This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
- In Dungeons And Dragons, there are literally dozens of ways to make absurdly overpowered characters by combining abilities from different books. (See the Wizards of the Coast forums under "character optimization" for details.) Hence, in order to make a competitive character, one must purchase more of these books. However, in this situation, a more likely explanation is that there are many books written by many different authors, not all of whom are communicating and not all of whom are aware of every possible way the new material might interact with other material that has already been written or will be written in the future. Most methods for making overpowered characters rely on combining several different features, and if there are N different features, then the number of K-way combinations of those features is O(N^K). It's sort of like Combinatoric Explosion.
The point in most Tabletop RPGs isn't really to make a "competitive character". (Some people act like it is, mind you.) Most Game Masters won't let you randomly mash together features from different books in order to make the strongest possible 1st-level character.
Allandrel: Put this in discussion, since the main article noted the controversial nature of some of the entries:
- This editor would argue that collecting, converting, and painting miniatures is part of the point of miniature wargames like Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. Complaining about needing to buy and paint miniatures to play W H40k is loike complaining about needing an internet connection to play an MMORPG. That's the nature of the hobby, and many players spend far more time painting than playing because they want to.
- Regarding Games Workshop's "What You See is What You Get" rule, I would recommend that a) one try playing a game where you are expected to remember that one missile launcher is really a lascannon, but another missile launcher is just a missile launcher. Or where that unit of Gretchin are really Nobs, each with a different set of equipment. Then imagine playing six games like that over a weekend. The WYSIWYG rule isn't there to sell extra models, but is Exactly What It Says on the Tin: so that in a tournament, aplayer can look at an opponents' army and know exactly what they are dealing with.
Also edited the prices listed in that entry, because the only single models that cost $60 are large vehicle kits, which can be assembled for easy weapon switches with no magnets required. A Space Marine Commander is $15-$25, depending on which model you go for.
