This is an entirely fair and valid perspective that is also extremely far from universal. The problem isn't from having this viewpoint; the problem comes when assuming nobody would have a different one.No one is excluded from playing D&D. However, IME the point of playing a character in D&D is more often about being something you can't be or aren't IRL. Some people play blind PCs, but use rules (a feat, fighting style, whatever) to overcome it so their PC can play without any issue. I'm sure others can play with other disabilities, but will have something in place to likewise play without issue. Some might decide to embrace it and just deal with whatever issues arise. I can't say, but those are my guesses.
But, if you have something in place, all I'm saying is magic can do it, too, if it already doesn't. I had lasik 20 years ago, and have 20/20 vision still, only using glasses sometimes to drive at night. If I could have a procedure again (and afford it now) so I wouldn't even need the glasses at night, I certainly would. I mean, I look decent in glasses, but I find wearing them inconvenient at best. Why wouldn't I fix them if I could?? Makes no sense to me.
To me, 5e nailed it the first time. I like this piece, although the glasses don't seem to fit, but overall very cool. But the original 5e wizard - perfection!
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I feel like you're kind of dating yourself with Dragonball, that's really a 30-something kind of deal at this point, and I actually doubt Isekai is particularly major - it's basically for the nerdiest kind of anime fan only - none of the anime that ever reaches "mainstream nerd-ery" is ever Isekai - JJK, Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer, Vinland Saga and so on. Some of it is huge with self-declared, insular "anime fans" but Isekai tends to embody the most negative stereotypes people have about anime (sexist, even misogynist, male power and/or harem fantasies, bad overly-anime art, huge amounts of filler, terrible plots, and so on - there is the odd exception like I'm in love with the villainess! (which is still pretty mid) but even the supposedly "better" stuff like Rise of the Shield Hero embodies most of those tropes - treating sexual assault as "pretty funny" for example). I daresay from looking at, for example, the characters that people create for Dragon's Dogma 2, a lot more people think of Lord of the Rings (the movies) or Game of Thrones than do of any Isekai or even DBZ these days (10-20 years ago it would have been a very different story) - I do see the odd Spongebob ref of course.Players today are more likely to think of Dragonball, SpongeBob, and Isekai stuff then Conan, Merlin, and Bilbo.
Also we gotta stop doing old-aged wizards when they're so vanishingly rare. You can't have the dominant image of a class be a thing it almost never is. It's particularly weird when Wizards are the Harry Potter class, and whatever we may think of that author, the popularity of the High School/College-age Wizard is quite significant.Sure, it is a fine piece of art, and I always liked it well enough. But... I'd be kind of disappointed if they just recycled the same art? I've been seeing that wizard for 10 years. He's fine, but I want to see more and different wizards.
I feel like you're kind of dating yourself with Dragonball, that's really a 30-something kind of deal at this point, and I actually doubt Isekai is particularly major - it's basically for the nerdiest kind of anime fan only - none of the anime that ever reaches "mainstream nerd-ery" is ever Isekai - JJK, Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer, Vinland Saga and so on. Some of it is huge with self-declared, insular "anime fans" but Isekai tends to embody the most negative stereotypes people have about anime (sexist, even misogynist, male power and/or harem fantasies, bad overly-anime art, huge amounts of filler, terrible plots, and so on - there is the odd exception like I'm in love with the villainess! (which is still pretty mid) but even the supposedly "better" stuff like Rise of the Shield Hero embodies most of those tropes - treating sexual assault as "pretty funny" for example). I daresay from looking at, for example, the characters that people create for Dragon's Dogma 2, a lot more people think of Lord of the Rings (the movies) or Game of Thrones than do of any Isekai or even DBZ these days (10-20 years ago it would have been a very different story) - I do see the odd Spongebob ref of course.
I mean, I look decent in glasses, but I find wearing them inconvenient at best. Why wouldn't I fix them if I could?? Makes no sense to me.
Also not to blow the wheels off this but I notice that looking at the art for the backgrounds, those currently include your stat bonuses, and presumably that'll go live, and unless WotC, like with 5E, makes it so custom backgrounds are "the norm" and these are merely "example", hoooo boy that is not going to go down well.
Similar. I’m happy to wear glasses, I have done since I was 16 and it’s part of my self image.Right, you would make one choice. But, I wear glasses and while I currently can't afford Lasik, I've often considered if I would bother with it if I could.
My glasses aren't particularly inconvenient, and I've had them long enough that I think my face would look weird without them. My choice, if I made it, to keep wearing glasses instead of spending money to not need them is just that, a choice. A choice you would make differently, but one that is still very much a choice that can be made in either direction.
I'm with @Ruin Explorer on this. I mean, at GaryCon they discussed about how they love that D&D5e is versatile. In an interview, Perkins discussed how D&D's expanded market came from its versatility. This, in my opinion, would expound upon that principle.As much as this is a great idea, I don't think wotc would ever let it happen. I only base this on their own public comments and recent content releases.