Post/Author/DateTime	Post
MichaelAhlf 09-10-07, 05:10 PM	Some people are pointing out some things on here that I might as well take a stab at addressing. Maybe someone's thought of something I haven't. #1 - It's "a good thing" to have LFR starting because it lets the writers work with a predefined level expectation. A: Well any campaign reset in any setting would do this. Plus, by the end of year 2 (possibly year 3) this will be meaningless. #2 - A viable alternative to the TU system? A: I don't see one. Some suggestions have been to make it more micromanaged (365 "Day Units" instead of 52 TU's). Some have the usual TU penalties replaced by an inability to play the character for X amount of time (easier to cheat, just start off-dating the ARs). As a whole, I think the TU system works. Yes, for many secondary/tertiary characters, a TU penalty for jail time is no big deal. Then again, a TU penalty on the main means the secondary gets played more... which again most people would see as no great loss. As for meta-orgs, will they even exist in LFR? Good question. With every "region" essentially being worldwide, who cares? The biggest argument I've ever seen in LG was certain regions that inducted everyone into "the militia" for 1/3 of the year's TUs, then allowed them to get possibly 3-4 of them back in "militia oriented" regional modules. However, I think that's a situation better handled by campaign administration telling whoever wrote something so silly to knock it off, as opposed to trying to scrap the otherwise highly workable (and fair!) TU system. #4 - LFR will go all the way up to level 30. A: I don't know that I trust this yet. They say now that the game should scale to level 30. I don't know that what I've seen of their design documents make the case that it will. 3.0/3.5 was supposed to go all the way to 20th, but it became unwieldy around 15th or so. Plus, in the event that we do get that high, that means PC's might be a match for some of the "big name" NPC's around. I would be entirely unsurprised to learn that LFR capped around high teens/early 20s, when players started reaching that point. #5 - "Access" (to items, PrC's, whatever) won't mean much because it'll all be in the PHB/MM/DMG A: Are you kidding? Expect lots of splatbooks. And you can expect those new splatbooks to be just as thoroughly playtested as any example 3.0/3.5 splatbook source you might think of... ok, ok, I can't finish that thought without laughing either. #6 - Online tracking will be "a wonderful thing." WotC is investing tons of money into D&D Insider. A: First, you cannot expect everyone to have broadband access on demand. Heck, you can't even expect dialup speeds to be regularly available. Second: the moment they come anywhere near pay-to-play, I'm out of here. "Burn me once..."
Reneshat 09-11-07, 01:10 AM	I actually agree with everything you have said. We have yet to see just how balanced these 30 levels are going to be. Maybe they will manage to get it right, maybe not. Also they will always be producing more splat books, not just because people will buy them, but also because most people want them. They always seem to want more options rather than less. They will also have things that weren't thoroughly play-tested (if they were play-tested at all) and will need to be restricted. That's just part of the game. Finally, TUs are fine, stop trying to fix something that works just because you don't like the accounting.
MatteBlack 09-11-07, 11:58 AM	TUs: Is the accouinting of TUs really that big of a deal? It's the simplest thing on the AR currently. I am not sure I want to be playing with players who can't add or subtract a series of 2 digit numbers to one another. The over whelming majority of questions I see are players in denial over the fact that their TUs are dwindling and may have to make a hard choice.
MatteBlack 09-11-07, 12:08 PM	Online Tracking: I could definitely imagine a system that would supplement the current system of bookkeeping and streamline it but, would be concerned about something too cumbersome for players, DMs and con organizers to accurately input the info in a timely manner. The potential of a required online subscription fee to play RPGA games could be a deal breaker for many players. I am on the fence about but, know i'd see alot of friends walk away if they did it. Resetting Characters and then charging a play fee would be a majorly bad idea and take some serious huevos. Lee