The Pursuit of Equality and Balance in Game Design

General questions, debates, and rants about RPGs

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Plebian
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Post by Plebian »

Judging__Eagle wrote:Plebian, can a 4e Adventurer at level 20 create a demiplane?
sure, why not
Judging__Eagle wrote: Can they lead an army via in-game rules (not DM ad hoc)?
not yet outside of unsanctioned 3pp rules but give it time, pretty sure 3e didn't have rules for playing D&D Risk for a while.
Judging__Eagle wrote: Can they break the spine of an enemy kingdom under their sandalled feet?
yep

Judging__Eagle wrote: Can they bash down a castle's doors and murder the guards and king inside?
yep
Judging__Eagle wrote: Can they face down Asmodeus and murder him in single combat? While their allies take on the other lords of the Nine in an attempt to become the new lords of the nine?
it's possible, but why not just write a fanfic at that point
Judging__Eagle wrote: Because, seriously, that's something that 2E D&D was all about, and 3E could let you do.
and 4e could let you do it, too, because ascending to godhood is one of the things any edition can be about
Judging__Eagle wrote: If 4e does not allow PCs to do such things, it is no longer D&D, but a pale, shallow, ghost of the original game systems.
it does allow such things but even if it didn't you are remarkably egocentric for demanding that a tabletop fit your exact expectations or else it sucks
Judging__Eagle wrote: Even if you are a martial character using WoTC material, you can seriously murderize Gra'azt, Demogorgon, Belial, Orcus or whoever pissed you off today.
not likely. woops you hurt a demon/devil, they just used their at-will Greater Teleport and since you have no way to Dimensional Anchor them you just get to wait till they gather up a posse to ride your ass down, assuming you could more than slightly inconvenience them to begin with
Judging__Eagle wrote: 4E took a step away from the original Heavy Metal/Metal Hurlant european sci-fi/fantasy graphic stories of the 1970's that actually inspired original D&D... and superficially borrowed from.... rather boring games like WoW.
yeah, you're an idiot. 4e has very nearly the exact same game world and borrows only slightly from any MMO; powers are an evolution of ability/per day that most classes in 3e got, not something stolen from a MMO, having class roles is simply acknowledging something that already existed, and christ MMOs are just an evolution of tabletops anyway so borrowing better aspects from them is nothing but good design, if it happened at all.

Judging__Eagle wrote: Until you are able to do the research and understand what D&D is supposed to look like (aka Heavy Metal, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, not Lord of the Rings, Pendragon, Middle Earth Role Play, or Warhammer Fantasy RPG) you are always going to make the assumption that you should be playing a small, boring, uncreative, game.
D&D is supposed to look like what the DM and players want it to look like, trying to pin it down in a small set of "D&D can only ever be this" is retarded beyond belief. I mean, shit, where does Spelljammer fit into the things D&D is supposed to be on your list? Dark Sun? Ravenloft? Planescape?

Judging__Eagle wrote: If you don't want to play Screaming Metal, don't play D&D. Take your small, boring, uncreative story ideas and cart them out of here, because D&D is not about them.
yeah, sorry, no edition ever corners the market on small, boring, uncreative story ideas and D&D is most definitely about them; trying to claim previous editions were free of shitty DMs just makes you look like an enormous idiot
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Post by LR »

Plebian wrote:yep
So, you can give page citations? I can give page citations for all of them, including building up an army.

Please try to refrain from including game mechanics from Mother May I.
yeah, you're an idiot. 4e has very nearly the exact same game world and borrows only slightly from any MMO; powers are an evolution of ability/per day that most classes in 3e got, not something stolen from a MMO, having class roles is simply acknowledging something that already existed, and christ MMOs are just an evolution of tabletops anyway so borrowing better aspects from them is nothing but good design, if it happened at all.
The WoW link is not paranoia. The devs have come on record saying that WoW was a major inspiration for core 4e mechanics. David Noonan admitted that he couldn't find a single defensible reason to add roles to the game, but he really wanted to anyway because they're in WoW. Noonan's roles are all about restricting player tactics, and they're bad for the game. They're partly responsible for the lack of options and choices in 4e characters.

Also, I'd really like you to explain how tanks exist in a game without hate mechanics. D&D doesn't even have overextension on the monster side, so there really is no reason for monsters to not plow directly into the back row. Small penalties and moderate amounts of damage do nothing to disincentivize the time-honored tactic of dogpiling the mage.

Bonus Points if you can explain how the powers system gives the 4e Fighter options more interesting than those presented by Elusive Target or Shock Trooper.
Last edited by LR on Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Plebian »

LR wrote: So, you can give page citations? I can give page citations for all of them, including building up an army.
most of the stuff he listed was basic combat within an overarching plot, so uh I guess I could just tell you to go read the combat sections of the DMG
LR wrote: The WoW link is not paranoia. The devs have come on record saying that WoW was a major inspiration for core 4e mechanics. David Noonan admitted that he couldn't find a single defensible reason to add roles to the game, but he really wanted to anyway because they're in WoW. Noonan's roles are all about restricting player tactics, and they're bad for the game. They're partly responsible for the lack of options and choices in 4e characters.
wait, did you even read the article you linked? because he gives pros and cons for adding roles to the game, especially since the 'addition' of roles was simply codifying what already was happening.

hell, WoW is only mentioned in passing because it's the most easily recognized example of any MMO.

