WotC WotC needs an Elon Musk

[WarDriveWorley]

I guess I'll keep trying then, because I'm not going to just stop engaging with fellow D&D players. I really wish more people looked beyond WotC in this hobby, because they are far from the best content producers out there.

They absolutely are not the quality one would expect and frankly I agree many of their products are lackluster to me. I do a lot of searching both within the 5E bubble and with other games for the best products for what I want and I don't spend anywhere near as much on "official D&D content" as I have in past editions. But that said if a person gets enjoyment from a product I don't I'm not going to dissuade them from using it. I may explain why I like X better than Y, but after that I will do my best to help and support them liking Y.

 

[Micah Sweet]

They absolutely are not the quality one would expect and frankly I agree many of their products are lackluster to me. I do a lot of searching both within the 5E bubble and with other games for the best products for what I want and I don't spend anywhere near as much on "official D&D content" as I have in past editions. But that said if a person gets enjoyment from a product I don't I'm not going to dissuade them from using it. I may explain why I like X better than Y, but after that I will do my best to help and support them liking Y.

Very enlightened. I'd like to do the same ideally.

 

[Faolyn]

For the most part, its merits are not sufficient for me to spend money on it, unfortunately.

Then how can you have read it to say if it were good or bad?

How's about instead of saying how much you dislike something, talk about the things you do like. For example, you like older Ravenloft. Come up with your ideas of how the setting could have gone, if instead of being rebooted the metaplots were continued. I'm sure lots of people, myself included, would enjoy fleshing out the older lore in that manner.

 

[Faolyn]

The 5e stuff also doesn't have to supersede the previous edition material that you might enjoy. Beyond a very brief couple OD&D games, 2e was also where I really got my start and the books published then are still a treasure trove of material to use in 5e games.

Same here. I love the old 2e stuff. I'm just glad there's new stuff so I have more ideas to pick from.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Then how can you have read it to say if it were good or bad?

How's about instead of saying how much you dislike something, talk about the things you do like. For example, you like older Ravenloft. Come up with your ideas of how the setting could have gone, if instead of being rebooted the metaplots were continued. I'm sure lots of people, myself included, would enjoy fleshing out the older lore in that manner.

A ton of that work has already been done by the Fraternity of Shadows website, but your point is well taken.

And I've read most of the newer books, and read about the others extensively. I've also read both playtest packets, so I know where they're planning to go. That's certainly enough to form a personal judgement.

 

[Velderan]

Very enlightened. I'd like to do the same ideally.

Then how can you have read it to say if it were good or bad?

How's about instead of saying how much you dislike something, talk about the things you do like. For example, you like older Ravenloft. Come up with your ideas of how the setting could have gone, if instead of being rebooted the metaplots were continued. I'm sure lots of people, myself included, would enjoy fleshing out the older lore in that manner.

To continue what @Faolyn is saying since I've seen Micah criticize VRGtR for changing the setting in ways they didn't like, was there anything in the book you liked or thought was done well?

 

[Chaosmancer]

You've been doing it for 20 years... means you have nothing more to learn? Other people's approaches can't be informative to you?

Your family doctor may have been doing it for 20 years - but they have a license requirement to engage in continuing education every year.

Of course not, but to be useful information it needs to be either highly advanced or you just have to happen to have not known or find a method better. Which is completely random and individual.

For example, not one targets cookbooks at chef's who get 3 to 5 star reviews and run multiple restaurants across the country. That isn't because they have nothing to learn, but because it is such a specialized and individual learning process, that a book is not necessarily the best way to go about it. And even if you did, there isn't a big enough audience who will get the material.

 

[Micah Sweet]

To continue what @Faolyn is saying since I've seen Micah criticize VRGtR for changing the setting in ways they didn't like, was there anything in the book you liked or thought was done well?

Several of the domains are interesting, although in most cases I would still prefer them to be separate domains rather than re-writes of existing ones. I also liked the player-facing stuff for the most part. My issues were with the removal of the Core and the erasure of old domains in favor of new ones with the same names. I would have been fine with new domains like what we got but with their own names.

 

[Zardnaar]

I was flipping through the 5E Eberron setting yesterday (2019 release). I would call that an extremely immersive setting, very well done. Unlike that Spelljammer release, which lends credence to your point. The zero deep dives, I don't like either.

I don't buy the PC being powerful thing. Is it the saves every round that gets to you? Or some other mechanic? I started playing in 1982. The level drain, save or die spells... not fun. Straight up terrible design in my opinion. If that type of play is what you mean by PCs being at an appropriate level of power, I'm not on board. Removing those types of mechanics is not the same as making PCs overly powerful; all it means is removing a fun-sucking mechanic out of the game.

I pulled out Eberron as well. I gave the alt cover.

Never actually run it just mine it for things like warforged.

Gonna run it next campaign I think. Quality wise 5E peaked 2017-2019 perhaps.

So they do did a respectful update and may have improved it as well.

 

[Oofta]

I will go read about @Oofta 's theories, even though I highly doubt I will be convinced. I never dismiss something out of hand without at least looking into it.

But if you want to experience weird conspiracy theories... look up Jordan Peterson. A sad man-child.

For what it's worth, I'm not saying I believe we live in a simulation. It's just one theory that explains some funkiness in observations of the world around us, especially at the quantum level. That reality seems to be "granular". Another theory is Holographic Duality theory which says that the universe is effectively a hologram. That doesn't mean it was created by an intelligence, it's just a mathematical theory to try to solve the macro and the quantum. Of course then there's string theory, which makes me hope there's not some quantum cat running around out there. You know how cats like to play with strings!

But much like theories of what the developers of the beholder were smoking when they thought up a giant floating beachball of death, it's just something to ponder.