Editing Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition (section)

===4e vs. WoW===
Although comparing 4e to [[World of Warcraft]] was the most common thing to do back in the day, in actuality, most of its "WoWish" aspects were derived from unspoken assumptions and core mechanical aspects of D&D going back throughout its history. The sourcebook "Wizards Presents: Races & Classes", a teaser book that covers a lot of the design process leading up to 4e, talks quite extensively about the process - for example, roles have always been part of D&D, ever since we had the Fighting Man, Magic User and Thief, it's just that actually thinking about what makes their combat role ''work'' and using that to avoid the tiers system of past editions was new to 4e.

The major source of "4e=WoW" comments comes from this related meme: "All 4e classes are spellcasters!" That meme stems from the core of the combat system; the [[AEDU System]]. Each character gains access to a pool of distinctive combat options as they level up, which are categorized according to their use; at-will, once per battle, or once per day - Utility powers are non-offensive powers that provide a boosting effect in some way, such as healing, gaining defense bonuses, gaining a new movement rate, teleporting, etc. The big issue is that this system is ''universal''; all classes use these basic mechanics, in contrast to warriors using their own little pool of of subsystems for combat stunts (which were often dependent on "DM, May I?", and/or arbitrarily blocked by monster type - although so were many spells, due to higher-grade monsters typically having the "Immunity to X" trait) and everybody else using the [[Vancian Casting]] system.

This meme looks sensible on the surface, because martial exploits and caster spells do use the same basic terminology and system - a push is a push, whether you use it with a Howling Wall spell or a Body Slam attack. But it might not be that simple. Whilst martial classes having fantastical techniques that are limited by a cool down period is indeed a famous aspect of the [[Warcraft]] games, stemming all the way back to their RTS days, it has precedent in D&D even before then. Beyond the immediate comparison of the [[Barbarian]] and its Rage ability, it goes all the way back to [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], where [[Ranger]]s, [[Paladin]]s and various [[Fighter]] [[kits]] all had special tricks they could only do so often. The main differences are that, one, even Mages (with high STR) ought to be able to do simple things such as a push, as opposed to it being a "magical" class-locked ability, and the fact that the "martial arts/stances/tricks" get '''very''' fantastical, bordering on outright magical, as opposed to the more grounded (if still not strictly realistic) stunts of the old editions. Another point on comparing martial exploits to magical spells is that their outcomes are intentionally designed to reflect different themes; you don't have fighters throwing lightning bolts (unless they have a magic weapon that lets them do that) or teleporting (unless they have a magic item that lets them do that), whilst you don't have wizards body-slamming people off of their feet, grabbing them as a human shield, or stabbing them deep and twisting so they start bleeding out (which is, as stated earlier, partially quite odd, as overtly simple things like a body-slam might be something that anyone can do). So, it's an understandable perception.

Part of the problem, of course, is that 4e has a very distinct "Action Fantasy" basic genre assumption, in comparison to the Low Fantasy/Sword & Sorcery/Realism assumption of earlier editions. Whereas the "presumed archetype" for an AD&D or 3e fighter was something like a grizzled but realistic man-at-arms, 4e's "presumed archetype" for a martial character is something more along the lines of Hercules, Cu Chulainn or, well, pretty much any Shonen anime hero. This was an an intentional part of the design for 4e, since the edition was crafted from the ground up to avoid the [[Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards]] trope and the resultant placing of martials so low on the [[Tier System]]. When one guy's skill-set is "swing sword like a real-world trained warrior" and the other's skill-set is "fuck reality like a nympho slut", balance kind of falls apart.

Another element that invites comparison to WoW is the very unusual healing system. In past editions, healing magic was exclusively the province of the [[cleric]] and healing potions, although it broadened out in 3e with things like [[bard]]s having access to Cure spells and Wands or Scrolls of Cure Wounds being added to the game. In 4e, a system was ported over from [[Star Wars D20]] Saga Edition: '''Second Wind'''. Once per battle, a character could dig deep and find a reserve of vitality to keep soldiering on despite their wounds, action movie protagonist style. This was reflected as a boost of hit points and a +2 bonus to all defenses for a turn. But 4e didn'tstop there. It added a whole new subsystem: '''Healing Surges'''. In essence, these represented the "spare lifeforce" that a PC has available; the vast majority of healing type powers or effects in the game have the rider that they consume one or more Healing Surges as a side effect - if no Healing Surges are left to spend as fuel, then no healing takes place. Basically? A 4e character is limited in how many times per day it ''can'' have a healing effect applied to them, whereas in previous editions characters could be healed as often as there was healing magic free to spend. It also didn't help that aside from some specific circumstances, you would have to forgo a turn you could have spent actually hitting the enemy to get this healing.

Many anti-4e reports portray all 4e classes as being able to heal themselves as much as they like, at will, because of this Healing Surge system. Which is... not exactly true? Outside of the universal 2nd Wind system, there is a wide class-by-class variability in how much access a given character can tap into their Healing Surge stockpile. Generally speaking, only Defenders (whose core combat role is based around being the front-line warrior, so they are expected to have some level of action movie protag style "shake off the wounds and keep going" tankiness) or Leaders (whose core combat role is aiding other characters) have access to powers that key off of Healing Surges - the former spending Healing Surges to bolster themselves, the latter being able to consume their ally's Healing Surges to heal or otherwise augment them. In comparison, Strikers and Controllers generally have no ability to use their Healing Surges for healing and instead depend on the presence of Leaders or magic items to heal them if they need help.

Two examples of this from the first PHB are the "Iron Warrior" power for [[Fighter]]s and the "Death Ward" power for [[Paladin]]s - both are Defenders, but the latter has a dash of Leader in it, reflecting the traditional access to low-level [[cleric]] spells. "Iron Warrior" can be used once per day; the Fighter regains healing surge value (1/4th maximum HP, rounded down) Hit Points, plus a further 2d6 + Constitution modifier hit points, and gets to make a saving throw against a "save ends" type effect laid on them. It's flavored as the Fighter being just too tough and stubborn to die, despite the beating they've taken - which is playing on the Fighter's general "action hero" flavor that it has in 4e. "Death Ward", in comparison, can be used once per day on a dying companion; the Paladin burns a healing surge, but their companion regains 1/2 their maximum HP, plus bonus HP equal to the paladin's Charisma modifier. It's flavored as... well, a variant on the old Paladin ability to Lay on Hands. Both powers are Daily types - they can't be used again until the character completes a 6 hour rest. And neither is accessible until you reach level 16. Hardly the "at-will healing" that many anti-4e trolls will claim all classes have; but, it still means that all classes - just to varying degrees - have access to their own, "magical", healing. Not to mention that, even if that is played off as "it's not on all the time forever" (which is fair enough - it isn't), it's both still something that can be considered a problem (if a limited one), and also - if playing off of the "different classes use their healing surges for different things" - it goes ''right back'' to to all classes being spellcasters, as it then just becomes another word/function for "mana" or "power points". Now, all classes have "healing surges" that they can use for "special abilities", or; all classes have "mana" that they can use to "cast spells".

But this argument will probably never die, because it's an easy target to attack for anybody who doesn't like 4th edition. Even '''Art & Arcana''', a licensed WotC product covering the history of D&D up until 5th edition and providing samples of art from across its lifespan opens its chapter on 4th edition by describing elements of its design as being "influenced by MMOs".