DMs Guild How Many DMs Guild Products Have You Bought?

Nytmare · Jan 31, 2016

Morrus said:
I'm waiting a while. Once it's settled down and it's clear what that good stuff is and some decent brands have emerged.

Me too. I snagged a couple of the higher ranked free(ish) ones that emerged that I thought might be useful to me. Thirty Rules of Horror and... I think a crafting rules one?

But #1 I don't have a game at the moment, and #2 with ventures like this, I tend to like waiting for other people to do the digging and searching and then see what gems float to the top.

ad_hoc · Jan 31, 2016

Olaf the Stout said:
What was it?

I left a review on the product which I think was the reasonable thing to do, as that is what reviews are for.

I don't think it would be nice to call it out elsewhere on the internet.

I bring it up as a critique on the reviews on the products. So far, they have been far from helpful.

Where others say that the product was well designed and balanced, I see no such thing. Not just power levels, but in keeping with the style and design themes of 5e. It felt like the creator was stuck in 3.x thinking.

Low quality non-WotC isn't new of course. In 3.x the third party stuff tended to be way off mechanically. Even in Ravenloft, my preferred setting and books, the crunch was pretty terrible. I liked the thematic ideas they had with PrCs and such, but realization of it in mechanics fell short.

I expect DM's Guild to be similar but worse with reviews being little to no help.

Morlock · Jan 31, 2016

Morrus said:
I'm waiting a while. Once it's settled down and it's clear what that good stuff is and some decent brands have emerged.

Ditto.

Jester David · Jan 31, 2016

ad_hoc said:
I left a review on the product which I think was the reasonable thing to do, as that is what reviews are for.

I don't think it would be nice to call it out elsewhere on the internet.

I bring it up as a critique on the reviews on the products. So far, they have been far from helpful.

Where others say that the product was well designed and balanced, I see no such thing. Not just power levels, but in keeping with the style and design themes of 5e. It felt like the creator was stuck in 3.x thinking.

Low quality non-WotC isn't new of course. In 3.x the third party stuff tended to be way off mechanically. Even in Ravenloft, my preferred setting and books, the crunch was pretty terrible. I liked the thematic ideas they had with PrCs and such, but realization of it in mechanics fell short.

I expect DM's Guild to be similar but worse with reviews being little to no help.

Reviews are tricky but work best when they're an aggregate of dozens of reviewers. The more people review, the more reliable the reviews are. If there's only a couple reviews, then things will be skewed.
So far sales on the DMs Guild are lowish, and only a small percentage of purchasers review products.

There's going to be some terrible amateur hour products on DMs Guild. But there's also going to be great products.
It's important to remember that not everything WotC touches is gold and they've released some pretty terrible products in the past. Heck, not everything in the PHB is equally balanced and there are some duds and OP options.
However, unlike the PHB and official WotC content, 3rd Party stuff can often be revised, fixed, and updated pretty easily. Most reliable designers on the DMs Guild will be quick and happy to take a second look at their products and check the math and balance.

JohnLynch · Jan 31, 2016

ad_hoc said:
Low quality non-WotC isn't new of course. In 3.x the third party stuff tended to be way off mechanically.

I remember some pretty wacky stuff in WotC's own supplements, and for 4th Ed no less (Tempest fighter anyone?) so I think singling out 3rd parties is a bit unfair. The tabletop industry doesn't have a good record of balanced material regardless of the company.