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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 6249096">In this case, i think it prety much amounts to being just his opinion. The reasons he identified may be genuine, but that doesn't mean he has stumbled on a universal law of good design we should apply to all rpgs. Having reasons for not liking something simply doesn't establish a rule of good design automatically. I think it is pretty clear people are highly divided on the issue of balance, and on this issue in particuar. So any universal claim that parties balanced to be good at all pillars, needs to account for the fact that a substantial number of people don't enjoy that, and consider it unfun. I have my own reasons forcfinding that less exciting, and i have stated them. But one thing i understand is that reasons for disliking that kind of parity vary quite a bit. What is more important to me here is that some people like parity of the pillars and some people don't. I am not terribly interested into constructing theories round why and then using that to establish an objective measure of good design. Again, i am not saying balance is unimportsnt, i think it is important. But i don't value the same kind of balnce as shidaku. He wants to ensure through the system that everyone always has something meaningfu to contribute in every type of event or challenge. He also seems very interested in making sure the GM has a much easier time presenting challenges to the party that are a good match for the individual skills of the player characters. That looks like it assumes he also wants play to be structured around challenges that are "just right". That isn't the kind of play i enjoy. My style of play and prefernces don't fit into that. So a game designed that way pretty much makes my style of play impossible or requires me to make all kinds of adjustments to achieve it. This is why i consider it a flawed design principle. A great principle to use for an audience of shidaku and like minded players, but not great for a gave that is trying to appeal to a broad audience that includes a lot of people like me. And certainly not a good principle for RPGs in general, where you have an enormous range of tastes and preferences around this specific concern (but again it is a good principle for the right target audience).</blockquote>

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