D&D General D&D "influencers" need to actively acknowledge other games.

[Dire Bare]

That’s like saying you are well traveled but never left your home city or state

Huh?

Put aside the fact that some folks live perfectly happy and content lives never straying far from home.

But the goal is to be a "well-traveled" RPG fan? It is somehow lesser if all you are interested in is one game, likely D&D?

Wow, how condescending.

 

[Zardnaar]

That's fine for your experience. The point is, it isn't everyones. Some groups don't even start with D&D, or hit early and don't like it. Obviously, when viewing the hobby as a whole, that's not the majority. But "play my game because D&D is terrible" isn't by any stretch what everyone who plays other games is saying. A lot of them are saying "This game supplies an experience D&D doesn't", and the only people who find that offensive are people who think that D&D is the all-purpose power tool.

It's often a vibe thise type of posters give off.

They're usually not stupid enough to outright say D&D is terrible its usually running it down and claiming XYZ is better.

Doesn't bother me if you play XYZ in the slightest. Vanilla chocolate pick your poison.

But there's probably a reason XYZ isn't that popular.

 

[Zardnaar]

Huh?

Put aside the fact that some folks live perfectly happy and content lives never straying far from home.

But the goal is to be a "well-traveled" RPG fan? It is somehow lesser if all you are interested in is one game, likely D&D?

Wow, how condescending.

Not really it's context.

Most people who only play D&D for example don't claim to be experts in rpgs.

The anti D&D comment was the strawman comment.

 

[Thomas Shey]

We’re talking about different things. I’m talking about rules light, ultra-light, and one-page games. You’re talking about anything that isn’t D&D. There’s overlap, sure. But they are not the same thing.

One is a superset of the other, and there's nothing saying someone who likes other games necessarily likes rules light games. I'll flat out say the latter isn't my cuppa, but the presumption everyone playing more heavy games is doing so out of preference is a big jump, when they may have an issue with a heavier game but figure its, so to speak, the only game in town.

Also, read this thread. People are talking about how bad rules light games are.

I don’t see anyone trashing D&D. I do see people saying they wish people would get out of the D&D bubble and try more games. I also see people mentioning how playing a game designed to do a specific thing should be played when D&D doesn’t handle that thing well. None of that is an “attack” on D&D.

Like I said, there's a certain subset of people who seem to find it offensive for someone even to opinion that not every setting, genre and campaign style is best served by D&D or even a direct D&D derivative.

 

[Oofta]

I think it's obvious. I get to decide what's healthy because I'm the only person qualfied to make such a determination. I tried to go out of my way to explain I didn't have a problem with D&D but I guess I wasn't clear enough. It doesn't bother me in the least that so many people are happy just playing D&D. It bothers me that D&D utterly dominates the industry, if we can call it that, because I don't believe it's healthy. And again, I am the sole arbiter of what is healthy so thank you for asking that.

I think you're seeing snobbery where none was presented. i.e. As far as my post is concerned, you're jumping at shadows.

You're the one who just declared that you alone gets to decide what is healthy for everyone who plays games. Seems like the shoe (or snobbery) fits.

 

[Thomas Shey]

It's often a vibe thise type of posters give off.

They're usually not stupid enough to outright say D&D is terrible its usually running it down and claiming XYZ is better.

Doesn't bother me if you play XYZ in the slightest. Vanilla chocolate pick your poison.

But there's probably a reason XYZ isn't that popular.

Except, of course, there's the easy out to claim that about any RPG that isn't D&D, and then blow off all the factors in play other than active preference.

I'll also note that for every poster that implies that D&D is garbage, there's a poster who infers that from things like the simple statement someone makes that they don't think its the best choice for everyone, even by people who indicate the do sometimes play D&D. So fobbing this all off on people who prefer other games seems a bit rich.

 

[Thomas Shey]

You're the one who just declared that you alone gets to decide what is healthy for everyone who plays games. Seems like the shoe (or snobbery) fits.

I think I'd look up "sarcasm" were I you.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

How much is "large"? If the answer is "1 in 10", what makes you think they wouldn't if it was exposed to them? D&D is not going to serve every purpose, but if someone thinks of it as the only game around, they're never going to even think to look into anything else.

How many people really think that it is the only game around, that has played an rpg, not the general population?

 

[Thomas Shey]

How many people really think that it is the only game around, that has played an rpg, not the general population?

I've met people who said that not only prior to recent experience they did, they knew a lot more that did. Often a very small subset of people introduce D&D into an area or people have heard reference to D&D and look up it specifically, and you can absolutely live in a complete or near complete bubble that way. I know its easy to assume in the day of the Web to the contrary, but I think this seriously underestimates how easy bubbles are to occupy.

There are games that are work to do that with. D&D is not one of them. If you look up "Dungeons and Dragons" you can find the current game and maybe some references to some computer game, not look further and even miss references to other editions or offshoots, let alone other game systems.

I mean, good grief, there are people out there who never see a D&D rulebook that doesn't belong to their DM. What does that tell you?

 

[Shardstone]

I say this as someone who publishes indie games, writes for indie games, etc: the truth is, most people don't want to engage in the kind of game the vast majority of TTRPGs are.

A lot of people want to sit with their friends, talk a little silly, fight monsters, pretend as a character, and experience some kind of story they get to influence and shape. D&D accomplishes this, its the most well known game with the biggest budget, and its super duper mega easy to get into it due to the fan ecosystem that exists. People will run you a game of the "first and biggest RPG" and offer to teach you the rules so there's no barrier to entry.

Not many people want to learn rules of ANY kind, lite or crunchy, especially if those rules are for things like exploring the human condition as you shapeshift through various bodies in Eclipse Phase, or run a meatgrinder of 40 characters in DCC, or engage in difficult logic/logistics management puzzles ala OSR. The market makes that clear. People want to feel a little bit empowered, they want a bunch of help getting into a game, they want to play the same character for a while, and they want to do "the RPG things" (fight, talk, explore, long rest).

I know people will ask me to cite data or rebutt my claim with how OSE and PF2E are sooooo easy to get into, but at the end of the day, most people want what D&D 5E is putting out. It's not my core taste either, but it is the reality of the situation. Avant-garde, experimental, or deeply rich games like Bluebeard's Bride aren't what brings in millions of customers. Magic beat'em ups where you get to be the good guy in a story (probably one of the oldest human stories out there) is what brings in millions of customers.