D&D 5E What are the "True Issues" with 5e?

[Minigiant]

Not quite as depressing as @Hussar 's post, but close.

This process started back with TSR.

WOTC just has the money and researh to realize that survival RPG isn't a 10+ million RPG genre.

 

[Micah Sweet]

To you and to some other players, yes. But this is not a universal preference as evidenced by the fact that food, water, ammo, encumbrance, light, etc have always been some of the easiest things to mitigate. AD&D has spells and magic items specifically designed to counter worrying about all that stuff. That you don't use them in your games doesn't change that.

Does everything in WotC D&D have to reflect a universal preference?

 

[Hussar]

The tent/equipment thing really does highlight a true issue though.

Your character has to list every single piece of equipment on the sheet or it doesn’t exist.

My caster character lists “component pouch” on my sheet and I have unlimited casting of nearly every spell I know.

Every spell I cast has very detailed rules attached to it. I know the exact volume of a fireball. But what are the dimensions of a tent? How strong is it. I have a bedroll. What is it’s temperature rating? There’s a world of difference between different sleeping bags.

So on and so forth. The casters get clear (usually) detailed rules about exactly how their spells work.

But suggest that maybe a couple of extra sentences in the equipment lists and now, how boy… no way no how. That’s too much. Cannot possibly do that.

And people wonder why DnD earns the reputation for casters and caddy’s.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This process started back with TSR.

WOTC just has the money and researh to realize that survival RPG isn't a 10+ million RPG genre.

And D&D just has to be a 10+ million RPG.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The tent/equipment thing really does highlight a true issue though.

Your character has to list every single piece of equipment on the sheet or it doesn’t exist.

My caster character lists “component pouch” on my sheet and I have unlimited casting of nearly every spell I know.

Every spell I cast has very detailed rules attached to it. I know the exact volume of a fireball. But what are the dimensions of a tent? How strong is it. I have a bedroll. What is it’s temperature rating? There’s a world of difference between different sleeping bags.

So on and so forth. The casters get clear (usually) detailed rules about exactly how their spells work.

But suggest that maybe a couple of extra sentences in the equipment lists and now, how boy… no way no how. That’s too much. Cannot possibly do that.

And people wonder why DnD earns the reputation for casters and caddy’s.

Component pouches are a terrible rule, and mundane items should be more specific.

These are 5e problems. Other versions of D&D not laser-focused on appealing to the largest possible demographic has dealt with these issues.

 

[Minigiant]

And D&D just has to be a 10+ million RPG.

No.

It has to be at least 500 million.

 

[Hussar]

Component pouches are a terrible rule, and mundane items should be more specific.

These are 5e problems. Other versions of D&D not laser-focused on appealing to the largest possible demographic has dealt with these issues.

No. They didn’t.

You might have added that stuff in at your table. Fine and dandy. But no it was never a problem.

Note DnD has ALWAYS appealed to the largest possible demographic.

The only difference is now that demographic isn’t you.

 

[Micah Sweet]

No. They didn’t.

You might have added that stuff in at your table. Fine and dandy. But no it was never a problem.

Note DnD has ALWAYS appealed to the largest possible demographic.

The only difference is now that demographic isn’t you.

So if the majority approve of something, it can't be a problem for anyone else?

And no, I play versions of D&D that don't have these problems. Level Up, OSR games. Not WotC 5e. I do homebrew, but I don't need to for this.

 

[overgeeked]

The video game industry would like a word about the sales potential of survival horror games. Resident Evil 4 sold more than 12.3 million copies. Even if they only made $1 from each (hint: they made way more than that), then that title alone is in excess of $10 million. Now add in all the other survival horror games and see what that looks like.

Top Survival Horror Games by sales and revenue on Steam as of 2025 – Steam Marketing Tool

Best 6,070 Survival Horror games on Steam starting from $410 million in net revenue by reviews number, reviews score, price. Average, median and total revenues of all games

games-stats.com

And that's just Steam.

 

[Minigiant]

The video game industry would like a word about the sales potential of survival horror games. Resident Evil 4 sold more than 12.3 million copies. Even if they only made $1 from each (hint: they made way more than that), then that title alone is in excess of $10 million. Now add in all the other survival horror games and see what that looks like.

Top Survival Horror Games by sales and revenue on Steam as of 2025 – Steam Marketing Tool

Best 6,070 Survival Horror games on Steam starting from $410 million in net revenue by reviews number, reviews score, price. Average, median and total revenues of all games

games-stats.com

And that's just Steam.

Survival Simulation is not the same as Survival Horror.

Horror is popular.