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Post by Black Cat on Feb 15, 2010 12:06:00 GMT -5
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Post by Maerin on Feb 17, 2010 11:26:44 GMT -5
Pity. Maybe I'm reading too much into what I'm seeing, but it looks like they are heading for the same design trap that pinched them with the OGL LW RPG.
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Post by Beowuuf on Feb 17, 2010 13:23:41 GMT -5
The trouble is that if you look at the forums, the second they mentioned the set up of the new RPG, the first comments were 'but I want to play X class'
Unless having too many classes and balancing them against each other isn't the trap you refer to....
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Post by Simey on Feb 17, 2010 16:29:38 GMT -5
Pity. Maybe I'm reading too much into what I'm seeing, but it looks like they are heading for the same design trap that pinched them with the OGL LW RPG. When I saw the above subject including the word 'barbarian', I was thinking, Ooh, a plain barbarian? Have they done a mercenary, an adventurer....? But no. The barbarian is an Ice Barbarian, and all the other classes are very specific, geographically fixed and - it seems likely - inflexible. Does no one want to play an 'ordinary' adventurer in Magnamund? I can't be the only one thinking that the important, exciting thing is that you're adventuring in Magnamund, a wonderful, evocative setting. It's a bit irritating that the rules seem like they're going to want to shoe-horn you into one of a handful of 'special' classes. Having said all that, I would have to immediately concede that if the rules are as simple as is being suggested, it should be pretty straightforward to select various skills and abilities from the published classes and distribute them as appropriate to another type of character you might want to use. Indeed, it may even be very easy to create a class from scratch. |
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Post by greywolf on Feb 19, 2010 4:38:00 GMT -5
From what I've seen Simey, it is fairly easy to make a character class from scratch. Much easier than making one for 4E D&D.
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Post by Simey on Feb 19, 2010 7:49:06 GMT -5
From what I've seen Simey, it is fairly easy to make a character class from scratch. Much easier than making one for 4E D&D. Sounds good.  I am still really looking forward to this. I just can't get my head round the apparent mindset that to want to adventure in Magnamund, you'd have to want to play a really narrow specialised class, rather than a more general, customisable one. |
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Post by Maerin on Feb 20, 2010 19:13:32 GMT -5
The trouble is that if you look at the forums, the second they mentioned the set up of the new RPG, the first comments were 'but I want to play X class' I imagine there are not a few at Microsoft who, in the wake of Vista, have a lot of colorful things to say about the "brilliance" of allowing customer opinion to influence professionals away from what they are supposed to be doing, which is creating a good, well-designed product. After all, if anyone could do the job properly, why ever would gaming companies still exist in the first place? Only the very ignorant (willful or otherwise) truly believe that the 'customer is always right'. Unless having too many classes and balancing them against each other isn't the trap you refer to.... Considering the LWRPG classes weren't balanced against each other before they grew "too many", and were never "many enough" to even allow a rudimentary roleplaying experience in Magnamund...well, I think that pretty well sums up my view of th past game's approach to "classes". A class system can and does work. I've been running a Lone Wolf one online for a few years now, and True20 is a class-based system too. But that kind of game system (indeed, like any other kind) only if its advantages are exploited and its limitations avoided. Upholding the limitations and tossing all the advantages out the window (except in the case of Kai Lords, where both advantages, good design AND limitations were tossed out the window...) is not the way to build a good class-based game. |
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Post by Maerin on Feb 20, 2010 19:18:13 GMT -5
Having said all that, I would have to immediately concede that if the rules are as simple as is being suggested, it should be pretty straightforward to select various skills and abilities from the published classes and distribute them as appropriate to another type of character you might want to use. Indeed, it may even be very easy to create a class from scratch. Maybe. Although if my experiences with the previous game are anything to go on, if you have to actually re-write large swathes of new rules for both the existing classes, as well as go to all the design challenge (and headache) of trying to do the game designers job for them by creating a functional game that works outside of a very, very narrow scenario (one, I might add, with a niche already completely filled by the gamebooks).... Again, I think that represents my point of view on the matter. I too hope to be impressed by the new game. But comparisons with the old game are most assuredly NOT going to impress me. |
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Post by greywolf on Feb 22, 2010 8:11:19 GMT -5
The MPGB is /nothing/ like the old system in terms of the rules, if you LOVE Joe's gamebooks and so on, then that's pretty much how you're going to find the new system. I'd like to say more, but I've said enough already.
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