D&D General D&D Loyalty?

[Corinnguard]

I still have a sizeable number of 3.5e and PF1e books in my TTRPG collection. I haven't used them for role-playing. As for 5e, I mostly have the monster books (Monster Manual, Volo's Guide to Monsters, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons and Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse).

Outside of D&D, it's Level Up.

As for loyalty, shouldn't it be loyalty towards to your fellow players? D&D adventures are designed with a group of players in mind, not a single individual.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Not loyal, but invested. I have bought so much of their stuff that it is easier to keep playing D&D than buy and learn new systems. Especially since I am with a group that really enjoy D&D.

I am similar. I have invested money and time in D&D over the last 40 years, so it is always easier to pop back into it if I feel the urge or need to run something. I'm not beholden to it by any stretch but it's simply ease-of-use. Whether you would consider that "loyal" (or just "lazy") is up to you.

But I do know that if others run something I'm happy to play any game they put in front of me. If I never played D&D again it'd be fine. I might be a little disappointed to have never used any of the character ideas I had come up with during my time DMing when I never had a chance to actually play D&D... but I'd still be fine.

(And I won't even bother talking about the company, because I'm one who believes faith, belief, or loyalty in inanimate objects is pointless.)

 

[GothmogIV]

Odd pondering. How loyal to D&D are you? By that I mean are you all in on D&D, loyal to an edition or loyal to a company?

Broadly speaking I'm loyal to the game not the D&D brand or company. If I stop playing D&D I'm stopping playing RPGs. I'll play other RPGs but I'm not interested in them as such.

D&D for me however isn't whatever the current owner stamps on the front of their books. Older editions, clones and closely related games are D&D. This included Pathfinder, Castles and Crusades and OSR stuff. It doesn't count Pathfinder 2, 13th Age, or DCC (they're all D&D cousins).

Tales of the Valiant could be tempting. Reasons.

Dungeons&Dragons as a game is important to me, in all of its editions. Dungeons&Dragons as a brand, not so much. So I will always love the game, but the brand--and its ownership--not so much.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Odd pondering. How loyal to D&D are you? By that I mean are you all in on D&D, loyal to an edition or loyal to a company?

Not at all at this point. If official D&D vanished today, whilst that would be a bad thing, all the groups I play with would just move to another RPG, D&D-like or otherwise. WotC have, quite honestly, totally failed to long-term retain any loyalty over the last 25-odd years they've owned the D&D brand. Whenever it looked like they were doing something I actually liked and approved of, they've either stopped doing it, or found a wild and unexpected way to mess it up. It's become a pattern over three editions. 5E was kind of winning me over, particularly when they hired Ray Winninger, but they not only fired him and replaced him with a guy whose main expertise is convincing customers to subscribe to digital subscriptions instead of buying individual products, they then managed to create the incredible car crash with the OGL 2.0. The 3D VTT sounded like a cute idea if a bit disturbing in that the first things they said about it were how keen they were to monetize the heck out of it, but it's increasingly seeming like they're regarding it as the main money-making engine/future of D&D, which yeah, no thanks mate - and it doesn't even seem smart given it's unproven. Add in stuff like the really half-hearted settings, the increasingly PG (not PG-13) nature of WotC's approach to the game (despite things like BG3 proving the er... opposite... sells), and books in general seeming more like they're designed to be owned than used, and what is there to be loyal to? A corporation being very corporate? Are they paying me?

2024 offered some hope but whilst most of the design changes are minor improvements (though I won't count any chickens until the books are out - the last D&D Next playtest was way more interesting than the game we actually got), many key issues remain untouched, even ones that could have been without impacting compatibility meaningfully (like Short Rest length). It's unfortunately close to a fantasy heartbreaker even, in the sense of making some changes you approve of, but not really seeming to have a vision. Only the fact that it's branded D&D and slightly more cautious mechanically really distinguishes it from other attempts to improve D&D, like A5E, Tales of the Valiant, and so on.

 

[Lord Shark]

Not at all. I stopped playing in the late 3.5 era, and quit again in 2014 (unless you consider offshoots like 13th Age or Pathfinder to be D&D).

 

[Randomthoughts]

Not loyal at all. Been playing Savage Worlds (Seven Worlds, Deadlands and Invasion) and Mophidius (Fallout and STA) games all year. Oh, and a short stint with Aliens (FL).

But I also play and run D&D (5e). Hoping finally to set up a hex crawl for 4e - that, or Dark Sun.

 

[Corinnguard]

Not at all. I stopped playing in the late 3.5 era, and quit again in 2014 (unless you consider offshoots like 13th Age or Pathfinder to be D&D).

Pathfinder 1st edition was sometimes called 3.75e, so some of us would probably still see it as D&D. Pathfinder 2nd edition otoh is a different story.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I’ve perhaps played a dozen sessions of other rpg give or take 10 exclusive of conventions.

None ever grabbed me like D&D. My group of friends since childhood likewise.

We played wargames, strategy games, etc but if it’s an rpg it’s D&D. As to company loyalty? I am very mercenary. Are you making a product I like? I will give you some money. No? Best wishes.

But D&D is my bag. I like the monsters, classes, lore, art. With exceptions…of course. Nothing else has drawn me in like that. I think it’s special. That said, it has been in my head for decades and since grade school so perhaps that long influence has something to do with it.

I was not into 2nd or 4th or 3.5. I am an odd edition guy…1, 3, 5 with 5 now being where I am: played a little becmi and bought it up. It’s cool but too bare now that I have played more fleshed out games.

I am a D&D lifer.

 

[Oofta]

I happen to actually like the game this forum is theoretically dedicated to. I know, I know practically heresy around here.

But here's the thing, as long as the rules work at all levels, as long as I have a reasonable number of ways to express characters I want to play, and the 5E rules do, I'm going to continue playing D&D. Maybe I'll switch to the 2024 edition rules, maybe I won't. There are very few things that I could learn about WOTC that would make me change that; I don't agree with some of what they do or consider doing but I care about the end product. I can find fault with every major corporation, and most small companies if we're being honest about it, if I look hard enough. There are a couple of popular businesses I refuse to buy from, but they're pretty exceptional.

The stories we tell at the table, the jokes we make, the fun we have matters more to me than system. On the other hand I've looked into other systems now and then. Some are overly constricted to a single overall theme that leaves me cold, some just have systems that simply don't appeal to me. Throw in the lack of interest with a lack of opportunity to play other games and I suppose you could call me a loyalist.

But if I'm a loyalist it's simply because D&D provides me more enjoyment and ongoing satisfaction than other games. I'm not loyal because of the label, I'm loyal because of the value I get out of the product.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I like well done and balanced products, and those I have the time and nerves ro dive into.
Right now 5e is the only product that fits the description.

I want to see how 2024 shapes up to make my final decision to stay with 5e or change to a variant.

I have Level Up on my shelve and really like it. But it is too complex right now.