D&D General What D&D reflects today, media wise...

[jmartkdr2]

Exactly what I absolutely can't stand.

But realistic is harder to draw, especially in video games and animation.

(no really, that's a key driver of the shift.)

 

[Malmuria]

Exactly what I absolutely can't stand.

you would've hated planescape

 

[reelo]

But realistic is harder to draw, especially in video games and animation.

(no really, that's a key driver of the shift.)

I don't mind some stylization in terms of drawing/painting technique, but anything that looks 17th century or (gasp!) later—be it clothing, accessories, or tech—is an immediate turn-off for me.

 

[CleverNickName]

Does D&D NOW reflect current media as opposed to the old and dusty LotRs (What Amazon tv series?). What do you think it should reflect? Lean back into more MMO play like 4th ed?

Yes, I would say that today's D&D reflects the popular fantasy media of our time...but "our time" doesn't necessarily mean today's date. I think it is closer to each of our developmental years. The period we grew up in.

Take a look at the popular books, movies, and comics from the early to mid 1950s, and compare it to the original D&D game. The authors of OD&D likely grew up reading and watching them, and so that influence really carried through when they started writing the material 20-something years later.

Then look at the popular fantasy books and movies that were popular in the 1970s and 1980s, and and compare it to the published 2nd and 3rd Edition adventures. Consider the material being published today for 5E D&D, and compare it to the video games, movies, books, and comics that were popular back in 2000. Yeah, we've still got LotR influence in there, but we also have anime and MMORPGs and Critical Role.

Also--bit of a tangent-- I feel that LotR's continued influence in 4E/5E wasn't D&D tradition; I think its a resurgence thanks to the immensely popular Peter Jackson movies of the early 00s.

 

[Reynard]

Yes, I would say that today's D&D reflects the popular fantasy media of our time...but "our time" doesn't necessarily mean today's date. I think it is closer to each of our developmental years. The period we grew up in.

Many of the people making D&D (and other RPGs) today are Millenials, who grew up with Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Avatar, and lots and lots of video games. That isn't to say some of us oldies don't also like those things or take inspiration from them for our games, but there is a generational lag in entertainment because people often are at least partially creating things out of a nostalgia for their formative influences. The wave of 80s nostalgia in film and television is due in no small part because the people finally in a position to make film and television are around 50 years old now.

 

[Minigiant]

I don't the modern D&D is as as shiny as some thing

I see it more like an old Bioware game. Pockets of color, darkness, grey, and white. Comedy, serious, and trauma. The main difference is the magic isn't dead nor wanting and it isn't odd that you spend time there.

 

[Scribe]

Hey, just so you know, most people who like MMOs, Pokemon and Warcraft are at least on their 30s today

Which is prime purchasing age.

 

[Minigiant]

Hey, just so you know, most people who like MMOs, Pokemon and Warcraft are at least on their 30s today

I almost TPKed a party with a Minotaur based on Whitney's Miltank

 

[Charlaquin]

I'd push back on this: if everyone is using the game in an unintended way, the designers didn't make the game work as intended.

If a few people change things, that's on them.

Using the Monopoly example: free money at Free Parking is because people didn't like the death spiral ending of the game. Soo they tried to fix it. The fix is bad, but it's there because of a problem with the base design: the death spiral.

A game works as intended when it’s played as intended. That doesn’t necessarily mean the game as intended is something people will want to play. Monopoly, for example, is supposed to have a death spiral, not because it’s supposed to be fun, but because it was supposed to be contrasted against a different ruleset, which was much better balanced. It was intended as political propaganda. It works exactly as intended without free money on Free Parking, it’s just that it’s supposed to be unfun when played as intended.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Are you kidding me? Just going by the Animes,, DOTA 2: Dragons Blood central plot is about Dragons, it has Elves, Orcs, etc..., I spent the time thinking what characters would be what D&D class. Lina Sorcerer, Merci Monk, Devon Eldritch Knight multiclassed with Red Dragon Sorcerer, that Australian sounding Elf Arcane Trickster, Invoker Wizard, Bran Eldrich Knight (and other Dragon Knight), etc...

You seem to missing the direction of influence.

That's "influenced by D&D"*

Not "influencing D&D"

They're kind of the opposite. DotA 2 is ultra-derivative and frankly extremely boring drivel. There's a reason Arcane is an absolutely huge hit (despite/because it fits the aesthetic I descried) and DotA 2 anime is not particularly successful.

* = Actually Warcraft III, which is where DotA originates, which is just a mash-up of D&D and Warhammer. Both of which were just a mash-up of Tolkien and Moorcock.