D&D General WotC Asks What Makes YOU Play Dungeons and Dragons?

WotC has a new survey asking about what you want from D&D -- "Extra extra! The D&D team wants to know what makes YOU play Dungeons & Dragons! The open world? Character customization? Shared storytelling with friends? Iconic art? Take our survey and help shape the future of what we're working on at Wzards. Please share to help us spread the word and hear from more fans."

https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5231853/pas?sglocale=en

 

[gyor]

Principalities of Glantri. Quite possibly the most messed up fantasy Nation ever written just because it's so dysfunctional and the only thing that keeps them together is they hate everyone else more than they hate each other.

You basically just described almost every Drow Nation that ever existed. Almost.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

There were some weird questions in there which did worry me a little bit like "Do you create your own PCs?". I mean what the foo-foo excuse me? Do you think my valet creates my PCs for me or something? That's awful - obviously he gets his own character!

I feel like the whole survey pointed towards them wanting to maybe make an even-more-accessible form of D&D, perhaps with a lot of pre-gen stuff, and wanting to know what to put in it. So I'd be really unsurprised to see something along those lines in future.

I did get to tell them that Time of the Dragon (1989, Zeb Cook) was the greatest D&D setting of all time though, so there is that. I may possibly be the only person on the planet with this opinion but I suspect that is in large part because maybe only five other people ever played Taladas.

Please keep the language “grandma friendly”.

 

[gyor]

So does Warhammer, both 40k and Fantasy. It'd still much prefer a Warhammer 40,000 supplement for use in 5e to what is already available.

Hell, I'd be pretty happy if Wizards and Games Workshop partnered, Wizards making GW RPGs and GW making miniatures for Wizards (the quality of GW minis has become incredible, though the pricing still drives me nuts).*

*I know that for many reasons this will never happen, mostly because they're practically direct competitors in some business.

Honestly I really never like Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000 settings at all.

 

[gyor]

There were some weird questions in there which did worry me a little bit like "Do you create your own PCs?". I mean what the foo-foo excuse me? Do you think my valet creates my PCs for me or something? That's awful - obviously he gets his own character!

I feel like the whole survey pointed towards them wanting to maybe make an even-more-accessible form of D&D, perhaps with a lot of pre-gen stuff, and wanting to know what to put in it. So I'd be really unsurprised to see something along those lines in future.

I did get to tell them that Time of the Dragon (1989, Zeb Cook) was the greatest D&D setting of all time though, so there is that. I may possibly be the only person on the planet with this opinion but I suspect that is in large part because maybe only five other people ever played Taladas.

I've never even heard of it. I suspect they are planning future products with this survey.

 

[Tony Vargas]

There were some weird questions in there which did worry me a little bit like "Do you create your own PCs?". I mean what the naughty word excuse me? Do you think my valet creates my PCs for me or something?

It's not unheard of for DMs to build all the characters. Not entirely unheard of to not show the players the sheet, either.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Honestly I really never like Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000 settings at all.

HERESY! blam

More seriously, I very much get why people wouldn't like it. Warhammer Fantasy blatantly rips off fantasy tropes from various properties and half-hazardly tries to stitch them together (badly enough even GW fully rebooted it into their newer property Age of Sigmar). And the fanbase for both is even more rabidly gate-keeper than D&D, occassionally to truly profane levels of fascism and sexism.

I will defend Warhammer 40,000 though as the truly best version of someone converting the many "fantasy tropes" to a science-fiction setting that isn't just "It's elves, orcs and paladins but in SPAAAAACE!" It's actually got some very good world-building done there, and I seriously don't understand anyone who plays in the Starfinder setting when 40k exists.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

It's not unheard of for DMs to build all the characters. Not entirely unheard of to not show the players the sheet, either.

Oh now we know how Tony plays! Man will that poor Tiefling Bard never work out that he only has 12 CHA Tony? Will you not put him out of his misery?

Warhammer Fantasy blatantly rips off fantasy tropes from various properties and half-hazardly tries to stitch them together

I mean, is a D&D DM actually trying to use this as a criticism?! The rest of what you say about Warhammer is true but this is easily the most amazingly hypocritical criticism of Warhammer that's ever happened. That is literally a description of D&D. Warhammer has also come up with a ton of pretty great quasi-original stuff, which has had a significant impact, directly and indirectly, on D&D. Hell, I bought my first AD&D books in a GW store, back in 1989.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Oh now we know how Tony plays! Man will that poor Tiefling Bard never work out that he only has 12 CHA Tony? Will you not put him out of his misery?

Rest assured, your Tiefling Bard /knows/ their the most charismatic barding that ever armored a horse.

 

[Parmandur]

The Blood Hunter should never be an official class. It's on the list because it's available on D&D Beyond, a big Wizards partner, and Beyond have the hunter because they consistently sponsor CR.

Nothing wrong with the gameplay, but it's better suited for a subclass as opposed to being its own thing (same for warlord).

I'm not particularly excited by the Blood Hunter, but I don't see how "should" enters the equation: if the DMsGuild and Beyond data show WotC that people like the concept, why not?

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I mean, is a D&D DM actually trying to use this as a criticism?! The rest of what you say about Warhammer is true but this is easily the most amazingly hypocritical criticism of Warhammer that's ever happened. That is literally a description of D&D. Warhammer has also come up with a ton of pretty great quasi-original stuff, which has had a significant impact, directly and indirectly, on D&D. Hell, I bought my first AD&D books in a GW store, back in 1989.

It's not my criticism, it's one I've heard and sort-of understand considering D&D came out first and you can see the influences on WHFB. It definitely has original stuff, chiefly being the Empire's Holy Roman influence, the Lizardmen, Skaven, and Chaos armies. But the three elf races, orcs, dwarves, and Bretonnia lack some originality.

A lot of people bash on the Age of Sigmar (when it first released it really did look like "SigMarines"), but nowadays I do appreciate how that setting has allowed GW to be more creative and push it's own distinct look with every new release.

The below Sylvaneth are a good example of pushing beyond the "Wood Elf" trope into something a little more interesting and unique.