aramis erak
Legend
I think it's way too early to detect a golden age.
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D&D 5E A new Golden Age for D&D
- Thread starter Mercurius
- Start date
epithet
Explorer
It certainly seems like another golden age to me. I had wandered off the reservation, so to speak, and wasn't playing any tabletop RPGs for years. My group had scattered to the far corners of the earth, and I had thought of trying to find a group through an online forum or a FLGS but never got around to it. Then I got a call from one of the old tabletop group suggesting inviting me to play in a Pathfinder game he was running on Fantasy Grounds, and I was back in the game! I was a little frustrated with some of the fiddly bits of PF, and started looking through the D&D Next materials. I became an advocate, and the rest of the group checked it out. Next thing you know, I was running Phandelver for the group, converting the Shackled City Adventure Path to 5e, and excited enough about it to start reading D&D forums (hello.)
For me, 5e seems comfortable and familiar. I read some of the 4e stuff, and it seemed like it was a fun game, but a different game from the D&D I had played from the red box through 3rd edition. 5e feels like I'm playing D&D again.
I think that what makes this a golden age for D&D isn't just the strength of the 5th edition, but is also the fact that online tools and virtual gaming table applications are finally coming into their own. Many folks are tired of MMO grinds. A good summer blockbuster will hopefully bring attention and consumer dollars to D&D and tabletop RPGs generally, and that combination of factors, I think, is driving a renaissance for D&D.
For me, 5e seems comfortable and familiar. I read some of the 4e stuff, and it seemed like it was a fun game, but a different game from the D&D I had played from the red box through 3rd edition. 5e feels like I'm playing D&D again.
I think that what makes this a golden age for D&D isn't just the strength of the 5th edition, but is also the fact that online tools and virtual gaming table applications are finally coming into their own. Many folks are tired of MMO grinds. A good summer blockbuster will hopefully bring attention and consumer dollars to D&D and tabletop RPGs generally, and that combination of factors, I think, is driving a renaissance for D&D.
cmad1977
Hero
This simple statement sums up how I feel about 5e.
mflayermonk
First Post
Here is what Designers and Dragons: The 80's says about D&D:
Designers and Dragons: The 80s was written by Shannon Applecline. Reference link: http://www.evilhat.com/home/designers-dragons-1980s/
Designers and Dragons: The 80s was written by Shannon Applecline. Reference link: http://www.evilhat.com/home/designers-dragons-1980s/
Anecdotal:
5E brought me and many of my co-players from the 2E era back to D&D.
I've quickly, and with little effort, found new players and campaigns to join, and they've all been awesome.
Almost all of the content so far has been positively received by all the D&Ders I know.
So, Golden Age or not, it's been very good times in D&D, after a long hiatus, for me and many, many people I know.
5E brought me and many of my co-players from the 2E era back to D&D.
I've quickly, and with little effort, found new players and campaigns to join, and they've all been awesome.
Almost all of the content so far has been positively received by all the D&Ders I know.
So, Golden Age or not, it's been very good times in D&D, after a long hiatus, for me and many, many people I know.
Yaarel
🇮🇱 🇺🇦 He-Mage
The Bronze Age of D&D
I would probably categorize Advanced D&D 1e as the ‘Golden Age’ of D&D under the inspiration of Gygax, and by extension Advanced D&D 2e to some degree.
In that light, D&D 3e is arguably the ‘Silver Age’ of D&D under WotC, and by extension Pathfinder under Paizo to some degree.
Thus, D&D 5e is probably best described as the ‘Bronze Age’ of D&D, also under WotC.
With this periodization, one might describe D&D 4e as ‘Post-Silver Age’, or perhaps ‘Proto-Bronze Age’, depending on emphasis.
The Ages, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Iron, roughly correspond to reallife Ages, where both Gold and Silver are part of the Stone Age. Gold was the first metal that humans refined metallurgically, followed by silver, and long later the bronze and other copper alloys.
While the sequence connotes a descent spiritually (especially into violent societies), it also corresponds to the rise in political power.
In the context of D&D, the descent from the Golden Age corresponds to less and less the creativity of individuals, and more and more ‘tradition’.
I would probably categorize Advanced D&D 1e as the ‘Golden Age’ of D&D under the inspiration of Gygax, and by extension Advanced D&D 2e to some degree.
In that light, D&D 3e is arguably the ‘Silver Age’ of D&D under WotC, and by extension Pathfinder under Paizo to some degree.
Thus, D&D 5e is probably best described as the ‘Bronze Age’ of D&D, also under WotC.
With this periodization, one might describe D&D 4e as ‘Post-Silver Age’, or perhaps ‘Proto-Bronze Age’, depending on emphasis.
The Ages, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Iron, roughly correspond to reallife Ages, where both Gold and Silver are part of the Stone Age. Gold was the first metal that humans refined metallurgically, followed by silver, and long later the bronze and other copper alloys.
While the sequence connotes a descent spiritually (especially into violent societies), it also corresponds to the rise in political power.
