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<blockquote data-quote="D+1" data-source="post: 1343214" data-attributes="member: 13654">D&amp;D, and indeed all RPG's, are no better than the DM that runs them.&nbsp; A bad DM can take the penultimate rules and waste everyones time.&nbsp; A good DM can take virtually any ruleset and run a game that will be enjoyable and interesting.&nbsp; Your experience here has nothing to do with the rules being used themselves, but with HOW they're being used.&nbsp; There's nothing in 3E/3.5 that prevents or even discourages running a free-form, open-ended campaign any more than any previous version.&nbsp; If anything it encourages it like no previous edition has by enabling all manner of refinements and changes to be worked into the system with the least amount of fuss and bother.Two things have changed over the years that have brought you to your current position.&nbsp; First, although free-wheeling sorts of campaigns are no less enjoyable it has become fashionable to scorn such games and those who play them.&nbsp; Story, which in the early days of RPG's was often thin or non-existent, has now perhaps swung too far to where it's now OVER-emphasized.&nbsp; The game became what it is today more through ROLLplaying than ROLEplaying.&nbsp; While the improvement to the gaming experience through more sophisticated roleplaying cannot be overlooked there are those who seek to eliminate as much of the &quot;game&quot; portion of &quot;roleplaying game&quot; as is possible.&nbsp; For those of use who still enjoy the &quot;game&quot; as much as the &quot;roleplaying&quot; it's as easy a problem to fix as shouting &quot;Screw this!&nbsp; I'm gonna roll dice at something!&quot;Second, as game design has improved and the years have rolled by, established campaign worlds have become extraordinarly... complete... structured.&nbsp; The number of home-brewed campaign worlds have shrunk and the older the published game world the greater the depth of its description.&nbsp; And they are ALL designed from top down, instead of bottom up which is the method least conducive to making adjustments to the setting at will.&nbsp; And all that compiled information on a given game world tends to discourage DM's in their creativity in exchange for alleviating the burdens of time and effort otherwise needed to create and maintain the campaign world.&nbsp; As your observation suggests - and I would agree - this has NOT been a good thing.The GAME is not actively stifling creativity but DM's and players are FAR less obligated to exercise their creativity as they once were because there's such a well-developed crutch and support system for them to lean on.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="D+1, post: 1343214, member: 13654"] D&D, and indeed all RPG's, are no better than the DM that runs them. A bad DM can take the penultimate rules and waste everyones time. A good DM can take virtually any ruleset and run a game that will be enjoyable and interesting. Your experience here has nothing to do with the rules being used themselves, but with HOW they're being used. There's nothing in 3E/3.5 that prevents or even discourages running a free-form, open-ended campaign any more than any previous version. If anything it [I]encourages[/I] it like no previous edition has by enabling all manner of refinements and changes to be worked into the system with the least amount of fuss and bother. Two things have changed over the years that have brought you to your current position. First, although free-wheeling sorts of campaigns are no less enjoyable it has become fashionable to scorn such games and those who play them. Story, which in the early days of RPG's was often thin or non-existent, has now perhaps swung too far to where it's now OVER-emphasized. The game became what it is today more through ROLLplaying than ROLEplaying. While the improvement to the gaming experience through more sophisticated roleplaying cannot be overlooked there are those who seek to eliminate as much of the "game" portion of "roleplaying game" as is possible. For those of use who still enjoy the "game" as much as the "roleplaying" it's as easy a problem to fix as shouting "Screw this! I'm gonna roll dice at something!" Second, as game design has improved and the years have rolled by, established campaign worlds have become extraordinarly... complete... structured. The number of home-brewed campaign worlds have shrunk and the older the published game world the greater the depth of its description. And they are ALL designed from top down, instead of bottom up which is the method least conducive to making adjustments to the setting at will. And all that compiled information on a given game world tends to [I]discourage[/I] DM's in their creativity in exchange for alleviating the burdens of time and effort otherwise needed to create and maintain the campaign world. As your observation suggests - and I would agree - this has NOT been a good thing. The GAME is not actively stifling creativity but DM's and players are FAR less obligated to exercise their creativity as they once were because there's such a well-developed crutch and support system for them to lean on. [/QUOTE]

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