D&D General Why are so many D&D articles *garbage*?

Ancalagon

Dusty Dragon
So

It may come to a shock to some of you that sometimes, people are wrong on the internet. And that's ok. I mean, on EN world people are wrong every day. Hypothetically speaking, it is even possible that I am wrong sometimes - I mean, I post a lot and just sheer statistics indicate I should have been wrong by now somehow, although clearly I am the exception that proves the rule ;)

Ahem. Anyway, we all make mistakes, and that's ok, it's just elf games. We aren't paid for this. But some people are paid for this, they write articles for money - good for them! And since they are professionals, they should be... less wrong than the random internet poster, in theory. And thanks to the wonders of algorithms and oppressive corporate surveillance, these articles are recommended for me to read on my phone. Great stuff right? Except, many times, these articles are terrible.

For example: D&D: Five Treasures More Valuable Than Gold

So first of all, no this is not me pointing out that gold is a medium of exchange and thus has no inherent value - you use it to get other things, thus technically speaking everything is more "valuable" than gold... let's ignore my pedantry (sometimes it's the right thing to do!) and let's just look at the choices. Think to yourself "what would be more valuable than gold". Got five-ish choices? Ready? Ok, where they:

1: Decanter of Endless water
2: cloak of flying
3: Silver (... I'm not kidding)
4: A manual that boosts a stat
5: The friends you made along the way.

No? Because that's the list! That is a very mediocre, trolley list, Bell of Lost souls!

And it's not the only one!


The best magical items are...
  • Bag of Holding
  • Cloak of Protection
  • Wand of Magic Missile
  • Alchemy Jug
  • Magic Weapon
  • Illuminator’s Tattoo
  • Boots of False Tracks
  • Spell Scroll
  • Circlet of Blasting
  • Ioun Stone
The druid subclasses, ranked: Dungeons & Dragons: The Druid Circles, Ranked
#1 is.... circle of spores?!?!

And this are just a few examples. I've seen so many over the last year or so. Guide to barbarian telling people to play a bezerker for example, I wish I had saved them.

So, what's going on here? Writers paid by the word and with very short deadlines, and editors that don't know anything about D&D?
 
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Mecheon

Sacabambaspis
So, what's going on here? Writers paid by the word and with very short deadlines, and editors that don't know anything about D&D?
Pretty much

Websites want clicks. They know D&D is popular. Throw together someone who vaguely knows about D&D, write article, give title to attract audience, await clicks

They're wanting people who fall into the algorithm's grasp, not you.
 






Mort

Legend
Supporter
Well, at least the problem is easy to solve...

If I had to take my shot at being wrong, I'd say that "garbage" articles generate more chat/comments, which generate more hits/clicks.

Case in point - the awful articles generated this thread. And quite a few people (whether they comment here or not) might now click on articles they never would have otherwise just to see if they really are "awful!" So the tactic works.
 


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