Frustrating Gamers- slight rant

Hey all,

I have become quite frustrated with some of the attitudes about the game that I see on EnWorld. Of course, I may just be in a combative mood, but I cannot stay quiet any longer. I want to write about the people who seem to be the "elitist gamers" or snobs. Yes, these are the same people who wanted to retain ThaCo to keep the "stupid" people out of gaming.

We all know these people. They take one look at a PrC, class or feat and call it broken without taking the time to playtest it. The current one people kick in the tail is the Mystic Theurge. How many of those whining about the class have actually playtested or evaluated it to see if it IS overpowered? No one. It takes weeks or more to really playtest a PrC.

Then we have the low-magic crowd. I have to shudder in fear here. These are the people who nerf spellcasters without giving the class any way to compete with the melee types. The worst GM I had was like this. You could only get as high as 10th level in a casting class. Oh....but when we faced those monsters with CR=party level, he forgot that those CRs took into account a level of casting that was nonexistant!

Let's not forget that classes like the Bard and Paladin are really PrCs. After all, unless you're playing a Monte version of the Bard, every other class will kick the crap out of it. The Paladin can be a great class, but still falls short of the Fighter and Monk in power level.

You have to love these people. Restrict this, nerf that.... ugh! Yes, folks, we have the gaming "intelligentsia" here. No wonder its hard to get new and younger players or get the game to be generally accepted. People are already tired of the PC college professor crowd.

Maybe we should have a "Cut the Bull" foundation.

Meanwhile, us "common" folk will go on having fun. We don't need lofty ideals or elitistism to enjoy a good yarn.

Re: Frustrating EnWorlders- slight rant

BelenUmeria said:

Meanwhile, us "common" folk will go on having fun. We don't need lofty ideals or elitistism to enjoy a good yarn.

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NO no no! That's not allowed I tell you! You are broken! Stop trying to shaft me! I'll nerf you good I will!

Sheesh the nerve of some poeple! Trying to have fun. What'll they think of next...

You know, everyone is entiltled to their opinion, including yourself. Maybe the people who say that a certain prestige class or feat is 'broken' actually think it is; if you don't think so, it is easy to ignore their opinion.

And low-magic: Well some people like that style of play, and how they choose to implement it is up to them. Who are you to say they are wrong for playing their game their way?

And I find it insulting that you blame the people that post here and carry these views as the cause for it being hard to get new young gamers involved.

Take a look at yourself.

Re: Frustrating EnWorlders- slight rant

BelenUmeria said:

Then we have the low-magic crowd. I have to shudder in fear here. These are the people who nerf spellcasters without giving the class any way to compete with the melee types.

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Maybe we _want_ people to play the melee types? Of course, using unaltered monster CRs in a magic-poor game is a sign of a poor DM. An ettin is a lot higher than CR 5 when the party have no magic.

Edit: Just realised I've been trolled.

Eternalknight said:

And low-magic: Well some people like that style of play, and how they choose to implement it is up to them. Who are you to say they are wrong for playing their game their way?

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While I do not agree with the overall tone of his post I have to agree here. Low Magic gamers do quite often have an attitude of superiority around them.

A good example of this is the "low magic" crowd that likes the Kalamar setting. They can be quite forceful and rude about their opinions. Luckily most of the worst offenders do not hang out on ENWorld but instead stay over at the Kalamar company board.

So you have a problem with people who have a preference for low-magic low-combat campaigns and do not want to sacrifice lots of time and energy to playtest something that they can see at once has no place in their campaign? You know, THEIR campaign, not YOUR game. As in "does not affect YOU in the slightest".

If you have a problem with people stating their (even strong) opinions on some PrC or the other, then that is YOUR problem. This forum is for discussion of opinions, ideas and anecdotes, not to conform to the "common D&D" (whatever that could be).

If you have a problem with your DM's or your groups preferred playstyle, then talk to them, or find another group. No one forces you to play with people who "nerf" your character, but no one forces them to play with you either.

Amen.

You know, I just had another thought: The thread's title is 'Frustrating En Worlders'... exactly what the author is.

Sheesh....it did not take long for someone to bring "troll" into the rant. I am frustrated darn it!

As for the broken argument, I have no opinion either way. I will, at least, playtest it before condemning the rule, feat, class, PrC. Those bashing a certain PrC now have not even taken the time to playtest it. However, there is a lot of whining regarding the utter doom of 3.5 and how casters will become so much powerful under the mythical new multi-class rules.

Of course, my favorite elitist was a gamer I met at Borders while buying my girlfriend her first PHB. He had not yet switched to 3e and asked me what I thought of it. I raved and told the guy how much easier it is to teach new players and how the rules were more straightfoward. His reply:

"...but the old rules kept the idiots from gaming."

What a wonderful impression that made on a new gamer and a girl at that!

BelenUmeria said:

Of course, my favorite elitist was a gamer I met at Borders while buying my girlfriend her first PHB. He had not yet switched to 3e and asked me what I thought of it. I raved and told the guy how much easier it is to teach new players and how the rules were more straightfoward. His reply:

"...but the old rules kept the idiots from gaming."

What a wonderful impression that made on a new gamer and a girl at that!

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Ok, but why take that out on us?

Actually, I am not taking it out on the general populace of EnWorld. I don't even care whether people play a low-magic campaign. I just cannot stand those who stick their nose in the air, scream and complain, before they evaluate things in a logical, playtest manner.

Frustrating EnWorlders refers to the few rather than the norm, but I think a lot of people get scared away from the game because of the elitists!

Let people have fun! I cry, FREEEEEEEEEEEEDOM, from the snobbery!