Unpopular opinions go here

[Thomas Shey]

Not sure if I agree that it's just snob code, though I acknowledge that it most certainly can be. However, sometimes an acquired really is an acquired taste. There are plenty of times throughout my life where I had been told that something was an acquired taste and it was precisely just that.

Yeah, far as I can tell that describes coffee. And probably most forms of alcohol.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I tried to leave the time consideration squishy. Mainly, I mean people who are going to stick in the hobby, instead of people just passing through. No shade on people who gaming doesn't click with, but for those who get stuck in, I honestly feel you become a better player by being a GM, at the very least.

My wife seems to agree with you. She doesn't have the time/energy to do it any more, but she felt her one campaign was valuable in giving her a different perspective.

 

[Thomas Shey]

[Weird duplicate]

 

[Thomas Shey]

Unpopular opinion: I prefer rules systems that don't tightly couple rules to a bespoke setting.

If the rules aren't flexible enough to be ported with minimal effort outside whatever bespoke setting the author dreamed up, the game is destined to become a resident of the Grand Duchy of Fantasy Heartbreak.

Eh. Sometimes you'd at least need to trim them (because the setting has elements that don't exist elsewhere) and sometimes it might feel inadequate because its focused on something few other settings focus on (Warbirds is focused on airplanes to a degree I can't assume too many other settings are).

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

5E isn't the most complex D&D but it isn't the least, either. People need to RTFM when it comes to what their character can do. That is both their class and spells or whatever, but also the basic rules of the game. And in my experience, people willing to play something else in a long term campaign (so not including con games or one shots here) are willing to put in the work. Many, many D&D players simply will not.

Telling people to RTFM when you know that they are not going to RTFM is just yelling at the clouds, my friend.

So if you know how people ARE, then it's probably best to not expend so much energy bemoaning the fact that they aren't how you want them to be.

 

[Thomas Shey]

IME, most “forever GMs” would LOVE to be players, but are not afforded the opportunity because they’re in a group (or groups) where nobody else is willing to run games.

There's a thing you can run into after you've GMed long enough where you tend to get bored as a player because you're not constantly involved. I used to think it was just me but I've heard other GMs say the same thing.

 

[Cadence]

There's a thing you can run into after you've GMed long enough where you tend to get bored as a player because you're not constantly involved. I used to think it was just me but I've heard other GMs say the same thing.

I imagine if those were D&D (or similar) GMs, that some would suggest something like BitD to give them more narrative agency as a player.

 

[Professor Murder]

If anything, if you are most often a GM, remember to restrain your GM impulses when you are a player.

 

[Aldarc]

They should just skip past Dick Grayson and Jason Todd and go straight to Tim Drake, since he might be the first one to have said that out loud.

I do have some bias here since Dick Grayson is my favorite Robin and I also enjoy Nightwing. The Trinity (Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman) may be the pillars of the DC Universe, but I regard Dick Grayson as the heart of the DC Universe.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Not unpopular, but correct opinion....

The Best Civilization Games, Ranked*

Last: Call to Power. I can't even.

6. Civilization. I want to give it bonus points for being the first, but naw.

5. Civ2. The beginning of modern Civilization.

4. Civ6. Ugh. I don't know where to start with this one, but while it has people that absolutely love it, this was the first time in the entire series that the game managed to miss that sweet spot that kept me coming back for just .... one ... more ... turn. I've probably played less of this one than any other "main line" Civ game.

3. Civ3. Easily the best of the pre-modern Civs. Probably the one I played the second-most.

2. Civ5. Jarring at first (WHERE IS MY TANK STACK??), it gradually grew on you ... especially with the much-needed expansions. And mods, mods, mods.

1. Civ4. There can be only one. Civ4 might not have been perfect (no game is), but it was the watershed game in the series. It made Civ3, which was a great game, look like nothing. Also? Leonard friggin' Nimoy.

I have spoken.


*Why not Alpha Centauri and Beyond Earth? Because. Think about it, and you'll understand.