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

[Bagpuss]

Im a casual xBox gamer. I have my games and sometimes try a new one, but I’m not aware of any big Microsoft or Bethesda scandal they might be having right now of have had in the past (heck, I even had to google how to spell Bethesda). If all else fails, I still have my games and will continue to play them occasionally and be contented.

I imagine casual D&D players are similar.

Yeah I can agree about your casual players to a degree, except the casual players I've gained recently came from wanting to play D&D because Critical Role play it. If the influencers all switch (which it is looking like) I suspect they will switch what they are interested in too.

Also it isn't the casual players that drive what gets played it's the GMs, and if you look at any of the people involved in online forums and stuff it is nearly always 80% or more the GMs. So while your casual players might not care about the OGL 1.1, a lot of the GMs do from what we are seeing online, and they decide what gets played, and how it is played.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Which adventure was that?

Odyssey of the Dragonlords.

 

[Burnside]

Not sure if it's the Guardian article or what, but today is the day my casual players have started asking me what's the OGL and what's going on.

 

[Mind of tempest]

as a player rather than dm I will move with what I can get into, not that local seems to be easy to find.

 

[Laurefindel]

Yeah I can agree about your casual players to a degree, except the casual players I've gained recently came from wanting to play D&D because Critical Role play it. If the influencers all switch (which it is looking like) I suspect they will switch what they are interested in too.

Also it isn't the casual players that drive what gets played it's the GMs, and if you look at any of the people involved in online forums and stuff it is nearly always 80% or more the GMs. So while your casual players might not care about the OGL 1.1, a lot of the GMs do from what we are seeing online, and they decide what gets played, and how it is played.

That's true, major influencers will plays a big role in this.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I asked my gaming group last Tuesday (our game night) to get their thoughts.

Myself and our current GM both work in the industry, so we were very in the know.

Of the others who showed up that evening, one had also been following closely and disliked the changes, one had heard a little about it but didn't really understand all the details, and one hadn't heard anything.

Me and the other person who works in the industry are the two most likely to GM stuff, and the group is usually happy to go along with whatever we do, so if we switch to something else, I think the group will go along with it. If publishing 5e compatible material is not an option for me, I'm not going to run in, and I'm definitely interested to see what Kobold Press comes up with.

 

[James Gasik]

One of the DM's in my group has decided to continue playing 5e, but the new campaign will use the Midgard setting from Kobold Press, with the hope that it will be easy to then switch to their new system later.

Another has been working on his own system for awhile now, and is gearing up for the third playtest. I haven't really decided what I'll do myself- I've been wanting to switch from 5e for a bit now, as while it's ok, it's really not my system of preference, but it's what most of my players wanted to play. If Kobold Press or MCDM create an interesting system, I'll be happy to check it out.

It really is a pity though, the last book I bought was Adventures in Rokugan, and it really looked like a great improvement over 5e core. Now I'm not sure if I'll ever get to use it, lol.

 

[Bagpuss]

That's true, major influencers will plays a big role in this.

DnDBeyond subscription management service crashed from the load after Ginny Di tweeted she was cancelling her subscription.

 

[DND_Reborn]

So immediately most groups won't notice the effect I agree, and you can keep on as normal, but long term I think you are going to see a change in what folks play.

D&D and RPGs have experienced the popularity surge, certainly, but it is already done and out there--it is more mainstream than 20+ years ago.

New generations are being taught by older players. Many of my friends who had kids taught their kids, and I hear all the time about other parents doing the same, teachers, school programs, etc. Back in the 70-80's growing up there weren't really a lot of people out there to lead the way. I'm lucky my older cousin was into it, and got me and a friend started. Then we started our friends, and so forth. Now, at nearly 50, I am teaching a group of 25ish year-olds.

D&D is Role-playing to many people. I severely doubt long term we will see a change in what folks play. 3PP and others will realize the value in continuing to use the D&D brand and will do what they must to keep using it.

WotC won't feel the pinch unless a new RPG comes out which replaces it as "King of the Hill."

 

[Magister Ludorum]

None of my gamers even know who Matt Colville is.

None of my players care what Matt Colville has to say, but they know him.