Why is 4e like World of Warcraft?

[Philodox00]

Did you look at the Ranger Utility powers?
Thinks like: Cruicial Advice, Evade Ambush, Skilled Companion, Expeditious Stride. Undaunted Stride, Long Strider, Forest Ghost? Do they look Rangery to you, or do they look like Paladin, Two-Weapon Fighter or Archer powers?

I wasn't impressed.

So in addition to either my leet Drizzt or Legolis powers, I can help someone on skill checks that I have been trained in ( Taking up an Encounter or Daily power to do so ). Sounds like something any wise or experinced person could do.

Also, helping 3 or 4 comrades avoid being suprised once a day (Evade Ambush), doesn't seem like a good trade off, since I'm gonna need as much powers as I can dedicated to my awesome Archery or Dual Weilding skillz.

Expeditious Stride (Encounter) and Longstrider (Daily) give me a quick chance to dash around the battlefeild or get some extra shifts in. Undaunted Stride just gives chance at once a day, to move myself thru difficult terrain.

Forest Ghost in the only "Rangery" encounter there that actually contributes to my role as a "Striker" and that was the kick to my pants. Lets read the role of the Ranger straight from the PHB;

" Striker. You concentrate on either ranged attacks or two-weapon melee fighting to deal a lot of damage to one enemy at a time. Your attacks rely on speed and mobility, since you prefer to use hit-and-run tactics whenever possible "

Translation: You do damage. You either flank with the rogue and do melee damage with your FTW twin swords, or you can sit in the back and use your at-will archery powers to rack up the damage. Have one or two Defense/Movement powers to escape danger, but don't take too much away from your Damage Dealing abilities, becuase let's face it, you are a Striker, it's what you do.

 

[xechnao]

This is extremely dumb, yet it is one of those almost brilliant decisions as far as making money goes - just like ignoring most collisions. They make mmorpgs even possible in the first place, but the 'fun' had to be added in spite of these limitations. And true to their self-deterministic abilities, mmorpgs advanced.

I am not sure I understand what you want to say but I think to the extent I get what you want to say I agree.

 

[Krug]

Sigh why even bother comparing? WOW is more of a computer game, with hardly any sustained role-playing. It's a RP desert, and with so many guides around the corner, when people run instances, they already know what's around the corner. If you don't, you're considered a n00b. ("don't get that close you're aggro the felhound!")

I think the best thing about tabletop RPGs is the sense of mystery they have. No I don't want to know what all the boss-monster can do; nor what's around the corner to exact detail. In D&D even an encounter with resourceful kobolds can turn out to be highly interesting. In WOW it's all dreadfully dull.

 

[xechnao]

...they already know what's around the corner. If you don't, you're considered a n00b.

Interesting. I want to ask why is it so popular then? Sincerely, I do not have a clue. I have exactly this feeling now about video games and I just can't bother to play them anymore as say when I was in my teens.

 

[Shazman]

The distinction I see is that 4E mechanics are concerned more with making the game theatrical and fun(in some ways, this is much like video game RPG combat) rather than "logical." There is no "reason" you can only use daily powers once per day or encounter powers once per encounter. D&D has become much less simulationist, and I personally consider this a move in the right direction. This just puts an additional layer of responsibility on the DM and the players to imagine why things work in the game world.

As far as the roles feeling the same, the only one I've seen to suffer from this issue is Leader. Playing a Warlord seems very similar to playing a Cleric, but, for example, playing a Rogue looks very different from playing a Warlock.

Except that the flavor is gone. The flavor doesn't match the powers so it seems more like a minis or board game than an RPG. That pretty much kills the fun for me.

 

[Orius]

Sigh why even bother comparing? WOW is more of a computer game, with hardly any sustained role-playing. It's a RP desert, and with so many guides around the corner, when people run instances, they already know what's around the corner. If you don't, you're considered a n00b. ("don't get that close you're aggro the felhound!")

Well, if I were playing WoW, I certainly wouldn't want n00bs to make the wrong monsters aggro. I've played enough online games like that that I like when the group knows what it's doing and things run smoothly. It's much more annoying when you got n00bs (particularly the n00bs that have been playing a while and can't learn squat) fighting stupid and getting your own character killed.

But I agree with you on tabletop gaming. Though I approach it from a different angle...I like to DM and throw the players for a loop.