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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Garnfellow" data-source="post: 2969140" data-attributes="member: 1223">It sounds like a few people in this thread don’t think D&D is too complex right now, and that any attempt to make it simpler is a deplorable dumbing down of the game, a thumb in the eye of tradition.But I am really starting to wonder. Just because D&D is less complex than Aftermath (and what the heck isn’t) doesn’t mean the game is as simple as it could or should be.I’m thinking of a couple of specific examples that might demonstrate this point:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The continuing inability of WotC to get its monster stat blocks right – even in the wake of the MMIII fiasco. Pull out any three John Cooper reviews at random from the last year and you’ll see what I mean. Although I still think Hordes of the Abyss is a fantastic book, the numerous stat block errors are a big annoyance.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The unreliability of the “official” FAQ. I think there are at least a couple of threads going on right now detailing the many contradictions, inconsistencies, and just out-and-out blunders that have appeared in the FAQ.</li> </ul>Up until fairly recently, I’ve pretty much blamed these problems on shoddy quality control back at WotC. And I’m not ready to completely let them off the hook.But lately, I’ve begun to wonder about the game system itself. If professional game designers at the largest RPG company in the industry -- smart people working very hard on something they presumably enjoy very much -- if these same designers continue to make errors at an unacceptably high rate, doesn’t that suggest something about the game?In this light, I think simplifying the game isn’t a goal that will only benefit the poor, hypothetical “beginning DM.” It seems like all DMs, veterans and newbies alike, could use some help. In isolation, one or two oddball monsters don’t seem like much of a burden on DMs. But in aggregate? This is a game currently bursting at the seams with oddball monsters, despite all the attempts to standardize and codify the rules.</blockquote>

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