D&D 5E Am I no longer WoTC's target audience?

[Paul Farquhar]

It’s more about pop culture references. The one they are doing now aren’t for me.

but d&d had pop culture references early on that many of us are blind to

Baldur's Gate (CRPG) is riddled with pop culture references that these days mean nothing to anyone under forty.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

For me "jump the shark" was the event "war of chaos" and the age of mortals in Dragonlance. And the Sundering in FR.

* If we review the last UA articles we could see someones are linked to gothic-horror, as a upcoming project about a "Heroes of Horror" (and/or "Heroes of Shadow") rehash. And in DM Guild there are many titles based in Ravenloft created by 3PPs. I guess the next old settins to come back will be Dark Sun and Ravenloft. And Strand von Zarovich has been "guest star" in D&D Online and Newerwinter Online.

Two videogames, Baldur's Gate III and Dark Alliance, are coming soon, but also other unknown projects. I hope some title no-set-in-FR but maybe Ravenloft or Greyhawk. If they finally find up the secret of a D&D videogame they will dare the risk of a new Dragonlance videogame.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

The primary audience they are aiming for are Middle Schoolers, High Schoolers and College students: the rest of us are nice to have as customers.

That's what I feel like. Everything WotC has published feels over the top. Too much magic. Too many monsters. Too many hit points. I want something dirtier. Small, down to earth. I want to see "what if" adventures. What is a famine hit the FR and turned everyone against each other? What if an evil god died its vile soul leaked out into a city? What if all magic suddenly stopped working? What if good turned on good, and evil against evil? I want exploration - not only of monsters, but ideas. What if a city was teleported to another plane of existence? How would civilization react? How would civilization survive? What can the PCs do to change the fate of their friends and family caught the forces of nature?

 

[Carmen Sbordone]

Am I alone?

Nope. I already know i am not the target audience anymore. And not just WotC. Could other game companies as well.

And its ok. I buy and take what i need and ignore the rest

 

[Reynard]

That's what I feel like. Everything WotC has published feels over the top. Too much magic. Too many monsters. Too many hit points. I want something dirtier. Small, down to earth. I want to see "what if" adventures. What is a famine hit the FR and turned everyone against each other? What if an evil god died its vile soul leaked out into a city? What if all magic suddenly stopped working? What if good turned on good, and evil against evil? I want exploration - not only of monsters, but ideas. What if a city was teleported to another plane of existence? How would civilization react? How would civilization survive? What can the PCs do to change the fate of their friends and family caught the forces of nature?

When your needs and desires are so specific, you can't expect someone else to provide them for you. Design those campaigns yourself. Hell, design them and release them into the wild or on DMsGuild. But don't expect WotC to not only read your mind but also spend massive resources creating a niche product just for you.

RPGs are the ultimate DIY entertainment. When I see people lamenting the lack of this thing or that thing they really want, it makes me wonder if folks have forgotten that. Those core books are the toolkit for you to make whatever you want, which will ultimately be far superior to whatever some developer decided to make, for your purposes anyway.

Run that adventure. Create that world. Design that class. D&D belongs to you at your table.

 

[schneeland]

What if all magic suddenly stopped working?

I agree with most of what you said - that's actually the more solid indication for me that I am no longer the primary target audience than the release schedule (luckily there's lots of other interesting RPGs that provide such an experience).

Only regarding this one thing, I will say: we tried a campaign (in 3.5) in which magic stopped working at some point. It was interesting story-wise (our PCs were in Halrua at the time), but not a lot of fun to play, especially not as a magic-user (sorcerer).

 

[Demetrios1453]

That's what I feel like. Everything WotC has published feels over the top. Too much magic. Too many monsters. Too many hit points. I want something dirtier. Small, down to earth. I want to see "what if" adventures. What is a famine hit the FR and turned everyone against each other? What if an evil god died its vile soul leaked out into a city? What if all magic suddenly stopped working? What if good turned on good, and evil against evil? I want exploration - not only of monsters, but ideas. What if a city was teleported to another plane of existence? How would civilization react? How would civilization survive? What can the PCs do to change the fate of their friends and family caught the forces of nature?

You realize that that last section is precisely the plot of Descent to Avernus?

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[SkidAce]

Dear Lowkey,

Followup question: I like to homebrew my own beer, and recently learned that a local brewpub made an ale that I don't like. Should I complain and start drinking scotch, instead?

don't believe the hype, scotch is usually nasty and too expensive.

 

[3catcircus]

No such word.

Using Latin incorrectly does not make you look clever.

You're either trying to be funny or you truly don't understand that ad hominems are the plural of ad hominem using standard English. Tell me you know the difference between similar and plural... Or would you prefer for me to have used "argumenta ad hominem" instead of standard English pluralization of a Latin loan-phrase?

Either way, every time I provide a rebuttal as to why I consider some products to not "be tha best evar," I don't get cogent responses picking apart my argument.