D&D 5E Casual player responses to DMs planning to avoid WotC 5e/1DnD rules

[iserith]

I've been in one conversation about it, outside of this forum, with two DM friends and one of my players. The most prolific DM I know made a short post on facebook. No one else I know involved in the hobby has mentioned it. I haven't even received any "Hey, do you know what's going on with this?" and I'm the guy who tends to get those. I'm not going to push either of my current 5e games I run to switch.

Obviously, that doesn't mean other people aren't listening and forming opinions, but for lack of more complete picture, that's the "casual" reaction I'm seeing.

This basically mirrors my experience.

We'll probably just adopt the next version of D&D when it comes out, whatever it is. I have no reason not to, given that's what we've been doing since AD&D 2e.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I think the better question is: Did casual players ever buy books in the first place? Or did they just use the SRD, borrow books from others, and maybe use various third-party tools to play? They might be D&D players. Are they Hasbro customers?

I'm at a much different table than most -- we rotate GMing for one -- but my perception in-person and online, both now and historically, has been that it's really the GM who determines what game a group will play. It's also very uncommon for players to abandon a good GM just because the GM wants to try a different game. I'm sure there are VTT players who are D&D die-hards, but I'm not sure they're really that common. Or if they are common, if they're really desirable players, anyways.

 

[overgeeked]

My long-time D&D group has already moved to Dungeon Crawl Classics. Only two players even minorly objected. One because they “only play D&D” and the other because there was no hope of power gaming. Both relented rather easily and are on board.

By their very nature, most casual players seem to follow the referee rather than be invested in this or that system.

 

[payn]

The definition of causal seems variable here. Some folks consider casual to be a person who has seen every episode of critical role but only once. Folks I consider casual have never even heard of it.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I think the better question is: Did casual players ever buy books in the first place?

Fair point. But I didn’t want to get into dividing definitions with walls about what the fuzzy “casual players” mean. Not worth IMO it if we have a charitable, inclusive, open mind.

 

[Umbran]

How are casual players responding to DMs who are moved about what’s going on in the community?

Are casual players pushing back against DMs making changes due to all this?

My players, who are pretty casual, have said repeatedly that they'll play anything I want to run. Indeed, this group has spent more years playing Deadlands, Fate, and Ashen Stars than they have D&D.

My deciding to run D&D again with them would be an anomaly, so moving to a non-D&D game is expected, and not something that'd get pushback.

 

[pukunui]

My home game consists of family and friends, all of whom I would class as casual players. I don't think any of them even know the OGL exists let alone that WotC appears to want to get rid of it.

The other group I DM for, and the group I play with, are a bit more hardcore, long-time players, but none of them have uttered a peep about the OGL or WotC's monetization moves yet. I'm running my Friday game tomorrow night. I'll see if anyone brings it up then. If not, I might say something myself just to see where the mood is at. I'm guessing they won't really care about it either, though. (The group I play in will be meeting next Weds, so I'll have to wait till then to see if anyone has an opinion there. Both groups have one lawyer in them. They're the ones I'd expect to be the most opinionated about it.)


As an aside, all three groups play 5e exclusively, and I don't expect that to change any time soon. With the group I play in, I tried to get them interested in a FATE game once, but they only want to play D&D (and don't want to play games where you only roll d6s). I think my Friday group would be more amenable to trying something that isn't D&D. But we're a long way from finishing our current campaign, so it's a bit of a moot point at the moment.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I said this before but I'll just throw this in... if we didn't stay with 5e I would be shocked.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Fair point. But I didn’t want to get into dividing definitions with walls about what the fuzzy “casual players” mean. Not worth IMO it if we have a charitable, inclusive, open mind.

Well, my point isn't that their opinions don't matter. It's that they're less invested in the brand at all levels. They're more likely to play what the GM is running precisely because they're basically out nothing by switching to a new game anyways.

I've got hundreds of dollars in 5e D&D, and I've already canceled my D&D Beyond account. I'm unsure if I even want to buy the Dragonlance book now. Someone who is more invested in the game financially might also naturally be more invested in the hobby overall, and therefore more aware of and concerned by OGL v1.1.

 

[Lichbeard]

I did talk with two of my players just now about it and as far as they are concerned, nothing was going on. They did say however that they would switch games in a heartbeat rather than spend more money on it lol.