Unpopular opinions go here

[Reynard]

As the creator of the Murder Simulator SRD, I would like to point out that there are much better games for that than D&D.

Fair enough. I was jus using it as short hand for "game about killing and robbing thinly veiled stand ins for the Other, with few to no consequences for such action, usually in the name of maintaining an ethically dubious political status quo."

"Muder simulator" just rolls off the tongue better.

 

[billd91]

I think we recognize that playing RPGs is a leisure activity often punctuated by humor and lighthearted behavior. That said, for those of us who have enthusiastically engaged in this hobby for most of our lives, I think we deserve to be considered with the same respect and be taken as seriously in our enthusiasm as any other hobbyist in their chosen pastime. Whenever someone asserts something like that, the constant litany of responses about the hobby being silly or "playing elf games" are not helpful, are not entertaining, are irritating, and generally just infantilize the participants of the hobby.

 

[Scribe]

Besides lead the market

Not just lead, but dominate to the point of being the 'Kleenex' or 'Q-Tip', it simply is the market for all intents and purposes to the general public, and is the root of a lot of 3PP success as a result.

Doing a lot of things well (or fine) is itself a very good thing. I know I've talked about this repeatedly (see, e.g., the Cheesecake post), but one of the strengths of D&D is that it can appeal to a lot of different people who are playing for different reasons.

And its also able to be taken from any range of Witchlight/Radiant to BG3, and its still 'D&D'.

For all the many complaints against WotC/D&D, I think that one of the issues is that a lot of folks here have a lot of experience with multiple systems or editions and so look around and go 'but this is better than 5e here, and this is better than 5e here, and there, and what about this massive gap!' or they have issues with Wizards (hi its me!) in general.

BG3 reignited my love of FR/D&D, and demonstrated that deep down my issues are both not with 5e itself, and are not beyond correction when solving for various interpretations of 'issues'.

TLDR: 5e is fine, actually.

 

[Reynard]

I think we recognize that playing RPGs is a leisure activity often punctuated by humor and lighthearted behavior. That said, for those of us who have enthusiastically engaged in this hobby for most of our lives, I think we deserve to be considered with the same respect and be taken as seriously in our enthusiasm as any other hobbyist in their chosen pastime. Whenever someone asserts something like that, the constant litany of responses about the hobby being silly or "playing elf games" are not helpful, are not entertaining, are irritating, and generally just infantilize the participants of the hobby.

I think "silly elf games" is a bit of defensive self deprecation based on formative years of having to dodge accusations of nerdery or worse.

 

[jdrakeh]

Fair enough. I was jus using it as short hand for "game about killing and robbing thinly veiled stand ins for the Other, with few to no consequences for such action, usually in the name of maintaining an ethically dubious political status quo."

"Muder simulator" just rolls off the tongue better.

Well, I mean, that's pretty much how I use it, too. It powers Nazi-Killing Bear Simulator and Call Me Snake, for example. Two games that are definitely about murder.

 

[Reynard]

BG3 reignited my love of FR/D&D, and demonstrated that deep down my issues are both not with 5e itself, and are not beyond correction when solving for various interpretations of 'issues'.

BG3 reminded me how painfully bland 5E is, and how easy it would be to fix if the design team was encouraged to do so by the bosses.

ETA: To be clear, I am saying everything cool about 5E in BG3 was something created by or added by Larian.

 

[CleverNickName]

I don't know much about the "right way" or the "wrong way" to play Dungeons and Dragons. But I know this much: If you're the sort who takes it so seriously that you are tracking your character's average damage output per round, and you've formed strong opinions about "bounded accuracy" and "verisimilitude"...

...you would probably be miserable at my gaming table, sitting there quietly sulking to yourself while popcorn, in-jokes, and high-fives fly over your head.

 

[billd91]

I think "silly elf games" is a bit of defensive self deprecation based on formative years of having to dodge accusations of nerdery or worse.

Maybe sometimes, but when you're tut-tutted about "silly elf games"? Not so much. Context means a lot.

 

[FrogReaver]

I laughed, but I will reiterate what is an unpopular opinion here (although it shouldn't be).

Making something that is broadly popular is not just something that people should take for granted. When people say that other things "Do it better," they are usually referring to one or two discrete things that a system does better.

Doing a lot of things well (or fine) is itself a very good thing. I know I've talked about this repeatedly (see, e.g., the Cheesecake post), but one of the strengths of D&D is that it can appeal to a lot of different people who are playing for different reasons.

In many ways it’s like McDonald’s. Not all McDonalds are created equal. The one nearest my house has screwed my order up over the years more than ever.

Most recently I ordered 2 plain cheeseburgers and they made one plain and one plain with mustard.

Probably their worst was when I ordered a cup of ice no water with a couple of their McDoubles. They gave me a cup of water no ice.

If I had to give a percent I’d say 30% of my orders get messed up. At one time I’d have said 50% so maybe a slight improvement over the years. Why I still occasionally go back and give them another chance I don’t know.

But I’ve been to other McDonald’s in other areas that were well oiled machines that the few times I stopped didn’t screw up my order.

Same restaurant. Same policies. Same food. Different people. The people make all difference sometimes. Which is kind of the same way with D&D and RPGs in general.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I think we recognize that playing RPGs is a leisure activity often punctuated by humor and lighthearted behavior. That said, for those of us who have enthusiastically engaged in this hobby for most of our lives, I think we deserve to be considered with the same respect and be taken as seriously in our enthusiasm as any other hobbyist in their chosen pastime. Whenever someone asserts something like that, the constant litany of responses about the hobby being silly or "playing elf games" are not helpful, are not entertaining, are irritating, and generally just infantilize the participants of the hobby.

Preach!

As I look at the thousands in minis, weeks and months of life invested…I hope to the heavens I have not invested all of that in a leprechaun twiddler! I mean I guess I could see what the leprechauns think but damn!

Come on! If u are a long time player admit to your shouts of victory and groans of defeat!