The-Magic-Sword

That's probably part of the reason some char ops bounce off the system so hard, and some of us really love it. Personally I love the build game in general, and i like it more for the viable variety and tend to get annoyed when i find clear "wrong answers" in games.

I would personally say that balancing the game is more about maintaining the fun of the build game, to avert an optimal order strategy from out competing the toolbox to such an extent the meta is narrow and stagnant. PF2e has a much wider meta.

Like if warhammer minis came pre painted so "no one had to paint them and could focus on playing warhammer."

In that context, learning what +1s to put together would be no different than studying chess openings. Baselining the jump height could be removing game play because its about the journey, rather than the destination.

I think you've accidentally reinvented the concept of a game from first principles by the end here-- the semi-illusionary exercise of doing things you're given permission by the designers to do is fundamental to "game."

Here you go

True, unless they're ruled to count the Drake Rider equivalent.

Apocalypse Rider and Beastmaster both offer good stuff from taking them around 12, and the specialization feat at 14 (or both at 14 in FA, or earlier for BM, whatever)

there was a mentality that avoiding encounters doesn't really achieve anything, since the encounters are the bones of the adventure and progression. Which tbf, i didn't see go away at my table until i embraced treasure-leveling.

I think part of the conceit was a vibe that "it doesn't matter what happens next, itll be content" like, if you do something cool that avoids a dungeon, the GM will simply replace it with something equivalent. Perhaps because 4e presents itself as encounter centric, and the GM will want you to level

It's also why I like sandboxes, optional treasure, etc. so much, it becomes very easy to create dungeons that play different depending on what things you have/don't and work around this by including treasure that rewards the party's use of picked up options they can't get otherwise.

forward, so it was always better to avoid taking it to optimize resource use. For some reason, that kibd of thinking has always stuck out in my mind as a "this is why we can't have nice things" in game design. It's a big driver of why I find posts like the one you responded to so frustrating.

To build on what you're saying, there was actually something interesting I remember from a 4e optimization guide, where the writer was talking about a power or feat about language translation and asserted that if you don't take it, but the GM needs you to have the info theyll just give you a way (1)

Yeah seeing it as a fix is weird, its a fun build though!

Tsr 09121 AC 3 The Kidnapping Of Princess Arelina ( Dragon Tiles I) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive 23p

As per wikipedia, the 1984 anniversary box set included the kidnapping of princess arelin: archive.org/details/tsr0... im noticing bricked up windows in the description.

PVP is still a big portion of live service, and in those games, players lose half the time or more.

I do know someone like that. But overall, I'd love to know what live service data you're looking at. Tank/Healer games still dominate the MMO market over games like GW2 that tried to do that. Maybe something like Monster Hunter falls into that?

I think your instincts are right, and I think the game's underlying popularity is based on a desire for instrumental play in an rpg context that supports expression. I think it's a very vocal minority who are specifically in it for the "no tactics, only power" stuff. I always see the same names.

I think pf2e gets more flack because it's a more credible threat in many ways, its the "sega does what nintendon't" of DND.

Lancer is similar. You hit the gas, and your combo build just rips-- the optimization has a puzzle element to it. Haven't tried Draw Steel yet, but it's shiny and new, and the meta hasn't settled yet.

From experience, 4e has the potential to do it well, but largely, it's a build game. The "actually good" layer of 4e is twin strike multi attack abuse, rebreather, radiant mafia, and cheesy powers that happen to outpace everything at their level.

At the end of the day, pf2e is still the #2 game, above all the rules lite stuff (a lot of which is great in its own right). There's a definite demand out there for strong challenge and gamist elements, buildcraft, and combat-as-sport skilled play.

I think it's very common, but it's discussed in the discourse less for essentially the reason you self-identified... vibes.

Remember Souls is wildly popular, Magic the Gathering is super popular, competitive pokemon is currently exploding, MMOs continue to raise their skill, mobas were beloved.

www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder... #pathfinder2e #starfinder2e If you can't watch Paizo directly, feel free to follow my live write-ups!!

@pachapequena.bsky.social follow successful

Why, Magnolia and the rest of House Reinhart, of course! The most cuddly of the five families.

Its funny how often i stop and look at your commentary like "wait wasn't I in this argument?"

I mean, in that instance you can just go be a cover band - you won't get 'big' as a cover band, but there's a lot of success to be had before the lack of original music is a meaningful barrier and an album can be written later in that process. Youtubers are their content.

But if I don't make -10 MAP attacks, can I really claim to be roleplaying as a stormtrooper?

Hey, #pokemon, any pokedex or pokemon list makers you'd recommend so that I can track, organize and share a list of my favorites on an ongoing basis?

One that lets me see them collected visually would be especially nice.