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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AlViking" data-source="post: 9814565" data-attributes="member: 6906980">When you talk about "many of us", you do realize that you're talking about a small minority of DMs, right?  Even back in the 90s there were multiple editions, not just OD&D, 1e and 2e but multiple versions with incompatible rules being sold at the same time.  I don't see how today's environment is all that much worse.  I get that it can be overwhelming at times, that's why I would recommend someone starting from scratch start out with a small campaign using just the free basic rules even if only for a short mini-campaign.In any case I agree that no amount of reading or watching videos is going to make you a great GM out of the gate.  People need to figure out what works for them and their players ... but for some people it can give them confidence and a sense of preparation to read or watch advice on what to do.  Especially if you and your friends have just heard about this TTRPG thing and it sounds interesting but you don't have an experienced GM to run some sessions for you.  I just don't think this is anything particularly new, back in the day I used to subscribe to Dragon and Dungeon magazines and read the articles to get ideas of how to run better games.  One of the reasons I used to go to gaming conventions was simply to see how other DMs ran their games.  Now of course it's far easier to watch streams but that can set unrealistic expectations.The more things change the more they stay the same.  Some people find it best to just jump in, others want to read up or watch others. As far as the OP goes, unfortunately the hobby has gotten fairly large so of course there are people trying to make a buck.  The biggest issue now is separating the wheat from the chaff, something we didn't have to worry about as much back in the day.</blockquote>

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