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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alphastream" data-source="post: 6120542" data-attributes="member: 11365">I agree on principle that 4E could have foreseen that the early adventure design would fall short. But, I doubt it was due to designers not playing other games (they play many different games). Rather, it was (in my estimation, very possibly wrong) a combination of rushing to release (giving everyone very little time to think through the design) and goals of accessibility. I think throughout D&D (including the end of 3E) there has been this feeling that the most accessible experience is that of chucking dice, stabbing monsters, and claiming treasure. There is some truth to that, but I also think there is great truth to the game being most appealing because we get to experience fantasy (which we otherwise would passively watch or read in movies/TV/novels).I'm not familiar with HeroWars; I'll have to check it out. I still think 4E is very different to write for than any RPG I have played previously. While elements are similar, the combination is really very different. That difference, combined with rushing and the goal of accessibility, is exactly what led to early 4E Living Forgotten Realms adventures lacking story. Authors lacked experience with the new changes, but also faced new goals to try to prevent some of the 3E Living Greyhawk problems where the story rapidly was overwhelming for a new player. A new player in some LG regions honestly couldn't possibly role-play their PC correctly in adventures because they lacked the setting knowledge regarding the role of their PC in the society. Being a new LG player could be very hard - hard enough to not bother trying. To compensate, 4E organized play swung too far in the other direction (and since that time has come back to embrace story while still making the game accessible). A good specific example of needing experience is the DMG's writeup on skill challenges. It sounded okay back then, but pretty early on we found that it falls short. Organized play adventures quickly experimented with different changes, preventing static metagame play and furthering imaginative personality-driven play. We can also look at the absurd suggested encounters in the Monster Manual (they look more like DDM miniature game pairings, with very little thought to whether the monsters would actually fight together), or the initial problems with grind-heavy elite brutes in featureless rooms. Organized play has moved far beyond that, as have Dungeon and other DDI efforts.Today's 4E adventures are night-and-day different from the early efforts. It has been, in my opinion, a recognition that new and casual players love story, an understanding that accessibility can be achieved in other ways, and experience with 4E's innovations.Unlike the 3E-4E transition, with Next the lessons are already in place. And, there has been the time to acclimate to the new system. Future authors get to play and DM for more than a year before having to write. That's not to say there won't be duds. There are always going to be some and no effort pleases everyone. But, I think we will continue to see D&D Next release adventures of which we can be proud.</blockquote>

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