D&D 5E D&D and Chain Restaurants: The Poll

[Snarf Zagyg]

Based on a question ... request ... dare (?) from the prior thread, I give you the official poll!

That's right! It's the D&D Version of everyone's favorite job interview question by the guy who didn't know he'd be doing an interview that day, "So, uh, if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" (And yes, while the interview might have occurred at 10am, it was definitely 4:20 somewhere).

If D&D Was a Chain Restaurant, What Chain Restaurant Would it Be?

This arose from the context of the Cheesecake Factory Thread:

D&D 5E - 5e and the Cheesecake Factory: Explaining Good Enough

An idea I've been noodling around with for a few weeks is trying to understand not just "Why 5e," but "Why 5e?" To put it more bluntly; it would seem obvious (to me, at least) that D&D has been having a cultural moment, and capturing the zeitgeist, in a way that hasn't been seen since the prior...

www.enworld.org

Now, before anyone gets all angry about the choices I put in the poll (including other), remember two things, please and thank you:

1. This is supposed to be fun.

2. It doesn't really matter what you choose, so much as how you end up describing what you choose!

Have at it!

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I should add that my vote was for the Cheesecake Factory, because I trust in, um, me. I also wrote a long post about it!

That said, my failure to vote for OTHER probably means that Derek is going to hunt me down. I can hear the wind chimes even as I type this ...

 

[fearsomepirate]

Man, Cracker Barrel is perfect. Toys for the kiddies. Rocking chairs for the grognards. Biscuits n gravy for everyone else.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I do not even know what half of these are.

 

[Shadow Over Mystara]

Denny's, because even though it's casual it's just nice enough that you can eat there over and over, and if you go to a good Denny's or order the right things from the menu, you won't get sick like you would at a fast food joint. Nothing fancy but they've got a little bit of everything, at any hour of the day you want.

Plus, it's comfort food. For all its quirks, it's Denny's. You know what you like, they know what works, and even as they change some things up over the years they don't get too crazy with it.

 

[jmartkdr2]

The only way to deal with Derek is to not deal with Derek. Or only go out with Derek when all you want to do is get drunk anyways.

In other words: don't play DnD with munchkins. Play competitive boardgames with munchkins.

 

[Asisreo]

Chick-Fil-A...

In need of serious rebranding.

 

[TwoSix]

Voted Other, because 5e is Starbucks.

1) Ubiqiutous within its niche. There are other coffee places, even popular coffee chains, but Starbucks is everywhere. Just like 5e within the TTRPG space.
2) Mainly offers one thing, but a ton of modularity within the space that it offers. 5e mainly supports one particular play style (DM focused story play), but gives you a ton of options within that space.
3) You can go to Starbucks for 2 min, or you can go for 5 hours (pre-COVID, anyway). Likewise, 5e works well for both extreme casuals and for dedicated TTRPGers.
4) Starbucks both helped originate its niche (upscale coffee place) and remains the leader within its space, again much like D&D as a whole.

 

[Mistwell]

Other: In and Out. It does one thing. And it does that one thing so well that people drive from other states to get it. And then people in other states who don't have it routinely argue their thing is better, even though in their secret hearts they know it's not

 

[Urriak Uruk]

To be clear, I find the restaurant analogy (not the restaurant choice), a poor one. There is no restaurant I can go to that also has a slim menu I am allowed to copy for my own food truck, that I give a fraction of my own revenue to that restaurant, while selling food that includes my own original additions to the menu.