Article on Metagaming

[Battleground]

Probably worth a read:

http://www.leonineroar.com/?p=938

[Jess]

I enjoyed it. I suck at roleplaying but try to do better each session, I'm going to try some of these tips this Thursday.
Thanks Derek!

[GossWeapon]

Are you trying to say a Dragonborn Paladin would not pull random card-based actions out of his ass for $3.99 a pack? Because I think [vowel] [adjective] [noun]. 

Only a total jerk would metagame or power game in Dungeons and Dragons 

[Chase]

I would LOVE to have those power cards as a player.  You'd better believe I'd have the sickest deck I possibly could.

[GossWeapon]

I would LOVE to have those power cards as a player.  You'd better believe I'd have the sickest deck I possibly could.

The way to go Chase, supporting your local gamestore, and power gaming in one awesome bundle!

[KingElthur]

Dude kind of stole my idea for my next article.......damn it!

[Benjamin]

That writer comes off as really cranky and tired.

He asks poeple to stop calling D&D a game. Wizards of the Coast calls it a game. It's a game. As in, "This guy is taking the game too seriously."

Of all D&D aspects, I like role-playing the most. But you can't force people to role-play, and challenging 4e fights are complicated enough without deciphering everyone's "in-character" terminology.

Over-clarification is not a crime; under-clarification can bring down a session.

[Battleground]

He definitely approaches the article with a cranky tone. I can hardly blame him though as 4th edition makes me feel very much the same. It's problems are mostly centered on its general disregard for verisimilitude, an abundance of dissociative mechanics and ignoring the benefits of "rules mystery." I hope that future editions of the game can regain that lost focus while maintaining some of 4th edition's mechanical successes.

3rd Edition certainly had heaping problems of its own. Late 3.5 also set the groundwork for much of the bad things that found their way into 4e (probably because of the same design team testing their philosophy).

Personally, I hope that the best edition of D&D is yet to come.

[Benjamin]

Points 1-10 are all player issues, not system issues. My old group wrote out the house rules; they clearly set out expectations while alleviating the table of undesirable play.

I think the solution is that writer would be much happier playing an earlier edition, something like original D&D. Half of his complaints are solved immediately.

I haven't found too much at fault with 4e as a player, but I also haven't tried to DM it yet. It's always a different scene behind the curtain.

[GossWeapon]

Derek,

There's an issue with almost every edition and they all play very differently from one another.  4th edition isn't really wrong it is just that it was a polar change from 3.5.  The reason being new players found it intimidating to figure out character creation and it's complex rules which gave more options for a realistic fight.  4th edition is much easier to pick up and play since the power cards and feats essentially drive how a character is played and attracts the mmorpg crowd to playing, which right now is a huge audience to tap into.  Unfortunately this did not lead to sales or anything great but at least the older players are dissapointed enough that the new edition will seem an improvement and attract everyone, almost like a cash rollercoaster.

Besides, 4th edition does solve balancing issues a lot better than 3.5.  The only problem is classes such as the Druid and wizard, two previously very different classes, now play almost exactly the same leaving the impression that there is no reason to pick one class over another.  Even the heroes of shadow us surprisingly hyper balanced in regards to mechanics.

All I can say is that a real player/fan of the game will have to roll (pun intended) with the punches and just play the game for fun and leave concerns behind, because every new edition will make a select crowd very happy and another crowd very unhappy.