotal sample size is pretty decent--if you wanted non-anecdotal evidence, you could investigate the posted characters here
http://www.onyxgate.com/turbine/char-list?region=PAL&SETSTYLE=PAL ). The point is this: min-maxing ability scores is probably the most universal part of D&D other than using a PHB, DMG, and Monster Manual.
So, we have good reason to believe that, as soon as experience teaches the ways to exploit and abuse the 1/1/1 movement rule, the vast majority of players will do so.
rjdafoe said:
I am not calling anyone names at all here, let me be clear about that but the concerns of this really sound to me very similiar to MIN/MAXING ability scores. Only the concept is being applied to movement.
