History of Post 1004
- 2008-06-26 14:47:58
Anyone that thinks 4e DnD is all hack-and-slash simply hasn't looked at the system in its entirety. The tactical nature of combat and the MMO elements used to design and adjudicate it are correct in observation, but I wouldn't call them inherently inferior to any other fantasy game's method of combat. I would instead argue that their modular nature makes it a very smooth execution.
DnD4e's skill challenge system is completely awesome, and very much a Storytelling-style mechanic. The way that it encourages organic interaction of the entire party to push the story along are wonderful concepts - its a method of taking standard "success over time" skill checks and turning them into evolving concepts that can involve all the players in addition to defining a scene and achieving that scene's resolution.
In combination, the system offers a crunchy-but-smooth combat experience and an open-but-inclusive/engaging non-combat conflict resolution system. Perhaps it fails both - I don't believe so - but its aim is high, and I don't think many detractors realize that.
For me, a game should be judged on one basic principle - does it achieve its aim?
DnD3e/4e is a fantasy setting game that provides tactical combat resolution. It achieves that aim very well. For contrast, consider Vampire (or other WW WoD games other than Street Fighter) where the haphazard dice-rolling resolution system favors unpredictable and zany results completely at odds with the setting's serious tone.
Now, for worst game...
Hero System is a terrible one. For a SLAM-BANG-SOCKO superhero game its combat is terribly dull and dice-heavy. Its only advantage was in its open-ended character design system, which has been done cleaner by Mutants and Masterminds and with better execution in play to boot.
Rolemaster is another terrible one, even though it has several elements that I like. For a game so intent on creating a strong atmosphere of simulation, its tactical atmosphere is nearly absent in actual gameplay without using hex-based movements and employing other conversions, or playing combat as a hyper-detailed miniatures wargame with yardstick-measured movement.
Vampire, Wraith, and Werewolf are terrible for the aforementioned mechanics of the game completely undermining the atmosphere these games are going for. Entertainingly enough, those same ridiculous mechanics are the reason why Street Fighter: the Storytelling Game is one of the best White Wolf games ever created.
Aftermath for its stupidly complicated mechanics. It gets a bit of a pass because it was made in the first few generations of gaming, but its offenses are so egregious that even that pass is not enough. It's on the list.
Non-Rifts Palladium, since the game is so obviously a system built with no consideration for how the parts work together. Rifts gets a pass because the setting is explicit in that the parts are not intended to work together, and features Mechs vs Dragons.
- 2008-06-26 14:45:41
Anyone that thinks 4e DnD is all hack-and-slash simply hasn't looked at the system in its entirety. The tactical nature of combat and the MMO elements used to design and adjudicate it are correct in observation, but I wouldn't call them inherently inferior to any other fantasy game's method of combat. I would instead argue that their modular nature makes it a very smooth execution.
DnD4e's skill challenge system is completely awesome, and very much a Storytelling-style mechanic. The way that it encourages organic interaction of the entire party to push the story along are wonderful concepts - its a method of taking standard "success over time" skill checks and turning them into evolving concepts that can involve all the players in addition to defining a scene and achieving that scene's resolution.
In combination, the system offers a crunchy-but-smooth combat experience and an open-but-inclusive/engaging non-combat conflict resolution system. Perhaps it fails both - I don't believe so - but its aim is high, and I don't think many detractors realize that.
For me, a game should be judged on one basic principle - does it achieve its aim?
DnD3e/4e is a fantasy setting game that provides tactical combat resolution. It achieves that aim very well. For contrast, consider Vampire (or other WW WoD games other than Street Fighter) where the haphazard dice-rolling resolution system favors unpredictable and zany results completely at odds with the setting's serious tone.
Now, for worst game...
Hero System is a terrible one. For a SLAM-BANG-SOCKO superhero game its combat is terribly dull and dice-heavy. Its only advantage was in its open-ended character design system, which has been done cleaner by Mutants and Masterminds and with better execution in play to boot.
Rolemaster is another terrible one, even though it has several elements that I like. For a game so intent on creating a strong atmosphere of simulation, its tactical atmosphere is nearly absent in actual gameplay without using hex-based movements and employing other conversions, or playing combat as a hyper-detailed miniatures wargame with yardstick-measured movement.
Vampire, Wraith, and Werewolf are terrible for the aforementioned mechanics of the game completely undermining the atmosphere these games are going for. Entertainingly enough, those same ridiculous mechanics are the reason why Street Fighter: the Storytelling Game is one of the best White Wolf games ever created.
Aftermath for its stupidly complicated mechanics. It gets a bit of a pass because it was made in the first few generations of gaming, but its offenses are so egregious that even that pass is not enough. It's on the list.