oh and
Noonan wrote: • I wouldn't dream of arguing against the notion of roles in any game that involves small-group cooperative efforts. When I say, "there's nothing inevitable about the roles we got," that's very different than the (probably bogus) assertion that "there's nothing inevitable about roles."
jesus it's like you just skimmed the article for keywords and ignored what it actually said
LR wrote: Also, I'd really like you to explain how tanks exist in a game without hate mechanics. D&D doesn't even have overextension on the monster side, so there really is no reason for monsters to not plow directly into the back row. Small penalties and moderate amounts of damage do nothing to disincentivize the time-honored tactic of dogpiling the mage.
a 10% reduction in to-hit isn't that small and when combined with the damage it does provide much more incentive than in previous editions, thus creating more verisimilitude in regards to why the orc barbarian would take on the guy in plate over the dude in a dress.
LR wrote: Bonus Points if you can explain how the powers system gives the 4e Fighter options more interesting than those presented by Elusive Target or Shock Trooper.
if it were only about the Fighter there might be a point there, though I find it amusing that the answer to the Fighter being underpowered still isn't "boost the Fighter" it's "don't play Fighter", that shit never stops being funny. the issue isn't simply that Fighter is underpowered; it's that the majority of non-casters were worthless in comparison to anything but a totally incompetent caster. so, sure, 4e Fighter may be no more or less interesting than a Shock Trooper or Elusive Target, but in 3e both of those would still be horribly overshadowed by a caster except in, possibly, damage-dealing because of silly charge feat stacking and such.
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Post by Kaelik »

Plebian wrote:I find it amusing that the answer to the Fighter being underpowered still isn't "boost the Fighter" it's "don't play Fighter",
I find it funny that you can't read that Soldier class. Or the Tome fighter.

That shit is hilarious.

Yes, you will instantly whine about how it doesn't matter that our houserule 3e game is more fun than 4e and more balanced than 4e, it's houserules, so they don't count.

Then you will make fun of us for not boosting the fighter.

Your trolling is merely mediocre, Even Shadzar is better at it than you, and his is by accident.
Unrestricted Diplomat 5314 wrote:Accept this truth, as the wisdom of the Crafted: when the oppressors and abusers have won, when the boot of the callous has already trampled you flat, you should always, always take your swing."
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Post by Plebian »

Frank's Tome Fighter is just a clumsy attempt at making Fighters operate on the same level as casters but it's still a lost cause because spells are just way too powerful because of the spell-for-any-situation mechanic prevalent in 3e

also here you go again with subjective->objective statements, yeah it's more fun for you because you have a boner for 3e. and yeah considering the attitude of "never mention any houserules improving 4e because then we will spout another dozen lines of retarded text about why houserules don't make a good game
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Post by Kaelik »

Plebian wrote:also here you go again with subjective->objective statements, yeah it's more fun for you because you have a boner for 3e. and yeah considering the attitude of "never mention any houserules improving 4e because then we will spout another dozen lines of retarded text about why houserules don't make a good game
Nobody is making objective statements here. 4e does suck. 4e is a terrible game. 4e is a boring, uninteresting, and we don't want to play it. 4e is imbalanced, and 4e doesn't let you meaningfully interact with the story, and 4e would take more houserules than 3e does to make it not suck more balls than a toddler in a Mcdonald's playground.

And so we do in fact point out the shit that is 4e. But we don't declare it to be objective shit, because unlike you, we are smart enough to know that it is actually literally impossible to use the word bad in an objective context ever. And that is why we name our fucking subforum "In My Humble Opinion."

But you know what we don't do?

Go to forums where they like 4e, and whine constantly about how it's not fair that they like 4e, and they shouldn't be allowed to say bad things about 3e.

Yes, it's totally possible for people to care more about boring shit move + attack slightly differently "tactical combat" that is "balanced" than ability to interact with the world, and perform meaningful actions.

And I feel exactly the same way about people like that as I do about people who care more about racial purity than creating a society that functions based on freedom of choices and personal existence.

I also don't go to white supremacy forums either.
Last edited by Kaelik on Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Unrestricted Diplomat 5314 wrote:Accept this truth, as the wisdom of the Crafted: when the oppressors and abusers have won, when the boot of the callous has already trampled you flat, you should always, always take your swing."
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Post by Swordslinger »

LR wrote: Bonus Points if you can explain how the powers system gives the 4e Fighter options more interesting than those presented by Elusive Target or Shock Trooper.
I'm surprised you'd call shock trooper interesting, given that it's one of those feats that becomes stupid for you not to use. I remember the first time a party fighter grabbed that in a 3E game. Not shortly after, every warrior in the group was taking it once they saw how crazy good it was. That's not interesting when every martial character in the party was based around it.
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Post by Plebian »

Kaelik wrote: Nobody is making objective statements here. 4e does suck. 4e is a terrible game. 4e is a boring, uninteresting, and we don't want to play it. 4e is imbalanced, and 4e doesn't let you meaningfully interact with the story, and 4e would take more houserules than 3e does to make it not suck more balls than a toddler in a Mcdonald's playground.
3e does suck. 3e is a terrible game. 3e is a(?) boring, uninteresting, and we don't want to play it. 3e is imbalanced, and 3e doesn't let you meaningfully interact with the story, and 3e would take more houserules than 4e does to make it not suck more balls than a toddler in a Mcdonald's playground. (wait did you seriously type that out and not feel sickened? I copy-pasted it and it's disgusting)

Kaelik wrote: And so we do in fact point out the shit that is 4e. But we don't declare it to be objective shit, because unlike you, we are smart enough to know that it is actually literally impossible to use the word bad in an objective context ever. And that is why we name our fucking subforum "In My Humble Opinion."
Kaelik wrote: Anyone who understands 4e, and has any kind of standards can see that the Avenger sucks compared to the Ranger/Fighter/Wizard/Cleric godmode classes.
oh hey look it's you trying to assert your opinion as a fact when confronted with a dissenting opinion, you really do make it too easy because this was on the last page
Kaelik wrote: But you know what we don't do?

