D&D General The New York Times on D&D

[dpdx]

I'm subscribed to NYT and I give zero what their article says in judgment of DnD 5/5.5E. Campaigns are as different as people.

 

[MGibster]

The argument that all species are now "becoming humans with decorations" is an odd one to me. I mean, we're specifically talking (again???) about the detachment of ASI from species - ASI which might grant a mere 5% increase in one or two ability modifiers.

I've pretty much felt this was the case for many, many years now. From my own experience, what species a player chooses for their character doesn't make a significant difference in how the game is played. Whether your Paladin is an elf, human, or dwarf isn't going to make a big difference when you're running through Curse of Strahd or even The Keep on the Borderlands. I understand many will disagree, I've had people here tell me just how important and impactful it was playing one particular species compared to another, and I'm certainly not going to disagree with them. That just hasn't been my experience.

While I think abandoning the word race for species is a little silly, we're just replacing the old word with a new word that essentially means the same thing, I recognize the euphemism treadmill is simply one of the natural ways in which language changes. When you combine that with me thinking player species really doesn't matter, it doesn't make sense for me to get upset at the changes they've made these last few years. So they made species matter even less. So what? I wouldn't be surprised if in 20-40 years species and background become problematic for some reason. If that happens, they'll just pick another word that means the same thing and we'll have a group of people complaining that there was nothing wrong with species or background.

5th edition has been my favorite edition of the rules. I haven't played the 2024 version yet, but overall I like what I see so far, and I'm looking forward to starting a new campaign set in Greyhawk soon. None of the changes that have been implemented within the last ten years have been deal breakers for me.

 

[Zardnaar]

Best part of 5E is game store odor has improved from 20 years ago.

 

[wicked cool]

no idea what they heard, so not sure why you think it is the ‘woke’ part that discouraged them. For that matter I know nothing about the game, so not sure if there is even anything in that regard


it’s nothing, ‘old man yells at cloud’ seems to summarize it adequately. Even if every person in the US read it, it doubt it would have a measurable impact


there I can at least see something potentially negative that is relatively widely accepted as such, the article does not really condemn WotC for ‘woke stuff’, it just reports that some grognards are complaining but ends with saying it is the right direction


not sure I can parse that, so you defended them over the OGL? Guess we are on opposite sides of that too then…


not sure what that argument is even about, I’d say WotC dropped the ball though, so there is no chance for a DLC / more money for WotC from that. Business wise that seems like a loss


sure, but falling in line proactively to avoid that is the last thing we need. We should ignore that nutcase and he will do whatever he will do, no reason to kowtow to him on anything. I doubt he has any interest in buying WotC, so I am not particularly concerned


yes, being inclusive and staying current is not one of them, and it has been ongoing for more than two years too…

I’d argue none of the mistakes made much of a difference in the long run either. The biggest / only impact was the OGL fiasco, and even that ended up being minimal because they reacted fast enough

So not seeing any negative impact from the 2024 changes either

Hey I hope you’re right. I clearly see a lot more negativity than you do. Many jumping to daggerheart and mcdm etc and there seems real hate for wotc. Where do I see this comic book YouTube page and wizkids message boards and even threads on this site and its been more prevalent in 2022-now

 

[MGibster]

Best part of 5E is game store odor has improved from 20 years ago.

I was just talking to my gaming group about this at our last session. There are far fewer butt cracks as well.

 

[Blue Orange]

I was just talking to my gaming group about this at our last session. There are far fewer butt cracks as well.

The embarrassing thing none of us want to admit is that it's actually game store patron odor that has improved.

The even more embarrassing thing is that almost certainly, some of us were some of those patrons in question.

 

[Clint_L]

I think promoting inclusivity helps any brand. More customers is more customers. D&D now has almost as many female identifying players as male. That's more sales. 5e is incredibly popular, and the 2024 rules are selling like hotcakes.

So I don't think changing to "species" and suggesting players be mindful of each other has been anything but good for the brand, and good for the game.

 

[gnarlygninja]

Best part of 5E is game store odor has improved from 20 years ago.

Before it closed my FLGS still had the sort of vaguely basement smell I grew up associating with hobby shops. It had been there for a long, long time and the smell certainly helped prove it.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I’m Black, and a lot of people on message boards have opinions on how I should feel about this topic.

I frankly find replacing “race” with “species” to be deeply problematic and troubling. But to point this out makes people feel uncomfortable.

I've heard simular complaints from Asians who are told to be quiet on various boards when they say Oriental Adventures wasn't racist.

Apparent one thing I heard from an older Asian player was that OA was the first time they felt really included. Also possibly the first D&D product to involve cultural consultants.

And then there is the Kaladesh - Avishkar controversy.

I ran into an actually Hindu Indian guy who took issue with the name change because and I'm going on memory here, that yes Kala means black, but weather or not its racist/colorist depends on how it's used, like using it right reference to Kali and time abd space, honestly I'd need to read it again because it was very deep in theology and philosophy, but it was very convincing. Honestly I do not do it justice.

This Indian fellow was actually banned from a major MtG subreddit and accused of not actual being Indian for his disagreement with changing the name of Kaladesh to Avishkar.

He also pointed out the previous set of Kaladesh had cultural consultants as well, dark skinned Indians who were fine with the name Kaladesh, because they understood how it was being used, which was not as a slur against darker skinned Indians by lighter skinned Indians.

So I will not tell you how you should feel, I'm more interested in your opinions.

 

[Zardnaar]

The embarrassing thing none of us want to admit is that it's actually game store patron odor that has improved.

The even more embarrassing thing is that almost certainly, some of us were some of those patrons in question.

Speak for yourself. I had smelly job back then but shower, deodorant and clean clothes isn't that hard