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<blockquote data-quote="ccooke" data-source="post: 8970803" data-attributes="member: 6695890"><p>No, it's an understanding of what D&D is and what they're trying to create.</p><p></p><p>D&D is a mainstream game, and 5e has grown so popular in large part by being "more mainstream" than previous editions. It focuses on appealing to the largest possible playerbase, and a lot of effort goes in to tuning it for that. In part, this is a consequence <em>of</em> its own success - as the audience grew, the need to appeal to that large audience to keep the game popular also grew (because hey, capitalism and the need to make more money this year than last year). That's not something wrong with WotC, mind - any custodian of the D&D brand would have this same issue - sure, they could focus on a less mainstream version of the game, but the consequence of that is turning away from a large segment of your audience, and the public disappointment and annoyance that would cause. D&D can't <em>stop</em> being a mainstream game at this point.</p><p></p><p>What's more, there's nothing <em>wrong</em> with targeting broad appeal. It's not "lazy" or "bland" - and describing it as such is basically insulting the millions of people who enjoy 5e. It's a game designed for broad appeal - lower complexity, low barriers to entry, no major features that turn off large chunks of the player base, etc. That might mean it's not a great game for you, but it is a conscious design choice that's being taken by creative people with some skill.</p><p></p><p>Best to face reality and accept that the official release of D&D is and for the foreseeable future is always going to be aimed at the broadest possible playerbase. It's the thing that will pull the vast majority of new players into our hobby, after which we can sell them on more specific games, or variants, or whatever.</p><p></p><p>I think it's okay for people to like the systems and design concepts they like. I personally don't like Level Up much, but it's great to see how well received it's been. It might not aimed at me, but it's very clearly well aimed at a target audience who love it. From the design process, I think part of that came from knowing who it was made for. That's at the core of good design. I think WotC <em>also</em> knows who their audience are and is designing a game for them. It's a much larger audience, but in many ways that makes good design harder rather than easier.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ccooke, post: 8970803, member: 6695890"] No, it's an understanding of what D&D is and what they're trying to create. D&D is a mainstream game, and 5e has grown so popular in large part by being "more mainstream" than previous editions. It focuses on appealing to the largest possible playerbase, and a lot of effort goes in to tuning it for that. In part, this is a consequence [I]of[/I] its own success - as the audience grew, the need to appeal to that large audience to keep the game popular also grew (because hey, capitalism and the need to make more money this year than last year). That's not something wrong with WotC, mind - any custodian of the D&D brand would have this same issue - sure, they could focus on a less mainstream version of the game, but the consequence of that is turning away from a large segment of your audience, and the public disappointment and annoyance that would cause. D&D can't [I]stop[/I] being a mainstream game at this point. What's more, there's nothing [I]wrong[/I] with targeting broad appeal. It's not "lazy" or "bland" - and describing it as such is basically insulting the millions of people who enjoy 5e. It's a game designed for broad appeal - lower complexity, low barriers to entry, no major features that turn off large chunks of the player base, etc. That might mean it's not a great game for you, but it is a conscious design choice that's being taken by creative people with some skill. Best to face reality and accept that the official release of D&D is and for the foreseeable future is always going to be aimed at the broadest possible playerbase. It's the thing that will pull the vast majority of new players into our hobby, after which we can sell them on more specific games, or variants, or whatever. I think it's okay for people to like the systems and design concepts they like. I personally don't like Level Up much, but it's great to see how well received it's been. It might not aimed at me, but it's very clearly well aimed at a target audience who love it. From the design process, I think part of that came from knowing who it was made for. That's at the core of good design. I think WotC [I]also[/I] knows who their audience are and is designing a game for them. It's a much larger audience, but in many ways that makes good design harder rather than easier. [/QUOTE]
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