Go to forums where they like 4e, and whine constantly about how it's not fair that they like 4e, and they shouldn't be allowed to say bad things about 3e.
sorry, dude, if you're going to post in a pretentiously-titled thread that implies a parity of opinions and then demand that no one disagree with the retarded shit you spew about 4e you're pretty dumb

Kaelik wrote: Yes, it's totally possible for people to care more about boring shit move + attack slightly differently "tactical combat" that is "balanced" than ability to interact with the world, and perform meaningful actions.
yeah, sorry, until you can actually come up with evidence how it's not possible to interact with the world and perform meaningful actions you should probably shut up, especially since both of those fall under DM purview

and no "I don't think it does therefor it doesn't" is not evidence
Kaelik wrote: And I feel exactly the same way about people like that as I do about people who care more about racial purity than creating a society that functions based on freedom of choices and personal existence.

I also don't go to white supremacy forums either.
oh man did you just Godwin yourself? I don't think I've ever seen a real person actually do that, you are really the most impressively stupid person I've witnessed
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Post by FatR »

Plebian wrote: because wow you just summed up a lot of what is wrong with the system right there. "well if you want to be good you pretty much have to cast spells, otherwise you're basically shit"
You sure do hate the whole fantasy genre...
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Post by Murtak »

Plebian, you do have a single useful point: In 4E, you can play a fighter and be useful. And that is indeed something that 3E got absolutely, horribly wrong. Casters are too good in 3E. Even after you nerf the obvious stuff casters are still better than non-casters at low levels and completely outclass them later on.

But here is what you don't seem to get: 4E sucks (for the majority of this board) because it does not let us do anything but kill monsters in unimaginative ways. I'd play Descent if that was what I wanted. I don't have a use for a game that does not let me burn down a door instead of kicking it in. I don't have a use for a game that won't let me talk to a random orc soldier instead of killing him. I don't have a use for a game that won't let me hand a bow and fire arrows to my squire and have him signal me if the enemy approaches. If I wanted a game like that, I'd play it on a computer and have more fun doing it.

I admit, I have not played a single game of 4E, ever. That is partially because my group of regulars does not play it and partially because everything about the system (as opposed to specific classes) I have seen was a horrible failure. But what I have read on forums - and that includes posts by fans of 4E - leads me to one conclusion: in 4E, everyone is like the fighter in 3E. Except with less useful skills. And that may be balanced, but it is not what I am looking for in a game.
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Post by Fuchs »

I didn't want to change from 2E to 3E when I first heard there was a new edition. Then a player handed me the PHB, and after 20 minutes of reading through it I knew I'd change.

I wanted to change to 4E when I read the design goals. I even bought the "teaser" book. When I started to get actual information though I reconsidered, and when I got the first three books and read through them I knew I'd not change.
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Post by Kaelik »

Plebian wrote:
Kaelik wrote: Anyone who understands 4e, and has any kind of standards can see that the Avenger sucks compared to the Ranger/Fighter/Wizard/Cleric godmode classes.
oh hey look it's you trying to assert your opinion as a fact when confronted with a dissenting opinion, you really do make it too easy because this was on the last page
It's cute because you can't read. "With any kind of standards" is an explicit reference to person preference, making the statement subjective.
Plebian wrote:sorry, dude, if you're going to post in a pretentiously-titled thread that implies a parity of opinions and then demand that no one disagree with the retarded shit you spew about 4e you're pretty dumb
First of all retard. The title of the thread is "Pursuit of Equality and Balance in Game Design" which does not imply a parity of opinions. Secondly, no one but you is demanding that no one disagree with them.

You keep saying that we are claiming our personal opinions as objective facts, but you are incorrect. We talk about our personal opinions, and then you whine about how our opinions are incorrect, and we need to have different opinions. If you just said "I want 4e to stick it's dick down my throat!" that would be fine, but instead, you keep repeating your mantra that we are wrong to think that 4e is bad, because it's not okay for us to have different preferences then you.
Kaelik wrote: Yes, it's totally possible for people to care more about boring shit move + attack slightly differently "tactical combat" that is "balanced" than ability to interact with the world, and perform meaningful actions.
Plebian wrote:yeah, sorry, until you can actually come up with evidence how it's not possible to interact with the world and perform meaningful actions you should probably shut up, especially since both of those fall under DM purview

and no "I don't think it does therefor it doesn't" is not evidence
Already done that. Listed a bunch of things 3e characters can do that no 4e character can do. Was told I shouldn't be allowed to want characters to do that, because you don't understand what subjective and objective are.
Plebian wrote:
Kaelik wrote: And I feel exactly the same way about people like that as I do about people who care more about racial purity than creating a society that functions based on freedom of choices and personal existence.