In the context of D&D, the descent from the Golden Age corresponds to less and less the creativity of individuals, and more and more ‘tradition’.
payn
Glory to Marik
I’m digging the Eastern groove on cyclical Golden Ages. However, I think every 5-10 years is a little too often for a golden age to happen. At that frequency, the term “golden age” starts to lack luster. It may be more appropriate to simply say D&D is at the high point of the cyclical process. That is not an attempt to diminish the popularity or success of 5E, I think that is something to celebrate. Though I think many of the choices WOTC has made make D&D a bit too exclusive to make this a Golden Age.
Those choices are of course a slow product release schedule, focus on gaming shops, and branding. Essentially, if you prefer settings other than FR, organized play from home, products in PDF format, and a wealth of gaming supplements, then you are out of luck when it comes to D&D (for now anyways). I am a little disappointed to not be part of the current iteration of D&D but I understand the decisions WOTC is making. In fact, I wish them success and I am happy for those enjoying this go around. A position easier to take now, then say 2008, thanks to a suitable alternative in Pathfinder and indies.
I would believe the OGL to be a bad business decision on WOTC part, but it was a great gift to the TTRPG community that keeps on giving. Finally, there are a whole slew of alternatives including a major competitor for D&D. Options always favor the consumer and right now the internet is providing in a myriad of ways. Publishing, kickstarters, forums, etc….
Makes sense that WOTC is aiming to make D&D the game shop TTRPG to fit along with Magic and their branding to offer some differentiation. I take this as a good sign for D&D, not so much for my personal preferences. So if a Golden Age is achieving the near impossible, the high end of a cyclical process, or just a state of personally “feeling 72F/22C degrees in the head all the time”, then no personally D&D is not in a Golden Age. I would say that TTRPGs in general are in a Golden Age. That’s good news for everybody.
-Cheers
Those choices are of course a slow product release schedule, focus on gaming shops, and branding. Essentially, if you prefer settings other than FR, organized play from home, products in PDF format, and a wealth of gaming supplements, then you are out of luck when it comes to D&D (for now anyways). I am a little disappointed to not be part of the current iteration of D&D but I understand the decisions WOTC is making. In fact, I wish them success and I am happy for those enjoying this go around. A position easier to take now, then say 2008, thanks to a suitable alternative in Pathfinder and indies.
I would believe the OGL to be a bad business decision on WOTC part, but it was a great gift to the TTRPG community that keeps on giving. Finally, there are a whole slew of alternatives including a major competitor for D&D. Options always favor the consumer and right now the internet is providing in a myriad of ways. Publishing, kickstarters, forums, etc….
Makes sense that WOTC is aiming to make D&D the game shop TTRPG to fit along with Magic and their branding to offer some differentiation. I take this as a good sign for D&D, not so much for my personal preferences. So if a Golden Age is achieving the near impossible, the high end of a cyclical process, or just a state of personally “feeling 72F/22C degrees in the head all the time”, then no personally D&D is not in a Golden Age. I would say that TTRPGs in general are in a Golden Age. That’s good news for everybody.
-Cheers
epithet
Explorer
I think to a certain degree the rise of the MMORPG took a lot of players away from tabletop groups. My perception, which might have been wrong, was that 4e was designed at least in part in response to that trend, built to incorporate some of the design elements common to fantasy MMORPGs, rendering a fighter's attacks and a wizard's spells as "powers" like what you would expect to see on your PC game's hotbar.
Most of the people I raided with in "vanilla" WoW are tired of the MMO grind (none more so than I.) Those of us who were 30 back then would tell the younger players about how D&D started it all... "Back in my day, we didn't play RPGs on a computer, we used a pencil and paper to keep track of our characters, and drew the maps by hand!" Now those players are hitting 30 and looking for the "retro" RPGs to provide something different than the gear advancement treadmill they've become used to and bored with... and here's 5e ready to oblige. We've got celebrities who unabashedly love the game, there's a movie coming out... It seems to me that this edition of D&D is the right product coming out at the right time. Hopefully their licensing strategy will be in place soon, and by the time the movie starts to get attention there will be a robust selection of settings and adventures to complement the core rulebooks and adventure paths.
It may not be golden yet, but it's looking really shiny.
Most of the people I raided with in "vanilla" WoW are tired of the MMO grind (none more so than I.) Those of us who were 30 back then would tell the younger players about how D&D started it all... "Back in my day, we didn't play RPGs on a computer, we used a pencil and paper to keep track of our characters, and drew the maps by hand!" Now those players are hitting 30 and looking for the "retro" RPGs to provide something different than the gear advancement treadmill they've become used to and bored with... and here's 5e ready to oblige. We've got celebrities who unabashedly love the game, there's a movie coming out... It seems to me that this edition of D&D is the right product coming out at the right time. Hopefully their licensing strategy will be in place soon, and by the time the movie starts to get attention there will be a robust selection of settings and adventures to complement the core rulebooks and adventure paths.
It may not be golden yet, but it's looking really shiny.
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