D&D General Rant: Sometimes I Hate the D&D Community

[Scribe]

I think the issue usually comes down to the fact that the game books assume a certain play style and thus get canonized by fans as the "true style" of play, so people often want "their" style to be the one that is in the books and thus defended by appeal to authority. People don't get hot about how you and your table do things, they get hot when it is suggested that the default method presented in the book is a certain way. It's not unique to D&D, religious schisms have formed over the inclusion of a single word or thought.

Eh, people who participated in those discussions know what happened, and we probably don't need to divert the thread into a burning dumpster.

 

[MGibster]

I think your first mistake is calling it a community, there is no "community". There are people who bought a game, like Monopoly or Chess and have an opinion about the game, and prefer the version they got when there were kids. Mine was London based Monopoly with Mayfair the most the expensive square.

I categorically reject the idea that there's no community. Gaming conventions, RPG.net, and En World are just a few examples of communities. We communicate with one another, we have our own jargon, and we all have an activity in common so we're a community. Not in the sense that we all live in the same area, but in the fellowship sort of way.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I categorically reject the idea that there's no community. Gaming conventions, RPG.net, and En World are just a few examples of communities. We communicate with one another, we have our own jargon, and we all have an activity in common so we're a community. Not in the sense that we all live in the same area, but in the fellowship sort of way.

does Monopoly have conventions?
Is trek fans a fan community?

 

[BookTenTiger]

does Monopoly have conventions?
Is trek fans a fan community?

Yes, there are board game conventions.

And yes, Trekkies are a community. They even have a name!

 

[Greggy C]

I categorically reject the idea that there's no community. Gaming conventions, RPG.net, and En World are just a few examples of communities. We communicate with one another, we have our own jargon, and we all have an activity in common so we're a community. Not in the sense that we all live in the same area, but in the fellowship sort of way.

Fellowship of Enworld... right.

I agree the 0.01% that meet at conventions more than once are a community. Going once to look around, meh. Creating an anon account on enworld, nah. Nobody actually cares about anyone else, everyone is generally just here for their own reasons, mostly to advertise, a few like to write opinions. Some just like to hear a little bit of news. Some just procrastinating.

 

[MGibster]

does Monopoly have conventions?
Is trek fans a fan community?

I don't know about Monopoly, but Star Trek? Yeah. Hell, yeah. Trekkies, my friend. Or "Trekkers" as some of the more uptight members of the community prefer to be called. Science fiction has had their own little communities since back when it was called scientifiction.

I agree the 0.01% that meet at conventions more than once are a community. Going once to look around, meh. Creating an anon account on enworld, nah. Nobody actually cares about anyone else, everyone is generally just here for their own reasons, mostly to advertise, a few like to write opinions. Some just like to hear a little bit of news. Some just procrastinating.

Okay, this isn't something I care to go back and forth on. If you don't see it, well, okay, we can just agree to disagree.

 

[Umbran]

Is this true on ENworld? I see folks criticizing / debating each other's play styles, but I don't think I've seen "castigation." That would go against the site rules of treating each other with respect, right?

So, here's an example.

What's more important - debating whether what was said was technically correct, or accepting that it at least feels like it was correct to the speaker.

If you argued the technical correctness for a day and a half, don't you think the speaker would feel you were castigating them about this?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

[SARCASM]
I do sometimes think that in addition to "[+]" threads, we need "[-]" threads. If all you want to do is complain about some aspect of the game, just let people know! Whether that's fighters, alignment, HP or any number of other aspect of the game that I wouldn't know were an issue if not for the forum, just let people know that you don't want any posts about how whatever the topic of the thread is works just fine for other people. Let everyone know up front that all you want to hear is how people agree with you that it's terrible.

I think it could solve a lot of problem.
[/SARCASM]

Mod Note:

This comes across as a bit of a threadcrap. Ask yourself if this really needed posting here.

If- despite your “SARCASM” label, you think this idea has merit, suggest it in Meta. Otherwise…

 

[BookTenTiger]

So, here's an example.

What's more important - debating whether what was said was technically correct, or accepting that it at least feels like it was correct to the speaker.

If you argued the technical correctness for a day and a half, don't you think the speaker would feel you were castigating them about this?

Good point!

@Micah Sweet , I apologize for not taking your experience at face value. It basically went exactly against what I had posted before about my own attempts to keep ENworld a positive community!

 

[Morrus]

Creating an anon account on enworld, nah. Nobody actually cares about anyone else, everyone is generally just here for their own reasons, mostly to advertise, a few like to write opinions. Some just like to hear a little bit of news. Some just procrastinating.

I've made lifelong friends here. Been to their homes and vice versa. I guess you get out of it what you put in. Sorry to hear you haven't made any friends.