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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cryptos" data-source="post: 3987282" data-attributes="member: 58439">I remember when new computer roleplaying games or MMOs would come out, and after reading about the developers saying "we're doing this different," perhaps as in "you won't need to have a certain class combination in your party to be successful," at launch you'd have the players come in, and stand around waiting for a healer, or a nuker, or a tank.  And everything would be the same.  And those attitudes would persist.  Not necessarily because the developers failed to provide the players with something new, but because the players failed to embrace the potential.  I worry sometimes that I'm seeing the same thing in various places discussing 4e.  In places like the official boards, but also a bit here as well.I'm wondering if the developer's efforts to solve perceived problems with bookkeeping, timekeeping, pacing, encounter design, disparity in class effectiveness, and so forth will be trumped by gamer's habits.I've seen people argue against certain things by stating things like "the wizard stands in the back," for instance.  While it's certainly true that the wizard doesn't want to throw himself on a pikeman's polearm, all descriptions of combat have characters running from room to room and moving from place to place almost continually.  The back becomes the front, or the middle, and any wizard planning to plant himself will quickly get run over.  But will combat really turn out to be as kinetic as they've designed it at most game tables, or will everyone be stuck in "stand in the back" mode with static combatants because of their mindset?Other tropes I've seen referenced in discussions about 4e run the gamut, that's just an example.  Everything from "so the cleric can heal you" to "the rogue has to do this" or "the fighter can't do this" or "dragons are like that."  Well, in many cases, they can (or can't) under a different system.I really don't remember wondering about a perception problem or an interpretation problem during the 3e conversion.  But this is, in some ways, a bigger leap.  In some ways, it's a paradigm shift.I think this is one of the real challenges of 4e and will impact its success.  They can obviously change the game.  Can they change the gamers?  Will Dungeons and Dragons players take advantage of what's been given them?</blockquote>

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