I also don't go to white supremacy forums either.
oh man did you just Godwin yourself? I don't think I've ever seen a real person actually do that, you are really the most impressively stupid person I've witnessed
Can you even read? White supremacy has nothing to do with Nazis. The KKK predates them considerably.

Once again, we understand what subjective and objective are. You don't. So for you to come over here where people have different preferences than you, and then whine constantly about how we shouldn't be allowed to have those preferences, and then start throwing up bullshit complaints about how we are claiming our subjective opinions as objective is fucking hilarious.
Last edited by Kaelik on Tue Mar 15, 2011 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Unrestricted Diplomat 5314 wrote:Accept this truth, as the wisdom of the Crafted: when the oppressors and abusers have won, when the boot of the callous has already trampled you flat, you should always, always take your swing."
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Post by sabs »

Amusingly enough, in refuting that you Godwined yourself, you Godwined Yourself ;0
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Post by Kaelik »

sabs wrote:Amusingly enough, in refuting that you Godwined yourself, you Godwined Yourself ;0
No, Godwin is not "mention Nazis ever." It's specifically a comparison involving Nazi's or Hitler. No such comparison occurred in this thread.

Even if it did, it would not be Godwining myself, it would be Godwining 4e.
Unrestricted Diplomat 5314 wrote:Accept this truth, as the wisdom of the Crafted: when the oppressors and abusers have won, when the boot of the callous has already trampled you flat, you should always, always take your swing."
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Post by sabs »

I was at a game shop on saturday, trying to pick up a copy of the 5th Edition Main Book for Ars Magica. (Talk about a game where Wizards win and non-mages suck)

There's a bunch of guys who look stereotypically like loser-gamers. Overweight, scraggly beards, trenchcoats. They're setting up for a 4E, and one of them is trying to figure out how to make a character and the other says. "I hear Essentials makes that easier.. we should use that." A couple of minutes later, I hear the 'gm' saying.. "We forgot the book for the adventure we were playing last time, so intead we're going to do module ______"

That pretty much broke my heart. That type of gaming just makes me sad.
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Post by Plebian »

sabs wrote:I was at a game shop on saturday, trying to pick up a copy of the 5th Edition Main Book for Ars Magica. (Talk about a game where Wizards win and non-mages suck)

There's a bunch of guys who look stereotypically like loser-gamers. Overweight, scraggly beards, trenchcoats. They're setting up for a 4E, and one of them is trying to figure out how to make a character and the other says. "I hear Essentials makes that easier.. we should use that." A couple of minutes later, I hear the 'gm' saying.. "We forgot the book for the adventure we were playing last time, so intead we're going to do module ______"

That pretty much broke my heart. That type of gaming just makes me sad.
yeah, unprepared gamers in any edition are pretty sad




also Kaelik I like how you just failed to quote the part where you made a horribly distasteful metaphor involving sexual themes and toddlers, stay classy forever

oh and Godwinning yourself is just a less pedantic way of saying you made an association fallacy; you implied that in your disgusting mind white supremacists and people who like 4e are equivalent

by the way idiotic opinions presented as facts such as "4e allows no player agency" and "you can't tell a story in 4e" will always be attacked in any forum that's not a retarded echo chamber where nerds can sit around masturbating each other's egos all day, sorry you aren't getting to do that right now but it's better for your intellectual growth to have dissenting opinions rather than a stagnant circle of "oh man you are so right!" "no, man! you're the rightest one!" "we are so awesomely right I don't see how we could ever be wrong since a few of us agree on something!"
Last edited by Plebian on Tue Mar 15, 2011 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Kaelik »

Plebian wrote:also Kaelik I like how you just failed to quote the part where you made a horribly distasteful metaphor involving sexual themes and toddlers, stay classy forever
Please move to Merica, and then enter a Mcdonald's playground. After you have done this, you will come to understand why my reference had literally nothing to do with sexual themes at all.

Save you the Trip:
Image
Plebian wrote:oh and Godwinning yourself is just a less pedantic way of saying you made an association fallacy; you implied that in your disgusting mind white supremacists and people who like 4e are equivalent
They are equivalent, in the sense that I disagree with both of them about subjective matters of opinion. Godwining is nothing about association fallacy, because Godwinning has nothing to do with whether or not the comparison to Hitler is accurate or not, only it's existence.
Plebian wrote:by the way idiotic opinions presented as facts such as "4e allows no player agency" and "you can't tell a story in 4e"
No, it's "has less player agency" or "takes away player agency" both of which are true. And it's "can't tell a specific story that you could tell in 2e and 3e." You can tell plenty of stories in 4e, none of them are interesting to me, so I don't. Instead I focus on stories that are interesting to me, which 3e can represent.
Plebian wrote:will always be attacked in any forum that's not a retarded echo chamber where nerds can sit around masturbating each other's egos all day, sorry you aren't getting to do that right now but it's better for your intellectual growth to have dissenting opinions rather than a stagnant circle of "oh man you are so right!" "no, man! you're the rightest one!" "we are so awesomely right I don't see how we could ever be wrong since a few of us agree on something!"
No one actually talks about 4e at all when we don't have 4rries aggressively defending it as the holy grail of gaming. Instead I spend my time writing rules for Tome games, and doing other fun stuff.

