D&D (2024) Pulse check on 1D&D excitement level

[Scott Christian]

Or don't just play the same RPG year after year after year.

There are so many great RPGs out there. By the time my kids are in their early teens I HOPE we are not still playing the same RPG we are playing now.

No offense, but what a pessimistic take. If you like soccer, stop playing it and try baseball? If you like lifting weights, stop doing that and become a runner, then try being a couch potato? If you like fantasy books, stop reading them and read romance novels? If you like building models of cars, stop doing that and build models of boats? If you like playing guitar, stop doing that and play tuba?

I mean, it sounds incredibly dismissive, of not only the limited time these people may have to play, but also of their taste and comfort level.

 

[Bill Zebub]

No offense, but what a pessimistic take. If you like soccer, stop playing it and try baseball? If you like lifting weights, stop doing that and become a runner,

Strangest. Argument. Ever.

Yes, I hope my kids play lots of different sports and don't focus on just one, until maybe college if they're really into it. Basically all the research shows that kids who are pushed into a single sport at an early age don't end up as good at it as kids who are better rounded, plus they burn out.

And "pessimistic"? I literally cannot figure out how that adjective fits into the argument. At all.

then try being a couch potato?

Huh? Did I say, "I hope they quit play RPGs and only watch Critical Role instead"? No, I said I hope we move on to other RPGs. So I don't know how you ended up at 'couch potato', unless you realized your argument made no sense and that was an attempt to make it sound better.

If you like fantasy books, stop reading them and read romance novels? If you like building models of cars, stop doing that and build models of boats? If you like playing guitar, stop doing that and play tuba?

And it gets stranger with every sentence.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Strangest. Argument. Ever.

Yes, I hope my kids play lots of different sports and don't focus on just one, until maybe college if they're really into it. Basically all the research shows that kids who are pushed into a single sport at an early age don't end up as good at it as kids who are better rounded, plus they burn out.

And "pessimistic"? I literally cannot figure out how that adjective fits into the argument. At all.



Huh? Did I say, "I hope they quit play RPGs and only watch Critical Role instead"? No, I said I hope we move on to other RPGs. So I don't know how you ended up at 'couch potato', unless you realized your argument made no sense and that was an attempt to make it sound better.



And it gets stranger with ever sentence.

the fact is that playing D&D doesn't always translate to playing TTRPGs...

Then again I don't know many baseball or basketball players who would pick up football


edit: I push being a more general TTRPG player. I play dozens of games (not at the same time) and think there are many "almost D&D" out there... but I know plenty who do not

 

[Bill Zebub]

the fact is that playing D&D doesn't always translate to playing TTRPGs...

Then again I don't know many baseball or basketball players who would pick up football

How about golf? This is from yesterday.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/sports/basketball/jr-smith-golf.html

 

[GMforPowergamers]

How about golf? This is from yesterday.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/sports/basketball/jr-smith-golf.html

I picked my sports on purpose... but I said many, not no one ever... and I added an edit that I myself am a general TTRPG player that didn't even start with D&D

 

[Bill Zebub]

and I added an edit that I myself am a general TTRPG player that didn't even start with D&D

Yeah I totally didn’t understand the point you were trying to make. Then again the argument that D&D is to (for example) Traveler as Football is to Baseball also makes zero sense to me. So I’m pretty lost.

There are lots of cool RPGs out there. I would like to play more of them and not stick to one system. I don’t understand a mindset of thinking that’s an undesirable thing.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I know you feel this way, i just don’t get it.

I'm in a similar boat as @Micah Sweet but perhaps we got there by different methods.

I loved 5e when it came out. I ran a 4 year long campaign that some in my gaming group of 20ish years have said it was their favorite.

I have a homebrew campaign and setting. I don't use published campaign settings. I don't use published adventure paths.

Over time it became clear that the content of WotC published content was very very different than all previous editions. Books which were "general use" for any table were not being made.

There have been released in the post-launch 5e lifetime two generic rules additions, two generic monster books, one reprint monster book, and maybe a generic dragon book (I've never picked up Fizbans). Lets say that is 8 full books of generic content over 8 years.

This is a slower release rate than any other edition for what is useful at my table.

Yes, I can and do supplement my game with third party material, but this is about how excited I am for 2024.

Why would I be excited that the 9th, 10rh, and 11th releases for 5e are the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th reprints of things I already have?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Yeah I totally didn’t understand the point you were trying to make. Then again the argument that D&D is to (for example) Traveler as Football is to Baseball also makes zero sense to me. So I’m pretty lost.

my point is that there is a subset (not even a small %) of D&D players that are not intrested in TTRPG that isn't named D&D.

There are lots of cool RPGs out there. I would like to play more of them and not stick to one system. I don’t understand a mindset of thinking that’s an undesirable thing.

I agree that there are really cool RPGs, but there is a subset that wont even try them.

 

[Scott Christian]

Strangest. Argument. Ever.

Yes, I hope my kids play lots of different sports and don't focus on just one, until maybe college if they're really into it. Basically all the research shows that kids who are pushed into a single sport at an early age don't end up as good at it as kids who are better rounded, plus they burn out.

And "pessimistic"? I literally cannot figure out how that adjective fits into the argument. At all.

The point I made, and I think I made clearly, is, what if they only have time for one sport? I said you are being dismissive of their time; meaning, if they only have time for one, why should they have to switch? Is this because you feel people should play different TTRPGs. It is not about you, but it is about them.

And please, reread your post:

Or don't just play the same RPG year after year after year.

There are so many great RPGs out there. By the time my kids are in their early teens I HOPE we are not still playing the same RPG we are playing now.

"OR don't just play the same RPG year after year..."
or
""By the times my kids are in their early teens I HOPE we are NOT still playing the same RPG..."

If you do not find the tone of these pessimistic, I can't explain it to you.

Huh? Did I say, "I hope they quit play RPGs and only watch Critical Role instead"? No, I said I hope we move on to other RPGs. So I don't know how you ended up at 'couch potato', unless you realized your argument made no sense and that was an attempt to make it sound better.

Hyperbole is used for many different reasons. This is one - To exploit a pessimistic and confrontational tone with exaggerated analogies.

And it gets stranger with every sentence.

This analogy is not hyperbolic. It is sound and logical.

 

[Bill Zebub]

If you do not find the tone of these pessimistic, I can't explain it to you.

Pessimistic is "WotC sucks. They are ruining D&D. Everything they did in 5e sucks, but everything in 5.5 is even worse. Even though it's just a playtest, I'm going to act like it's the final version and cry on the internet. Oh, and OGL proves they are really a money laundering scheme for Satan."

Optimistic is "The world is full of awesome RPGs! Why would you want to play just one? I want to play lots of them!"

YMMV.