D&D General D&D is now Steampunk (poll)

[TiQuinn]

Ah, maybe you were responding to someone who has me blocked.

No, I was responding to anyone. It was just a general statement but I wasn’t specifically addressing what kind of *punk Star Wars is.

 

[Reynard]

No, I was responding to anyone. It was just a general statement but I wasn’t specifically addressing what kind of *punk Star Wars is.

Fair enough.

So what was your point then?

 

[TiQuinn]

Fair enough.

So what was your point then?

Well. My point right now is that you are not the only person participating in this thread and maybe not every comment is meant for you or for you to engage with.

 

[kermit4karate]

It is IMO impossible to determine that, as the weight of a long history of marketing for dominance has led to the current state. As a result, so many people playing D&D (especially today) functionally know no other game. Most don't even have motivation to look.

Very true. Emphasis up there mine on what I think's a pretty key point, but I think it goes well beyond most not having the motivation to look. They also aren't motivated to learn something new even when they become aware of it.

I don't think the value proposition is there for most people to go through the trouble to try and learn a new RPG once they've stumbled upon (been introduced to) D&D first. For most people D&D is simply good enough.

Oh, yeah! And there are way more DMs around for D&D. Larger pool of DMs also means larger talent pool. What good is a game with probably-maybe-possibly better mechanics but so few DMs experienced with it (and most of them suck)?

What's more important? -- having a game with marginally better mechanics and 1 GM to choose from who can run it, or having D&D with thousands of DMs to choose from?

 

[Reynard]

Well. My point right now is that you are not the only person participating in this thread and maybe not every comment is meant for you or for you to engage with.

Gotcha.

 

[Clint_L]

As already pointed out, steampunk is Victorina. If the fashion in the art is not Victorian, its vibe is not steampunk. For example, the recent Eberron art is inspired by the early 20th century - Georgian, not Victorian. Ergo it is not Steampunk.

Steampunk is a Science Fiction subgenre, involving steam power. If it is fantasy, and powered by magic, it is not steampunk (that’s called magitech).

Punk is either dystopian, anti-establishment, or both. D&D is certainly sometimes those, and sometimes not, and that hasn’t changed since the 70s.

You seem to be having trouble with the notion of "steampunk aesthetic." If you aren't looking at current D&D and noticing a steampunk vibe to a lot of the art, then I guess we're seeing different things.

Or is this like a gatekeeping thing, where "ackshully even though they look the same it's not steampunk because that airship is powered by magic rather than impossible steam technologies"?

 

[MGibster]

"Space Opera" doesn't really say anything about its outlook, though. Star Wars is Space Opera, but so it The Culture series.

I always thought The Culture series was a dystopian future where humanity was no longer the master of their own destiny having been relegated to the status of pets of god-like AIs.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You seem to be having trouble with the notion of "steampunk aesthetic."

It’s not me who doesn’t know their aesthetics from their elbows.

 

[Reynard]

I always thought The Culture series was a dystopian future where humanity was no longer the master of their own destiny having been relegated to the status of pets of god-like AIs.

I think whether the Culture is dystopian is dependent on how you feel about the importance of humanity being the master of its own destiny. I never got the impression that it was supposed to feel dystopian, or that the individual story protagonists were supposed to be sticking it to the man.

 

[MGibster]

You seem to be having trouble with the notion of "steampunk aesthetic."

I have a confession to make. My name is MGibster, and I hate steampunk. Steampunk is the triumph of aesthetics over substance.