Not that I mind arguing with dumbasses, but this place isn't an echo chamber, we just don't talk about shit we agree about (like 4e sucking) and argue about how to make the perfect game instead.
Last edited by Kaelik on Tue Mar 15, 2011 10:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Unrestricted Diplomat 5314 wrote:Accept this truth, as the wisdom of the Crafted: when the oppressors and abusers have won, when the boot of the callous has already trampled you flat, you should always, always take your swing."
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Post by Plebian »

Kaelik wrote: Please move to Merica, and then enter a Mcdonald's playground. After you have done this, you will come to understand why my reference had literally nothing to do with sexual themes at all.
yeah because mentioning ball sucking in a sexual manner and then swapping over to toddlers? nothing sexual there

oh wait you're reprehensible
Kaelik wrote: They are equivalent, in the sense that I disagree with both of them about subjective matters of opinion. Godwining is nothing about association fallacy, because Godwinning has nothing to do with whether or not the comparison to Hitler is accurate or not, only it's existence.
woops! false association again! "you are equivalent to horrible racists because I disagree with both of you" is pretty stupid; I don't equate you to serial killers just because I don't agree with you because that would be a stupid and easily-revealed debate trick to try and make you seem worse by association

Kaelik wrote: No, it's "has less player agency" or "takes away player agency" both of which are true. And it's "can't tell a specific story that you could tell in 2e and 3e." You can tell plenty of stories in 4e, none of them are interesting to me, so I don't. Instead I focus on stories that are interesting to me, which 3e can represent.
no, see, player agency is still alive and well unless your definition of player agency includes "and allows the player to cast poorly balanced game-altering spells if he didn't fall for the trap classes"

in which case yes player agency is dead, long live player agency

also name any story in any edition that can't be told in 4e, please, because I'm sure you'll make up something dealing with spells or something that could easily be ported into 4e

Kaelik wrote: No one actually talks about 4e at all when we don't have 4rries aggressively defending it as the holy grail of gaming. Instead I spend my time writing rules for Tome games, and doing other fun stuff.
hahahahahaha yeah, that's why there are currently two retarded 4e-bashing threads started by forums regulars and why there was one that got locked before with like 30 pages of you people sucking each other's dicks over such classic arguments like "there are no rules for breaking down doors" and "mongols break the game" when there are rules for breaking down doors and readied actions to fire on the mongols mean that you can hit them every time they can hit you.

seriously if you're going to lie try and make it a little harder to disprove

edit: oh hey there are actually three 4e-focused threads, none of which were created by those dirty rotten defenders of 4e who actually ask the unthinkable; that you use rational arguments against 4e instead of wild claims that don't even make sense

Kaelik wrote: Not that I mind arguing with dumbasses, but this place isn't an echo chamber, we just don't talk about shit we agree about (like 4e sucking) and argue about how to make the perfect game instead.
yeah, you do talk about 4e to try and make yourselves feel better and your attempts to make 3e better are hilarious because instead of reducing the power of casters you just try and make everyone operate on the same ridiculous level of power, but casters can still do everything they could before so martial characters have more power, still much less than a caster, and are just overly complex and poorly balanced even for 3e

I mean seriously, the assassin reads like a best-of-stealther PrCs, your monk is incomplete as it starts with a 1d8 base damage attack but never improves the damage and has an overly complex power system.

just reading that makes me feel dumber because, wow, you think things like that are ever going to even approach a perfect game?
Last edited by Plebian on Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Kaelik »

Plebian wrote:yeah because mentioning ball sucking in a sexual manner and then swapping over to toddlers? nothing sexual there
Um... learn to click spoilers? Seriously, did not mention ball sucking a sexual manner. Mentioned it in a "Holy fuck, toddlers put anything in their mouths, and there are entire pits full of balls."
Plebian wrote:woops! false association again! "you are equivalent to horrible racists because I disagree with both of you" is pretty stupid; I don't equate you to serial killers just because I don't agree with you because that would be a stupid and easily-revealed debate trick to try and make you seem worse by association
Um... No. I never said you are equivalent. I said you both have that in common. It's not a debate tactic, it's just a recognition of the subjective nature of good.
Plebian wrote:no, see, player agency is still alive and well unless your definition of player agency includes "and allows the player to cast poorly balanced game-altering spells if he didn't fall for the trap classes"
Once again, Never said Player Agency is dead. I said Player Agency is reduced. And since Player Agency is actually defined by amount players can effect the story, and it was in fact reduced. Whether you think that reduction is a good thing has no bearing on the fact of it's reduction, and my preference for it not to be reduced.
Plebian wrote:also name any story in any edition that can't be told in 4e, please, because I'm sure you'll make up something dealing with spells or something that could easily be ported into 4e
Here's a fucking story, it's called Kalah and Crew.
A Demon, A Wizard, Two Clerics, and some guy with a Sword show up, and talk to the queen of stuff, who tells them about how things are getting all messed up, and Demons are becoming good, and Devils are becoming good, and Angels are becoming dicks. Yay life. So they Teleport to the location where a Succubus has taken a town under her protection, and the Succubus attacks, and is reflected by a force sphere, and they negotiate from behind the sphere, they agree to go kill a fucking Dragon in return for knowledge about alignment changing outsiders. They run into some fucking Half Dragon Spiders being ridden by Kobolds, who are then trapped into a inward facing blow of wind, and then murdered by tentacles, except one that is trapped in a Force Sphere, then that one is intimidated into telling them about the ambush up ahead, and then the Demon calls a Xeph, and promises it treasure in return for scouting, which it does, then, with knowledge of the coming ambush, the Demon and Wizard through down some bitchin AoEs at the hiding Kobolds, And then teleport behind them, and murder continues. At this point, unfortunately the game breaks down, but literally 90% of that could not have occured in 4e.
And yes, it involves spells. How dare I fucking cheat by demanding spells exist in a fucking D&D game that have existed in 1e, 2e, and 3e. IE 30 years.
Plebian wrote:hahahahahaha yeah, that's why there are currently two retarded 4e-bashing threads started by forums regulars and why there was one that got locked before with like 30 pages of you people sucking each other's dicks over such classic arguments like "there are no rules for breaking down doors" and "mongols break the game" when there are rules for breaking down doors and readied actions to fire on the mongols mean that you can hit them every time they can hit you.
You know, this thread wasn't even about 4e, until you showed up to troll. And that 30 page thread? It was two years worth of D&D 4e discussion. That is literally all the 4e discussion we have had for 2 years on this forum in one place. And it was only 16 pages before 4e defenders started showing up, a fucking gain two months ago. And those 16 pages? Also when 4e defenders where here. When you guys leave, we stop talking about your game, and we go back to talking about our games.

