Quote:
Originally Posted by David L Pulver
The 4th edition combat rules were playtested fairly extensively. In regard to this particular rule, playtesters seemed to like the change from "unready after any attack or parry" to "cannot parry if you used it to attack (or vice versa)." I still have email records of back and forth discussions on this rule and how the final version was adopted in the first draft.
Of course, there is a huge difference between "months of playtest by a few dozen people, only some of which may be focused on melee weapon changes" and "a dozen years of actual play by thousands of people coupled with intense development in combat and low-tech focused source books." Naturally, the latter process will refine rules to a far greater degree than the former.
It's also worth noting that 4e introduced a great number of changes across all areas of the game (e.g., in defense, the dropping of PD). Some rules had received years of prior testing in the authors' campaigns; others were developed during the design and consultation process. It's more or less impossible to talk about one 4e rule being playtested or not playtested. People tested the system as a complete package.
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Cool cheers for that (I admit I was a bit surprised by the initial claim).