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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 4936367" data-attributes="member: 4937">Real Reasons for the Changes:WotC wanted a rules set that could be easily ported with minimal changes to a real time computer environment.  Vancian casting, for example, doesn't port well to a computer environment.  The 4e rules set is in my opinion as a programmer who has worked on porting turn based pen and paper games over to real time computer environments, very easy to port over to a computer environment while still maintaining the feel of the PnP game.  For example, compared to earlier editions, 4e is far more suited to balanced PvP combat, which is an expected part of computer gaming that has little role in table top games.  4e also provides a consistancy of play experience across a wide range of levels that you didn't have in earlier editions.  A low level wizard plays very much like a high level wizard, which certainly can't be said of earlier editions.  Also, the tight focus on combat is much easier for a game programmer, because non-combat situations tend to require much more human arbitration and anything that require human arbitration is hard or impossible to program.  The skill frameworks seem to me an attempt to provide a resolution mechanic to game developers for outside of combat situations, albiet the whole skill challenge system has never really seemed to work as intended.  WotC wanted a rules set that could be picked up by an average 12 year old and which would present concepts familiar to that player from outside the pen and paper RPG gaming world.  WotC wanted a clean break with the OGL and 'open source' gaming.  The real problem with the OGL was that Green Ronin was doing D&D better than WotC was.  WotC expected 3rd parties to provide accessories with low profit margins and allow WoTC to concentrate on core books.  Instead, too many players (like me) were using other gaming companies products as core books and simply not buying WotC books (at all).  To break with OGL meant that they had to put out a system that wasn't really backwards compatible so that if you wanted to keep playing the latest and 'coolest' game, you had to stop using their competitor's books.As for the flavor changes, I think you are really overthinking the issue.  The reason for the flavor changes is quite simple - a new DM was put in charge.  Every DM is going to try to put their own stamp on the official setting.  If there was any overarching motivation beyond that it was again, just simplicity.  The traditional D&D planar setting is very baroque and complicated.  It's not something that people can take in at a glance and understand what's going on.  A simplified core setting serves to get people into the cosmology and its conflicts in a hurry.  Of course, over time I fully expect the new setting to develop all the quirks and complexities of any long lived setting - 'setting bloat' as opposed to 'rules bloat' - but if they had any unifying idea at all it was probably 'keep it simple'.</blockquote>

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