"I don't think a reduction in complexity between editions a sign of the impending intellectual collapse of America (or geek sub culture)."
You've got the causality wrong. The signs of impending intellectual collapse are all around us in every aspect of culture and have been for decades now. The signs are nigh indisputable.
I don't mean to be rude, but if you don't think so, then your circle of acquaintances isn't large enough. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I certainly attempt to isolate myself from the masses as much as possible!!
But the general intellectual decline of American Culture is, at this point, a fairly well-established theory. You know, like the theory of evolution.
As for the impact on gaming, we've all read the designers statements. We've all read the books. We've all talked about how to grow the 'geek culture' (and find new gamers). And we've all acknowledged that the market for reading intensive, complex games with a steep learning curve is a shrinking market.
That's why 4e made the choice to make a non-reading intensive game with a much flatter learning curve. I won't say that it's incredibly less complex in play. But it it considerably less complex in character development.
Sat, 08/30/2008 - 5:54pm
"I don't think a reduction in complexity between editions a sign of the impending intellectual collapse of America (or geek sub culture)."
You've got the causality wrong. The signs of impending intellectual collapse are all around us in every aspect of culture and have been for decades now. The signs are nigh indisputable.
I don't mean to be rude, but if you don't think so, then your circle of acquaintances isn't large enough. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I certainly attempt to isolate myself from the masses as much as possible!!
But the general intellectual decline of American Culture is, at this point, a fairly well-established theory. You know, like the theory of evolution.
As for the impact on gaming, we've all read the designers statements. We've all read the books. We've all talked about how to grow the 'geek culture' (and find new gamers). And we've all acknowledged that the market for reading intensive, complex games with a steep learning curve is a shrinking market.
That's why 4e made the choice to make a non-reading intensive game with a much flatter learning curve. I won't say that it's incredibly less complex in play. But it it considerably less complex in character development.
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