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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mustrum_Ridcully" data-source="post: 4867156" data-attributes="member: 710">I don't know how it worked in 3.5, but from what I read on the 4E design discussions before the release, they didn't fail to grasp, but decided conciously to move away from it, because people enjoy certain "success chances" the most. In other ways, the play experience is designed to not change in that regard, but always be in the "psychological optimum" range. (Though I think that is assuming "smart play", e.g. using stuff like flanking or buffing powers - which makes sense to me.)While the theory behind improving actual hit chances with level makes sense, the question is if this is actually what leads to a satisfying play experience overall. It assumes that is okay to have "less fun" at early levels than at later levels. You start feeling incompetent but notice that you get better, and that is something to look forward to and keep you playing.But doesn't the actual game experience not indicate that most people find their "sweet spot" and try to play within it? Many people do not start campaigns at 1st level again (where a single shot can kill anybody), and many people don't venture in the high level ranges (where you never miss and a lot of "win"-spells are around). I think that is strong evidence that people prefer that "sweet spot" of success chance, and that any design not trying to achieve that spot at every time will see parts of it diminished. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e is another game that uses the "increasing success" chance concept, very transparent even (due to using percentile roles). I found that the most troubling when it involves skills, not necessarily combat. In combat, it is just "tedious", but regarding skills, one really feels incompetent - and there it also hurts the "simulation" aspect of it, since it's hardly believable that even a starting character is so bad in his speciality skill...</blockquote>

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