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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 5428033" data-attributes="member: 16069">I agree with everything you say, I'd be a fool not too what with you being a Sharktopus XP wise, but I keep coming back to the thought- I'm not the guy they're aiming to sell their products to, they've already hooked me.I teach in Higher Education at present, until this academic year I used to teach in Further Education as well- my students, at all levels, don't read books- hell I had to start putting special classes on in which I actually took large groups of degree students to the library, many of whom in the second year of their qualification had never been to the place.I used to start each terms classes with a series of questionnaires and fun (-ish) hand outs, one of the questions has always been along the lines of tell me in twenty five words about the last book you read this year. This is my last year of asking this question.If I discounted the Twilight series and Harry Potter books then 75% of my students have read no books- this fact obviously makes me alternatively sad/angry/frustrated etc.My students quote lines from video games at me, not films or books. Actually some still quote films, I can't remember the last time one of them referenced a book outside of an academic essay.They have mostly never read the classics, not even the modern classics, hell a good percentage of them have never seen Jaws, Star Wars, Bladerunner (and if you're over 30 then any other film of your youth that you consider a classic)- and that includes the students from the Film & TV degree I teach a chunk of.My point is cultural references, and my pathway to enlightenment through books and films etc. has, seemingly, been replaced by a different route and media.My students are not stupid, they sometimes have a limited vocabulary (and are prone to using text/leet speak in their academic writing). They do however possess, use and interact with a enormous amount of electronic data in a myriad forms. There knowledge and capability in this area far far exceeds mine.These days every hand out I do is made available in an on-line learning environment- I don't print anything, it's all viewed on-line. Informal tests are done on-line, assignments are completed on-line and submitted and critiqued, and re-submitted electronically. Every example I use in a lesson has had to be updated to take account of the fact that my past experiences (books and films) are no longer applicable, obviously I sneak in a few classics here and there but we have to run special sessions for the Film & TV degree to screen the films that changed the world (cinema/screen-wise).WOTC, as much as I hate it, is aiming for the 21st century and the people that live there, they're the market it seems.Please note the last bit is not an insult, I just think we're experiencing a little life-lag here, the youth of today IMHO are going to become ever more dependent on electronic/on-line media.Goonalan</blockquote>

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