Dragon Con: A Sight of the Schism in action

[Rechan]

I should note that the WoD dissatisfied folks are not very vocal and militant about it. I mean, when nWoD is brought up they grumble, but it's not "go on messageboards to yell about it" type of disatisfaction. At least, of those that I know.

 

[Mark]

I may be alone in this, but I often go to cons and gamedays to play games I DON'T normally play from week to week.

I run what I like the most at Gamedays but when I go to play at conventions I often look for games I have never played or haven't played in a while.

 

[Reigan]

If only nerdrage could be harnessed, the world would have all the renewable energy it would ever need.

 

[jfauch2]

Not at a con but at a FLGS. I run a DND 4E game every friday night it's an open game, 1st 6 players show up can play. This past Friday I was running a game with 2 players with 4E exp, and 3 new players. the 6th player comes along and from the get go starts to complain about 4E...Why they change that, what do I roll now, does it matter what I do... It kinda ruined the game for the others. I really couldn't waste my time defending the game while I'm trying to run it. He basically was just trying to cause grief.

 

[Thanlis]

I assume you mean the one in Fallston, MD? I'm in the other group, near the back. And I know exactly who you're talking about. It's nice to meet another Ren Games guy.

That's right! I was remembering someone on some board mentioned they played there, but I couldn't remember who. I'm the guy who's usually DMing; I'll say hi next time we're there and you guys don't look like you're in the middle of an encounter. Or kick me in the chair and say "stop sitting in the aisle, Thanlis!"

Edit: and Mark, yeah. You're probably right. Although he does still have an active 3.5 Living Greyhawk-esque game going.

 

[Mark Hope]

I should note that the WoD dissatisfied folks are not very vocal and militant about it. I mean, when nWoD is brought up they grumble, but it's not "go on messageboards to yell about it" type of disatisfaction. At least, of those that I know.

There is also a fair amount of WoD fans who are keen on taking the "best of both worlds" - swapping rules, fluff and ideas between OWoD and NWoD, depending on their preferences. I count myself in that camp - I play OWoD but treat NWoD as a source of awesome ideas and respect it as such. And I'm finding that several of our listeners over at Darker Days feel the same way (those that post at our dinky little forums, at any rate). I find this hugely refreshing and invigorating. You see a lot of this kind of thing over at rpg.net as well - folks hacking one system with stuff from the other, generally without rancour.

Of course, as far as the WoD is concerned, we're more than 5 years on from the reboot, so I'd guess that most folks have moved on from arguing and are back into gaming and swapping ideas and tall tales now. ('twas not always thus, of course, as anyone who witnessed the Great Atlantis Flamewar will attest, or its predecessor, the Mage Revised Apocalypse... ). But maybe D&D will eventually find a similar era of compromise. It would be nice.

 

[Zinovia]

Not at a con but at a FLGS. I run a DND 4E game every friday night it's an open game, 1st 6 players show up can play. This past Friday I was running a game with 2 players with 4E exp, and 3 new players. the 6th player comes along and from the get go starts to complain about 4E...Why they change that, what do I roll now, does it matter what I do... It kinda ruined the game for the others. I really couldn't waste my time defending the game while I'm trying to run it. He basically was just trying to cause grief.

Showing up to simply diss 4E is rude, if that's in fact what he's there for. As the person running the game, it is within your purview to ask him to leave if he is diminishing fun for the other players or interfering in the game. Even if it's a public venue, you shouldn't have to put up with someone else ruining your game.

If he was trying out the system and grumbling a little about changes, that's natural enough. It's hard to get used to changes in a system. You are constantly being misled by your past experience with how things used to be in the prior edition. In many respects it's easier to start fresh than adapt to a new edition.

 

[Nikosandros]

I may be alone in this, but I often go to cons and gamedays to play games I DON'T normally play from week to week.

My thoughts exactly. When I went to GenCon UK last year, I avoided all D&D games (both 3.5 and 4e). I had originally signed up for a RPGA event, but I dropped it in favor of a GURPS game. I play plenty of D&D normally and when I go to a con, I try to play something different.

 

[Treebore]

You guys must not watch general human behavior very much. The "edition wars" have nothing on politics, religion, race, illegals, etc... rage.

Everyone is pretty tame about the edition wars in comparison to all of that "rage".

Then again, we often take far more offense than is even intended when it is about something we ourselves have a vested interest in.

I also agree that a large part of the unhappiness with 4E is how drastically not only the mechanics were changed, but also because of how a favorite setting was drastically altered.

 

[Contrarian]

And there's a question: is the current RPGA representative of the D&D community at large?

I don't think convention attendees of any sort are representative of the gaming community at large. We're the extremists in a hobby full of casual gamers. That said, I think the RPGA is representative of the D&D community that shows up at conventions.

At every game convention I've attended in the past four years (except WinterCon, which was mostly a wargamer con), the RPGA has had the overwhelming share of D&D activity. (Which was not necessarily the case when I joined in the 1980s; I had to struggle to get people interested in RPGA games at conventions I volunteered for.)

Unless everybody outside my Michigan/Ohio/Indiana turf is seeing something radically different, I'm going with the theory that RPGA D&D is most of the D&D being played at game conventions these days.