D&D General D&D "influencers" need to actively acknowledge other games.

[RoughCoronet0]

Capitalism ... the worst possible economic structure except for every other one that has ever been tried for large populations.

Every economic structure is the worse once you add humans to the mix.

 

[Oofta]

Every economic structure is the worse once you add humans to the mix.

Yeah, people are the worst.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

They really don’t, though. And that misconception is partially the point. People who’ve only seen D&D (or large, chunky systems) have a wrong notion about how difficult and time consuming learning and playing RPGs can be. If you think RPGs are only like D&D, then you’re not only wrong, you’re blind to the wider hobby. Which is fine, except for the spread of misinformation when repeating untrue things like “TTRPGs require a large investment of time and energy, more than watching a series on streaming or reading a novel.”

One-page RPGs exist. There’s hundreds or thousands of them. Rules light RPGs exist. Again, hundreds or thousands. Styles of games and gaming exist where there’s zero or very minimal prep ahead of time.

You absolutely can sit down with a brand new one-page RPG and a group that's never played it before and start playing in less than five minutes. People stuck in the D&D bubble simply cannot imagine that such a thing is possible. Yet it is. It happens all the time.

That's not true in the slightest. Everyone plays pretend. Literally everyone. All children, the world over, have played pretend. The only difference between what kids do on the playground and what we do around the table is we formalize it and think it's somehow "elevated" because we spend money on books reminding us how to play pretend and add dice into the mix. Our society pushes people away from imagination towards pragmatism. But even adults still play pretend when they imagine what it would be like to win the lottery or get the big promotion or be a movie or rock star. All we do is formalize it by turning it into a meeting and adding dice.

No, it's not a surprise. But it is disappointing. Especially when there are so many games out there that are so much better suited to do the things people seem to want to force D&D to do.

Then why are they not playing them?

Most of these system are not new, they are easily found out about for anyone that spends some time in rpg discussion related areas.
but they are not that popular.

They are still competing with streaming, books, video game and so on.

 

[Thomas Shey]

People whose main game isn't D&D make their entire identity "rebelling against D&D."

If anyone needs a definition of "hot take" I know where to find one for them now.

 

[Zardnaar]

If anyone needs a definition of "hot take" I know where to find one for them now.

I've basically been hearing some variant of "D&D sucks play something else" for 25+ years now.

Back then it was edgelords. Usually said by people who want to benefit from D&Ds relative popularity but lacking the self awareness why no one plays their pet rpg.

D&D hits a lot of tropes that have been popular across millenia since Rome and Greece and I can't rule out Egypt and Mesopotamia.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Yoga "influencers" need to actively acknowledge other forms of fitness. Musical theater "influencers" need to actively acknowledge Samuel Beckett.


Do you see how ridiculous you sound? An influencer is a small business owner; they cater to a niche. Far too many businesses have collapsed because they attempted to broaden their customer base and spread themselves too thin- all of us should be aware of when that happened to TSR.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Then why are they not playing them?

Most of these system are not new, they are easily found out about for anyone that spends some time in rpg discussion related areas.
but they are not that popular.

I don't believe you understand how important your second sentence is here. I'd be willing to bet that less than 10% of the D&D playing population spends any time in RPG discussion related areas. Given that, there's almost certainly an enormous number of people in the hobby who have only the vaguest idea--if at all--about other RPGs.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I've basically been hearing some variant of "D&D sucks play something else" for 25+ years now.

I'm not denying that attitude exists. I had it myself for about a decade at one point. But generalizing it the way that poster did was not only a pretty ridiculous overstatement, it was one they should have known they couldn't know to be true when they said it.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'm not denying that attitude exists. I had it myself for about a decade at one point. But generalizing it the way that poster did was not only a pretty ridiculous overstatement, it was one they should have known they couldn't know to be true when they said it.

I'm getting where they're coming from though I didn't take the comment to literally.

Other RPGs tend to be even worse mechanically, a genre I don't care about, use gimmick dice or a license I don't care about. Even if you get past that finding players usually boils down to getting your D&D group to play something else occasionally. Added bonus its probably dead within 5 years.

For me that's s 1 off and a short campaign in the last 5 years.

 

[Umbran]

They really don’t, though. And that misconception is partially the point. People who’ve only seen D&D (or large, chunky systems) have a wrong notion about how difficult and time consuming learning and playing RPGs can be.

How difficult learning new games can be is entirely subjective - some people pick them up easily, others do not.

What counts as "a lot of time" is subjective as well - it is, among other things, specifically relative to the amount of free time one has to spend on RPGs. If you have, say, 3 hours every other week to spend on RPGs (1.5 hrs a week, on average), that leads to different needs from folks who get to play two four-hour sessions (so, avg 8 hours per week).

It is also influenced by individual needs and desires at the table - especially if one is strapped for leisure time, games that don't quickly produce what you really want from play are a hard sell. If what you really want is some solid continuity and a personal storyline to follow, or maybe to exercise some mastery of a game with tactical depth, for example, playing a succession of 1-page RPGs isn't going to scratch the itch.

"Let folks like what they like," seems to be in short supply these days.