D&D General Mike Mearls sits down with Ben from Questing Beast

[Wolfpack48]

because thumbnails are always an accurate representation of the content

I've got to the point where I've installed a browser plugin that blocks the YouTube thumbnails. And I've turned off "the algorithm." If I'm interested in a subject, I'll go search for it.

 

[Wolfpack48]

The interesting part of the interview is when he talks about the shift from player-focused improvements to the game to business-focused changes to the game. I think he's spot on there -- it does feel like Hasbro has moved away from player-driven to a spreadsheet-driven model. There's always time to fix that, but not sure it will happen.

 

[DEFCON 1]

The interesting part of the interview is when he talks about the shift from player-focused improvements to the game to business-focused changes to the game. I think he's spot on there -- it does feel like Hasbro has moved away from player-driven to a spreadsheet-driven model. There's always time to fix that, but not sure it will happen.

Well, it makes sense. At the time Mike et. al. were working on 5E no one at Hasbro really cared because they didn't expect anything financial to come of it. So it was all just the D&D team trying to make a game that would please as many players as possible.

But now that D&D 5E is actually a money-maker for the company, Hasbro / WotC is making sure to put things in place to help generate additional funds from it. Which should not be surprising at all. And any players who don't like that idea should do themselves the favor of moving on to a different game that is still in its infancy if they really want that "Game made just for players, not for money" new-car smell. It's merely the 'indy band before they become popular' scenario.

 

[aiouh]

I also want to add that Feats are now non-optional rules and also tied to backgrounds, the basic rules of 2024 and I imagine the coming SRD only feature 4 out of 16 so character creation at LEVEL1 has been heavily limited which is terrible for Adventurer's League and just introductory games

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, it makes sense. At the time Mike et. al. were working on 5E no one at Hasbro really cared because they didn't expect anything financial to come of it. So it was all just the D&D team trying to make a game that would please as many players as possible.

But now that D&D 5E is actually a money-maker for the company, Hasbro / WotC is making sure to put things in place to help generate additional funds from it. Which should not be surprising at all. And any players who don't like that idea should do themselves the favor of moving on to a different game that is still in its infancy if they really want that "Game made just for players, not for money" new-car smell. It's merely the 'indy band before they become popular' scenario.

I will say that you're unlikely to ever have this problem with any TTRPG other than WotC D&D IMO, no matter how old it is.

 

[Aldarc]

It is a tough nut for sure. I think I want a simplified game, but I also want interesting choices at character creation, advancement, and during play. I am not sure how to achieve that. OSR / Shadowdark are to simple for my tastes (though the have ideas I like) and PF2 is to complex for my tastes (though it has ideas I like). 5e14 & 5e24 are somewhere in the middle, but I seem to want something that is both simplified and more complex (compared to 5e) at the same time!

Shadow of the Weird Wizard?

 

[DEFCON 1]

I will say that you're unlikely to ever have this problem with any TTRPG other than WotC D&D IMO, no matter how old it is.

Of course not. Because no other TTRPGs make any money. The designers make them just to get it out of their system.

 

[Maxperson]

I prefer they had put a basic stat block (any alignment) for each humanoid species (perhaps even non-humanoid PC species too) that could then me modified by NPC templates.

Me, too. I was just responding to the specific point that they are going to be showing up in the FR book.

 

[dave2008]

Shadow of the Weird Wizard?

I know of it, but haven't looked at it yet. Shadow of the Demon Lord didn't click with me, and I believe SotWW is on the same engine correct?

 

[Hexmage-EN]

I'm assuming the level of complexity someone prefers is influenced by the edition of D&D they started with. I came into D&D at 3.5 the year before 4E was announced, so a wealth of character choices was always the expectation for me until 5E came along and severely reduced the number of options available. I guess the people at Larian thought the same since they introduced weapon actions and a ton of cool magic items to patch some customization back into the game. Hearing Mearls in this interview act like giving a warhammer an optional pushing ability is too complex is just bizarre to me.