D&D General Playstyle vs Mechanics

[Imaro]

I would have to know the proportion of play dedicated to games other than D&D 5e before any answer would be meaningful.

So now we've moved from being aware of other ttrpg's to... having played other ttrpg's and now to... there must have been X minimum amount of time spent playing other ttrpg's.

Uhm, ok...sure... you have fun with that.

 

[TwoSix]

That was my point. Switching gears we have people who are probably the most invested and most knowledgeable subsection of people who play ttrpg's... who have spent money to go to a convention where 1,000's of rpg's are available to play and it's 5e the vast majority choose. It kind of pushes against the... If they played other games or knew about other games thay would like them better than 5e... or the... 5e is everyones second favorite game narrative.

Isn’t Gen Con D&D centric? I know PAX Unplugged had a pretty wide assortment of non-D&D games.

Never underestimate the power of network effects. I post in more 5e threads than any other system, even though I’m fairly tired of 5e. But it takes up so much space it’s hard not to engage with.

 

[Oofta]

But you know they exist and are makng a choice not to engage or learn more... right?

Sometimes I don't need to know much about something to make a decision on whether I will like it or not. I know I wouldn't like being tazered for example. But I also knew I wouldn't like sushi/sashimi (sadly synonymous in the US) because I'm not fond of fish or undercooked meat of any kind. Yet when I told people that the response was always "But you haven't tried the good stuff." So I spent a decent chunk of change a few times to prove that I do not like raw fish.

There are plenty of examples where people decide that they enjoy something enough, that something works for them well enough that unless something truly radically different comes along, that they'll stick with what they know and love. The people I play with are generally not hard core gaming enthusiasts. They don't read articles on theory, they don't know ludology from astrology and they don't care. All they care about is that we can play a fantasy game together and enjoy ourselves.

But learning and really engaging with a different system for a complex system is a massive investment. So that's why I think this hypothetical #1 game they would prefer if they only knew better is a strawman. No matter what decision I make in life, what choice I make, no matter how satisfied I am with it, there will always have been, will always be a theoretical better choice.

 

[Micah Sweet]

So now we've moved from being aware of other ttrpg's to... having played other ttrpg's and now to... there must have been X minimum amount of time spent playing other ttrpg's.

Uhm, ok...sure... you have fun with that.

Do you think it's fair to say someone has a considered favorite if 95% of their play experience has been one game?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Isn’t Gen Con D&D centric? I know PAX Unplugged had a pretty wide assortment of non-D&D games.

Never underestimate the power of network effects. I post in more 5e threads than any other system, even though I’m fairly tired of 5e. But it takes up so much space it’s hard not to engage with.

A big reason why I post as often as I do. I'm hardly D&D 5e's biggest fan.

 

[Oofta]

Isn’t Gen Con D&D centric? I know PAX Unplugged had a pretty wide assortment of non-D&D games.

Never underestimate the power of network effects. I post in more 5e threads than any other system, even though I’m fairly tired of 5e. But it takes up so much space it’s hard not to engage with.

If I wanted to have a chance to play other systems, Gen Con is one of the main venues I would consider. It's not particularly D&D centric, according to their web site they had "more than 540 games publishers and vendors".

 

[Oofta]

Do you think it's fair to say someone has a considered favorite if 95% of their play experience has been one game?

I don't need much more of a spoonful of Rocky Road ice cream to know I prefer chocolate.

 

[TwoSix]

But learning and really engaging with a different system for a complex system is a massive investment. So that's why I think this hypothetical #1 game they would prefer if they only knew better is a strawman. No matter what decision I make in life, what choice I make, no matter how satisfied I am with it, there will always have been, will always be a theoretical better choice.

And that’s precisely why “everyone’s 2nd favorite game” isn’t an insult.

Everyone has a game that would probably fit their preferences better, but the opportunity cost to find it is generally too high.

 

[TwoSix]

If I wanted to have a chance to play other systems, Gen Con is one of the main venues I would consider. It's not particularly D&D centric, according to their web site they had "more than 540 games publishers and vendors".

Yea, but PAX is an hour away, and Gen Con is like halfway across the country. Easy choice for me.

 

[Oofta]

[QUOTE="Oofta, post: 9525400, member: 6801845]

But learning and really engaging with a different system for a complex system is a massive investment. So that's why I think this hypothetical #1 game they would prefer if they only knew better is a strawman. No matter what decision I make in life, what choice I make, no matter how satisfied I am with it, there will always have been, will always be a theoretical better choice.

And that’s precisely why “everyone’s 2nd favorite game” isn’t an insult.

Everyone has a game that would probably fit their preferences better, but the opportunity cost to find it is generally too high.
[/QUOTE]

But that goes back to nothing is ever truly your favorite because after all there's always something better out there. It's a pointless saying.

I also disagree. Saying "2nd most favorite" means that the person actually has a #1 favorite that isn't D&D.