48 pages in two years of 4e? 108 pages of Shadowrun in one year.
Plebian wrote:3e better are hilarious because instead of reducing the power of casters you just try and make everyone operate on the same ridiculous level of power, but casters can still do everything they could before so martial characters have more power, still much less than a caster, and are just overly complex and poorly balanced even for 3e
Right, you have a subjective hatred of a specific power level. But we don't. So of course we didn't nerf everything to being weaker than the power level we preferred. We just made new classes able to play with them.

Except of course, for the actual problems, Like Gate, and Planar Binding, and Wish and Polymorph, which were actually fixed, but whatever.
Plebian wrote:I mean seriously, the assassin reads like a best-of-stealther PrCs, your monk is incomplete as it starts with a 1d8 base damage attack but never improves the damage and has an overly complex power system.
1) So, Assassins are stealthers? Why is that a problem?

2) Longswords do 1d8 damage from level 1-20 too. The amount of dice your attack does isn't very important. Did you know Monks can have +16 slams? And no, the power system isn't very complex at all. It's actually absurdly simple. It requires some thought when you are leveling up, or making your character, but frankly, you should have to think sometimes. It is then very easy to play. Absurdly so.
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Post by Plebian »

Kaelik wrote: Um... learn to click spoilers? Seriously, did not mention ball sucking a sexual manner. Mentioned it in a "Holy fuck, toddlers put anything in their mouths, and there are entire pits full of balls."
yes, which you linked to a sexual euphemism involving fellatio, making you pretty terrible objectively

Kaelik wrote: Um... No. I never said you are equivalent. I said you both have that in common. It's not a debate tactic, it's just a recognition of the subjective nature of good.
just want you to read this real quick
Kaelik wrote: They are equivalent, in the sense that I disagree with both of them about subjective matters of opinion. Godwining is nothing about association fallacy, because Godwinning has nothing to do with whether or not the comparison to Hitler is accurate or not, only it's existence.
do you just post something and forget that it happened even when it's on the same page?
Kaelik wrote: Once again, Never said Player Agency is dead. I said Player Agency is reduced. And since Player Agency is actually defined by amount players can effect the story, and it was in fact reduced. Whether you think that reduction is a good thing has no bearing on the fact of it's reduction, and my preference for it not to be reduced.
woops! there you are with your subjective opinions -> facts thing again!

player agency is in no way reduced because the degree that a player effects the story is up to the DM; if it's a good DM there will always a mutable, ever-changing story influenced by the decisions of the players. if it's a shitty DM it'll be a railroad.

this is the same in all tabletops, no more or less so in any because it doesn't depend on mechanics, it depends on DMs

Kaelik wrote: Here's a fucking story, it's called Kalah and Crew.
A Demon, A Wizard, Two Clerics, and some guy with a Sword show up, and talk to the queen of stuff, who tells them about how things are getting all messed up, and Demons are becoming good, and Devils are becoming good, and Angels are becoming dicks. Yay life. So they Teleport to the location where a Succubus has taken a town under her protection, and the Succubus attacks, and is reflected by a force sphere, and they negotiate from behind the sphere, they agree to go kill a fucking Dragon in return for knowledge about alignment changing outsiders. They run into some fucking Half Dragon Spiders being ridden by Kobolds, who are then trapped into a inward facing blow of wind, and then murdered by tentacles, except one that is trapped in a Force Sphere, then that one is intimidated into telling them about the ambush up ahead, and then the Demon calls a Xeph, and promises it treasure in return for scouting, which it does, then, with knowledge of the coming ambush, the Demon and Wizard through down some bitchin AoEs at the hiding Kobolds, And then teleport behind them, and murder continues. At this point, unfortunately the game breaks down, but literally 90% of that could not have occured in 4e.
cool, all of that can be done in 4e but I don't blame you being unfamiliar with the system. also a lot of it is much less of a story and much more of a description of combat, but I also don't blame you for being stupid and mistaking mechanics for story.
Kaelik wrote: And yes, it involves spells. How dare I fucking cheat by demanding spells exist in a fucking D&D game that have existed in 1e, 2e, and 3e. IE 30 years.
it's okay, man, spells exist in 4e they're just not as pointlessly powerful. were the game something along the lines of Ars Magica there would be no problem with caster supremacy, but D&D never has put the obvious focus, for a beginner, on mages. in a game that is ideally about a party of mixed casters and non-casters it's a horrible flaw no matter what; in any game based around a group of people there should be no choice that completely obviates one player's purpose because that's just shitty design.

