Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="BryonD" data-source="post: 4978838" data-attributes="member: 957">First, I'd agree with the primary observations that each edition is about having fun, and they represent what was viewed as most fun at that time.&nbsp; but I also think you can get into focuses for each edition.&nbsp; And I believe that every edition built on the presumption of what had been achieved before it.1E was still in the &quot;this is a new thing&quot; mindset.&nbsp; The very idea of *being* a character in a fantasy story was the focus.The initial core of 2E really did not move from there.&nbsp; But I agree with prior statements that over its life it became about settings.&nbsp; 2E presumed that *being* a character was now taken for granted and creating rich cultures and geographies for those characters to exist within was the focus.&nbsp; Clearly Greyhawk, and other settings, were already around, but the level of emphasis on both setting in general and diversity of settings was the frontier of 2E.When 3E came around, settings were old hat.&nbsp; 3E took setting diversity for granted and dove in to making person, place, and thing be as mechanical distinct as possible.&nbsp; Again, 2E certainly went into this with kits and even total new classes for different settings.&nbsp; But for 3E it was the development frontier.4E took the presumption of everything is detailed and assumed that groups would do with that as they wish.&nbsp; The design frontier was streamlining.&nbsp; I also think there is a bit of a disconnect in the process here because 4E is also the first edition ever to be developed with the presumption of digital tools and day to day electronic contact between publisher and players built in to the planning and marketing.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="BryonD, post: 4978838, member: 957"] First, I'd agree with the primary observations that each edition is about having fun, and they represent what was viewed as most fun at that time. but I also think you can get into focuses for each edition. And I believe that every edition built on the presumption of what had been achieved before it. 1E was still in the "this is a new thing" mindset. The very idea of *being* a character in a fantasy story was the focus. The initial core of 2E really did not move from there. But I agree with prior statements that over its life it became about settings. 2E presumed that *being* a character was now taken for granted and creating rich cultures and geographies for those characters to exist within was the focus. Clearly Greyhawk, and other settings, were already around, but the level of emphasis on both setting in general and diversity of settings was the frontier of 2E. When 3E came around, settings were old hat. 3E took setting diversity for granted and dove in to making person, place, and thing be as mechanical distinct as possible. Again, 2E certainly went into this with kits and even total new classes for different settings. But for 3E it was the development frontier. 4E took the presumption of everything is detailed and assumed that groups would do with that as they wish. The design frontier was streamlining. I also think there is a bit of a disconnect in the process here because 4E is also the first edition ever to be developed with the presumption of digital tools and day to day electronic contact between publisher and players built in to the planning and marketing. [/QUOTE]

Verification