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<blockquote data-quote="bpauls" data-source="post: 8508856" data-attributes="member: 6676720"><p>You make great points, and I agree with most of them.</p><p></p><p>There is probably a longer article (or even a series) that could be written about how D&D has changed over the decades--first by influencing video games, and then by being influenced <em>by </em>video games--in an iterative cycle that has increased the power of individual PCs, while somewhat diminishing team-based goals and the need for hirelings/retainers to strengthen a party. The last was really what prepared players for domain-level play and the use of actual armies to face regional/national or even existential threats.</p><p></p><p>Based primarily on my own experience, I question how much domain play actually happened. In my circles, it seemed most players opted for the alternative branch--getting the wizard to take the party plane-hopping, so they could go toe-to-toe with Demogorgan, Orcus, Tiamat, Anthraxus, or Asmodeus. I freely admit my experience is limited, and perhaps this was not the case with most groups.</p><p></p><p>I grant your fundamental argument, however--in early editions, "balance" was seen as something that encompassed the entire game, from lower levels to higher levels, and included an assumed change of play style. This was a different approach from the more recent (relatively speaking) focus on balancing the combat power of individual characters against one another at all levels.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="bpauls, post: 8508856, member: 6676720"] You make great points, and I agree with most of them. There is probably a longer article (or even a series) that could be written about how D&D has changed over the decades--first by influencing video games, and then by being influenced [I]by [/I]video games--in an iterative cycle that has increased the power of individual PCs, while somewhat diminishing team-based goals and the need for hirelings/retainers to strengthen a party. The last was really what prepared players for domain-level play and the use of actual armies to face regional/national or even existential threats. Based primarily on my own experience, I question how much domain play actually happened. In my circles, it seemed most players opted for the alternative branch--getting the wizard to take the party plane-hopping, so they could go toe-to-toe with Demogorgan, Orcus, Tiamat, Anthraxus, or Asmodeus. I freely admit my experience is limited, and perhaps this was not the case with most groups. I grant your fundamental argument, however--in early editions, "balance" was seen as something that encompassed the entire game, from lower levels to higher levels, and included an assumed change of play style. This was a different approach from the more recent (relatively speaking) focus on balancing the combat power of individual characters against one another at all levels. [/QUOTE]
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