Kaelik wrote: You know, this thread wasn't even about 4e, until you showed up to troll. And that 30 page thread? It was two years worth of D&D 4e discussion. That is literally all the 4e discussion we have had for 2 years on this forum in one place. And it was only 16 pages before 4e defenders started showing up, a fucking gain two months ago. And those 16 pages? Also when 4e defenders where here. When you guys leave, we stop talking about your game, and we go back to talking about our games.

48 pages in two years of 4e? 108 pages of Shadowrun in one year.
well, Shadowrun does have lots of problems, but I like how you're backpedaling there it suits you
Kaelik wrote: Right, you have a subjective hatred of a specific power level. But we don't. So of course we didn't nerf everything to being weaker than the power level we preferred. We just made new classes able to play with them.
I mean I guess it makes sense that you can only have fun if you're throwing fistfulls of dice and referencing a dozen-page character sheet and making the game harder for everyone involved, but damn man don't expect everyone or even a small portion of gamers to actually support this
Kaelik wrote: Except of course, for the actual problems, Like Gate, and Planar Binding, and Wish and Polymorph, which were actually fixed, but whatever.
while those are the more obviously broken spells, but what about stat damage spells that don't allow a save? or do you just purposefully ignore them because they'd make you look stupid for saying "well we fixed four spells out of the dozens that are completely imbalanced, so now we can move on to making poorly thought out base classes!"

and ranged touch attacks that damage stats are just the tip of the iceberg so far as broken casters go, one would think with all your professed knowledge of 3e you would know this.

Kaelik wrote: 1) So, Assassins are stealthers? Why is that a problem?
you seriously see nothing wrong, balance-wise, with a stealth class that gets a die of SA every level, can HiPS at 3, gets Nondetection at 5 or whatever, and so on

you are dumber than you seem at first glance
Kaelik wrote: 2) Longswords do 1d8 damage from level 1-20 too. The amount of dice your attack does isn't very important. Did you know Monks can have +16 slams? And no, the power system isn't very complex at all. It's actually absurdly simple. It requires some thought when you are leveling up, or making your character, but frankly, you should have to think sometimes. It is then very easy to play. Absurdly so.
yeah, you just gotta choose between the different stances, remember to use them, remember which ones do what because they're assigned stupid random names, remember not to fall for the trap ones and to take the obviously broken ones, etc etc etc it's a bad class
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Post by DragonChild »

you seriously see nothing wrong, balance-wise, with a stealth class that gets a die of SA every level, can HiPS at 3, gets Nondetection at 5 or whatever, and so on

you are dumber than you seem at first glance
You did not actually read the assassin class. Death Attack takes TWO rounds to use, unlike sneak attack, and can't effectively be used with two weapon fighting. I have an Assassin in my game, and he's nowhere NEAR the strongest member, routinely out-damaged by the rogue and warblade.

You are exactly as dumb as you seemed at first glance.
yeah, you just gotta choose between the different stances, remember to use them, remember which ones do what because they're assigned stupid random names, remember not to fall for the trap ones and to take the obviously broken ones, etc etc etc it's a bad class
I understand how flavor, customization, and interesting decisions can be seen as a "bad class" to a 4e fan. However, what you're saying isn't objective. :) (except what you said about the assassin, which is literally objectively wrong)
Last edited by DragonChild on Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Kaelik »

Plebian wrote:yes, which you linked to a sexual euphemism involving fellatio, making you pretty terrible objectively
And you still don't know what objective actually means.
Plebian wrote:just want you to read this real quick
I just want you to read this real quick: "In the sense that." Qualifiers are important. They change the meaning of sentences.
Kaelik wrote: They are equivalent, in the sense that I disagree with both of them about subjective matters of opinion. Godwining is nothing about association fallacy, because Godwinning has nothing to do with whether or not the comparison to Hitler is accurate or not, only it's existence.
Plebian wrote:woops! there you are with your subjective opinions -> facts thing again!
Once again, that PCs are capable of doing fewer things is objectively true. You spend half the time in your posts bragging about all the things that 4e characters can't do that 3e PCs could. It is objectively true that they do less things. That's fine. You think it's a good thing, I think it's a bad thing. It's true either way.
Plebian wrote:player agency is in no way reduced because the degree that a player effects the story is up to the DM; if it's a good DM there will always a mutable, ever-changing story influenced by the decisions of the players. if it's a shitty DM it'll be a railroad.
Unless you know, you follow the rules, then PCs can do things that the rules allow them to do.
Plebian wrote:cool, all of that can be done in 4e but I don't blame you being unfamiliar with the system. also a lot of it is much less of a story and much more of a description of combat, but I also don't blame you for being stupid and mistaking mechanics for story.
No, you can't do that in 4e. Cite how you would do those things in 4e.

