D&D General D&D Loyalty?

[Hex08]

I have no loyalty to D&D and, with the exception of one night at a 5E table, haven't played it since 3.5 ended. I had been playing since the Basic and Expert set boxed editions and 1E and spent a ton ton of money 2e & 3.x. When I learned that a new edition was coming out I just didn't see the point in switching; I was tired of giving TSR and then WotC a bunch of my money for a new version of the same game. Couple that with me having more material than I could hope to run in a lifetime and not liking what I was hearing about 4E, I decided it was time to stop buying D&D. I did move on to Pathfinder 1E but also abandoned it when 2E came out for some of the same reasons, plus I was burned out on the whole 3.x rule system. From early after my introduction to RPGs I started branching out into other games and have always played many different games.

A friend of mine took over running Pathfinder 1E and we switch off GM duties. When I feel like running a "D&D" game it's Castles and Crusades, otherwise my default game is Savage Worlds with others tossed in depending on my mood.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Loyal to TTRPG's.

And.

I'm poly-gamist

That sounds about right.

I’ve played in around 150 different RPG systems since getting into the hobby in 1977. My current collection has about 70 distinct systems.

D&D in its various editions is the single “environment” I’ve been in the most, so it has a special place in my heart, and I’ve even used D&D’s sacred cows & conventions to run “D&D” games in other systems, like HERO. But I’m perfectly happy playing FRPGs that let me play PCs that D&D won’t.

And honestly, I would rather play supers games than fantasy on most days, with sci-fi tied for fantasy and horror coming in 4th.

 

[MGibster]

Odd pondering. How loyal to D&D are you? By that I mean are you all in on D&D, loyal to an edition or loyal to a company?

I'm not loyal to any brand. Or at least I'm only loyal to a particular brand insofar as they continue to produce something I like. I didn't care that WotC started producing D&D instead of TSR.

 

[ninjayeti]

I would say that I have significant degree of loyalty to D&D as a concept. I have been playing on and off since I was in grade school so there is a lot of nostalgia and great memories of gaming. I would even say it is part of my identity, the same way being a fan of particular band or sports team can be.

To my mind D&D is not necessarily the game carrying the D&D trademark. I think Pathfinder, OSR games, ToV, A5E and other games can be just as much D&D as the version published by WotC. When the OGL fiasco hit, I felt like I could ditch WotC but keep D&D - D&D is the community and the spirit of the game, not the trademark.

My loyalty to D&D feels akin to the loyalty people have to sports teams. Over the decades the players change several times over, the coaches change, the uniforms change, and sometimes even the city they play in changes. But people still see it as the same team they rooted for as a kid. In the same way am not loyal to a particular edition of the game, or particular owner. There feels like there is an identity in the game that goes beyond those specifics.

To be sure I play other "non-D&D" RPGs. But I think it is hard to feel a sense of loyalty to a hobby generally as opposed to one specific game - even when that game is actually lots of different games and editions.

 

[GuyBoy]

I have immense loyalty to D&D, perhaps due to playing since 1976 but more likely down to the many memories of great games during those decades, and the friends that I’ve been blessed to know along the way. That probably includes a small level of loyalty to WotC with a larger level of loyalty to old TSR.
I tend to think “playing D&D” even when playing other games over the years: particularly Pathfinder during the 4E years as well as Gamma World, Warhammer etc.
It’s probably similar to loyalty to sports teams; I’m a big fan of Harlequins rugby and the NY Giants, through both good and bad times. I love the respective sports ( and will happily watch other teams playing rugby or NFL), but also the sense of “belonging” to the fan bases.
Sometimes it can be quite hard to acknowledge that this equates to corporate loyalty which is diametrically opposed to my political views. Feels a bit hypocritical I guess, but I still love D&D!

 

[SteveC]

It's a long story. From growing up in Wisconsin in the 70s, I have a personal loyalty to the game because the people who created it welcomed a little kid and let him play. I was lucky enough to meet some of the designers for 3E and so am loyal to them.

Now? Who is actually left at the moment? The people who were so welcoming to me are long gone and those who are left don't seem to have any interest in me. No, no loyalty to the D&D of the present. But, that's what one of my groups play, so that's what I will keep playing, until something else comes along that fits our game needs while letting up play virtually.