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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Erithtotl" data-source="post: 3982700" data-attributes="member: 1971">I played WoW, two PCs up into the mid-30s, and I inevitably found it as tedious as all other MMORPGs.  I know the endgame is different, but it's even more demanding of time and commitment, and what's worse, the reward system breaks down because it's my understanding players play 4-5 hour chunks on the hope that one random item will drop that they need.I'd really hate D&D to turn into WoW, and as the original poster said, the worst case scenario is that Wizards takes the worst elements from WoW, thinking they are what makes the game successful.As per the points of the original poster, I agree with #1.  The one that sets off a ding ding ding, but not for the same reason perhaps as the rest is the WoW is Easy part.The original poster touched on this but most have not focused on it.  D&D has too many WRONG CHOICES in character design.  In the group I currently run, all the players are at least competent, and most know the rules.  And yet, of that party, the powergamer has made a kick ass character, and the remaining four range from mildly effective to utterly ineffective.  This is all done by the abundance of bad choices that can be made by the players.  These range from the earliest like ability score allocation, to feat and skill selection, spell choices, multiclassing, buying the right gear, and the dreaded prestige class.This becomes a real issue in combat because I have one PC that is virtually indestructable and does huge amounts of damage, and in order to give him any kind of challenge the encounter ends up too tough for the rest of the party.  Additionally, that one PC grabs much of the glory of each battle.Now I have a good group who takes it in stride and doesn't complain too much.  Additionally I have tried to provide magic items that help them improve their deficiencies.  But the point is these guys are not idiots.  They are trying to create interesting and effective characters, but the chances for making a bad PC are so great that without detailed analysis and planning ahead, they will inevitably make bad choices.I don't want to take away choice from the players, that was the great innovation of 3.x over previous editions.  But conversely, unless they are truly looking to optimize every detail, players shouldn't have to be rules experts and meticulous planners to create a PC that is both interesting, fun, and effective.  The rules should strive to reduce the number of bad choices while making the good choices easier to navigate.</blockquote>

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