And yes, what occurs in combat is in fact part of the story. Stories don't fade to black as soon as people start casting spells and then fade back in with results, but never tell you how they got those results.
Plebian wrote:but I like how you're backpedaling there it suits you
How the fuck am I backpedaling? We don't talk about 4e when you fuckers are not around. As evidence, we have a single 16 page thread about 4e for two years, mostly created to direct stupid trolls away from productive threads, like this one theoretically could have been, and in the mean time we produced thousands of pages of 3e discussion.
Plebian wrote:I mean I guess it makes sense that you can only have fun if you're throwing fistfulls of dice and referencing a dozen-page character sheet and making the game harder for everyone involved,
Um...Most classes don't have fistfulls of dice, and I've never seen a character sheet for a Tome game that was twelve pages long (or hell, even a 3.5 one) since Tome reduces bookkeeping.

But yes, we actually do make it easier for everyone involved by simplifying the game down to easier, reduced options that are all approximately equal in validity.
Plebian wrote:but damn man don't expect everyone or even a small portion of gamers to actually support this
Um... Once again, I don't. I have never asked you to approve of anything I do or write. The most I have ever asked of you is to go the fuck away and talk about how shitty we are for liking things you don't like with your friends were you don't get in the goddam way. I do not go to /tg/ or rpg.net or EnWorld or WotC and talk about my rules, or tell them they are wrong for liking 4e. I leave them the hell alone, and spend most of my time in a community that does in fact like the things I like.
Plebian wrote:while those are the more obviously broken spells, but what about stat damage spells that don't allow a save? or do you just purposefully ignore
They are not a problem. Ignoring how easy stat damage immunity is to get, Ray of Stupidity is pretty much not a problem, because it only works on animals or Wizards at all without taking multiple actions or significant metamagic. And in either case, is single target, and not much more powerful than other comparable options.

Greater Shivering Touch is touch range, and that adds it's own series of difficulties to landing it, and is harder to metamagic, and is against a stat that lots of people have higher than Int, and is still only single target.
Plebian wrote:and ranged touch attacks that damage stats are just the tip of the iceberg so far as broken casters go, one would think with all your professed knowledge of 3e you would know this.
I know plenty about the good old "broken casters" since I've invented half of them, but very few of them are the spells specifically, and most are stacking other effects onto them using the system, the system that has undergone substantial changes.

Not that you would understand what is or isn't broken, since you whine about the spell invisibility.
Plebian wrote:you seriously see nothing wrong, balance-wise, with a stealth class that gets a die of SA every level, can HiPS at 3, gets Nondetection at 5 or whatever, and so on
No. None. Except that it doesn't get SA, but whatever.
Plebian wrote:yeah, you just gotta choose between the different stances, remember to use them, remember which ones do what because they're assigned stupid random names, remember not to fall for the trap ones and to take the obviously broken ones, etc etc etc it's a bad class
If you can't remember to spend a swift action every round, then 4e is too complex for you, they have minor actions too. You use one and only one style each round. There are no trap styles or broken styles, as they are all balanced to a specific point. They are good for different combat styles or character styles, as they should be.

And yes, as I said, when you level up, you have to actually think for several whole seconds about the operative combination of abilities in a style. But you know what, I don't think asking people to think a little bit is too demanding when they level up their character.

And yes, in combat, you have to pick which one is best to use, but that's what happens when all your abilities aren't the same damn thing.
Last edited by Kaelik on Wed Mar 16, 2011 6:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
Unrestricted Diplomat 5314 wrote:Accept this truth, as the wisdom of the Crafted: when the oppressors and abusers have won, when the boot of the callous has already trampled you flat, you should always, always take your swing."
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Post by RadiantPhoenix »

4e characters *can* influence the world. Unfortunately, their methods are generally limited to "bend Mister Cavern's ear about it" and "be a murdering hobo".

3e, like other systems that are good at making stories (as opposed to just telling them), has more options.

Given a high level scenario, such as "The dead in this land are rising as undead and attacking people! Save us!", 3e characters can, depending on what kind of character they designed, and presuming they are high enough level, do all of the items on the following, non-exhaustive, list:
  • Use their player powers to bend Mister Cavern's ear until he or she spoon-feeds them a solution.
  • Use their character powers to be murdering hobos and re-kill all the undead.
  • Use their character powers to find the BBEG behind it and murder him.
  • Use their character powers to find and negate the source of the ancient curse that is causing this.
  • Use their character powers to Hallow an area in which the bodies can be disposed of to prevent them rising as undead.
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Post by Bobikus »

Where are these supposed trap options for the Tome Monk? I'm looking through the styles and can't find any options that would be trap options, just that some are used for different situations and roles than others. There are some that might have less use at higher level, but you can even reselect past styles to accommodate for that.

You can name the style whatever you want along the "adjective, animal, noun" frame, and that it's not that damn hard to write "Swift Crane Style - 30' Movement rate increase, Provoke no AoOs while moving" somewhere on your character sheet and remembering what "Swift Crane Style" does after a couple encounters of using it.

If you consider that overly complex, I'm surprised that Fighters in 4e having 62 "attacks" doesn't make you have an aneurysm and rip up your books.
Last edited by Bobikus on Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by RadiantPhoenix »

Bobikus wrote:If you consider that overly complex, I'm surprised that Fighters in 4e having 62 "attacks" doesn't make you have an aneurysm and rip up your books.
But... That's 55 options for your first fighting style alone! How will I ever keep track of that and all the options I get from feats? It's not like there's a system for reducing even this little complexity being discussed on this board... Oh wait.
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