Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Synergy

I just had a quick thought.

5E isn't about looking at the changes to the rules by themselves. It's more about looking at all of the rules together, and how they interact and balance each other out. Pretty much any one rule change, looked at by itself, doesn't seem all that big, or, if it does, it can easily be mistaken for a buff/nerf, perhaps made arbitrarily.

But if you look at all the rules together, it seems to me that it makes for a nice, balanced synergy of action/reaction, checks and balances.

...anyway, just a thought.

5 comments:

  1. Very wise, Grasshopper... You're certainly waxing philosophic today!

    But seriously, I've noticed the same thing. It seems like this is all thought out a lot further than a lot of the internet armed gamers are realizing. People can complain about the changes all they want, but this is the first rulebook I've felt like I got my moneys worth out of in a long time.

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  2. Wow... deep...

    Just Kidding.

    I just got my first 5ED game in last night and I agree with your "thought" 100%. It's all the little things COMBINED that make for a new game that flows much differently and plays in a new way.

    It was a blast and I should have my report and some 5ED thoughts up in the next day or so.

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  3. @seemyinnergeek: I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was one of those "internet armed gamers" a few months ago. I saw the leaked PDF and there were some thing in there that bothered me a lot. But, having the finished product in my hand, my fears have been calmed. :)

    @ronsaikowski: I'm glad to hear it! I'm really looking forward to your report!

    Also, if you'd like to hear something interesting on this subject, Games Workshop has started doing a podcast: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=9400003

    Basically, this one has Jervis and Alessio discussing the changes that were made, and why.

    My favorite? Alessio explaining that the reason he took out "Last Man Standing" checks because he always forgot to take them (and had noticed that other people did, too).

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  4. I played my first 5ED game yesterday, with a 'capture four objectives' win scenario.

    It felt like a strategy game, not a "lookit how many dice I'm rolling" game. The decisions I made during movement and shooting felt a lot more important than any actual dice rolls. I love it!

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  5. @techpriest: Glad to hear about your experience, I think you're right, it does feel like a more 'tactical' game (even when you ARE rolling a pile o' dice). BTW: your Khornate Russ looks badass, and I've added you to the ol' blogroll (which means I like your blog!).

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