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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dungeoneer" data-source="post: 5474452" data-attributes="member: 91777">I think the guy who wrote the article is on to something (although I think the poll misses the point - it's about people's perceptions of the stat blocks, not how useful they are or aren't).  I have a saying: "Presentation counts."  I generally use this in the context of the IT field which I work in, but it applies pretty well to life in general.  Humans respond very viscerally to the look and feel of something.  They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but the fact is that everybody does.  We just can't help it.I would guess that if 4e had been given a more 'classic' look at the get-go and perhaps started with more 'Essentialized' classes that it would have been more widely accepted by the community, at least at first.That said, I think that at this point most of the people who were initially turned off by the 'look and feel' of 4e have probably given it a fair shake.  In the long run I don't know that what the game looked like will matter much.  But in the short run it probably did quite a bit....On a side note, people are constantly knocking the 4e artists, and I don't think that's quite fair.  Artists on this kind of thing aren't free to just draw any old way they like.  There is such a thing as 'art direction', and the 4e artists have to follow theirs.  You could have Michelangelo working at WotC, but if he wanted to keep his job he'd better match the guidelines handed down by management.The art direction in 4e is obviously intended to attract young readers without seeming too 'kiddie' for adults*.  Does it succeed?  Meh.  Sometimes. The artwork in 4e isn't always my cup of tea, but the blame needs to be laid at the feet of the art direction, not the individual artists.  I'm sure WotC can afford the best, and gets them.  It's just too bad they then shackle them with these oddly shaped, vaguely cartoonish characters.* I'm just happy they didn't go with an anime look.</blockquote>

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