The trick is, and not just in D&D but in every game, making a given choice better than others at especific moments and worse than others at other moments.
I agree with that sentiment in principle, but it has clear issues in a system that requires you to make all the choices in advance without (supposedly) knowing what you'll face later, while at the same time not giving you the option to change your choices later on. While that is often how life is, people also don't like it. I've seen a lot of frustration about this over the years, with people debating on end the merits of making bad choices now to be in a better spot later, or lamenting that they did not know enough to make the right choice early on, etc.
I'm not saying the system is bad (or good), I'm just saying people have mixed feelings about how it works.
As for the weapon styles issue, I believe trade-offs are the way to balance it. Not an easy thing to achieve in a way that offers meaningful choice, but luckily the degree of complexity between a mere 3 styles isn't insurmountable.
I've been following this thread with great interest (learning quite a bit along the way) and would like to add my two cents worth.
My background is old school PnP and I mostly play fighter types. Given that PnP is usually played at comparatively lower levels I would rather go outside without my trousers on than without a shield. Thus it took me a while to get into the habit of dual wielding and I found that I was changing my playing style to accommodate it - not always for the better. Basically I realised that I played more aggressively and confidently when charname had a shield up.
So what I'd like to add to this discussion is the concept that different wielding styles can affect how you play, as well as how much damage you cause (i.e. there might be more to this than the numbers alone).
Comments
I'm not saying the system is bad (or good), I'm just saying people have mixed feelings about how it works.
As for the weapon styles issue, I believe trade-offs are the way to balance it. Not an easy thing to achieve in a way that offers meaningful choice, but luckily the degree of complexity between a mere 3 styles isn't insurmountable.
I agree with what you're saying. GWW does improve things for the other styles remarkably at the end of the game but twf is still munchkin like.
My background is old school PnP and I mostly play fighter types. Given that PnP is usually played at comparatively lower levels I would rather go outside without my trousers on than without a shield. Thus it took me a while to get into the habit of dual wielding and I found that I was changing my playing style to accommodate it - not always for the better. Basically I realised that I played more aggressively and confidently when charname had a shield up.
So what I'd like to add to this discussion is the concept that different wielding styles can affect how you play, as well as how much damage you cause (i.e. there might be more to this than the numbers alone).