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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 8671530" data-attributes="member: 7026594">I think use in a VTT was pretty central to design.  Which is part of why you get stuff like cubic fireballs and much more cleanly-parsed language in all the power descriptions.  Everything was written to be easily implemented not just on a grid, but by a program.  All the fiddly little auras and reactions and situational bonuses from feats also work better and are less cumbersome if you have automation tracking who's in range of what, and popping up to remind you of your off-turn abilities.  If I never have to remember that I get a bonus to Opportunity Attacks from Combat Superiority if I'm a Fighter, or that I get a +2 bonus to AC when adjacent to two larger enemies because I have Lost in the Crowd, or whatever, those features don't feel so fiddly and don't take up cognitive load to remember.I think 3E was the big organized play-focused edition, with its attempts to have a rule for everything, and to empower players and give strong guidelines and rules for inexperienced DMs.  4E's attempts to be super clear and simplified certainly serve the end of consistent adjudication as well, though.This is the common exaggerated version.  What the designer said was that they borrowed ideas from other games they enjoy, as does every edition, and that WoW was a massively popular game that some of the designers did enjoy, so naturally it contributed some inspiration. A lot of folks leapt from that statement to the idea that 4E was trying to be an MMO, which was never stated or implied.  What it WAS trying to be, was a way you could play D&D online with your friends, even if they had scattered around the country since your college glory days when you used to play all the time.  In that regard, it was trying to compete with WoW/win back players from MMOs, rather than become one.</blockquote>

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