From ENWorld's front page, a quote excerpt from Wyatt: "The reason there's a 'sweet spot' in the current game is that it's the approximate range of levels where, purely by coincidence, the math of the system actually works. In those levels, PCs don't drop after one hit, and they don't take a dozen hits to wear down. In those levels, characters miss monsters occasionally, but less than half the time, and monsters miss characters only slightly more often. It's pure chance, really, but it means the game is fun. Outside of those levels, the math doesn't work that way, and the game stops being fun."
Reminded me of life itself, or at least the professional side of it. When you're learning your (work) skills and finding your way in life, it doesn't take much to knock you down -- one well-placed peer insult, for example, or a job downsizing. Somewhere about five years into your career (to pick a round number), you're comfortably matched with the challenges you face; it's not so hard to drive you to drink, but you look forward to the balance between effort, risk and reward. Then by the time you're at the end of your professional development, you're pretty bored with the entire thing. It's too darned easy. You're vested and no one can knock you down without a lot of special circumstance. .... This progression changes, of course, if you multiclass into another field of expertise. It sorta resets the clock a little as you learn the new stuff.
But looking back over *my* life, at least, I'd have to say that each level has had its own flavor of fun. I wouldn't want to start playing in the "sweet spot" every day. That would have its own drawbacks, the biggest of which would be boredom of consistency.
If I have a point to make at all, it's probably this: Maybe a game system that reflects a character's improvement over time is, by its very nature, incapable of creating a satisfying-yet-stagnant "sweet spot" for play.
Reminded me of life itself, or at least the professional side of it. When you're learning your (work) skills and finding your way in life, it doesn't take much to knock you down -- one well-placed peer insult, for example, or a job downsizing. Somewhere about five years into your career (to pick a round number), you're comfortably matched with the challenges you face; it's not so hard to drive you to drink, but you look forward to the balance between effort, risk and reward. Then by the time you're at the end of your professional development, you're pretty bored with the entire thing. It's too darned easy. You're vested and no one can knock you down without a lot of special circumstance. .... This progression changes, of course, if you multiclass into another field of expertise. It sorta resets the clock a little as you learn the new stuff.
But looking back over *my* life, at least, I'd have to say that each level has had its own flavor of fun. I wouldn't want to start playing in the "sweet spot" every day. That would have its own drawbacks, the biggest of which would be boredom of consistency.
If I have a point to make at all, it's probably this: Maybe a game system that reflects a character's improvement over time is, by its very nature, incapable of creating a satisfying-yet-stagnant "sweet spot" for play.
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