WotC "D&D's Best Year Yet"

[atanakar]

And the oddest thread derailment award goes to ... "D&D's Best Year Yet!"

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I went to ye olde Victorian English school. It was pretty hard to get suspended unless you put someone in hospital. Expelled was really hard that required extra effort.

Things that didn't get you expelled.

Throwing someone out a second story window.

Sexually assaulting a border with a vacumn cleaner

Gay bash putting them in hospital for three days.

Throwing a mentally challenged student off the top diving board into the diving pool.

Slamming someone's head into a concrete wall.

Taking the rugby team to a strip club in Australia. Aged 16.

Assaulting and throwing a cross dresser into the pool during school sports.

Public brawl with opposing schools rugby team and burning them opposing school flag.

Throwing chisels across the room at people in woodworking class.

Driving a motorcycle into the principals office and using the wheel on his desk.

Stapling the teachers goldfish to the blackboard.

Hitting a teacher with a chair did get one guy expelled. He also assaulted the deputy headmaster.

Trying to blow the school up with nitro glycerine also got you expelled.

Playing D&D wasn't cool. Mortal Kombat 4 fatalities 1993-96. Head boys dad was a teacher then ex all black.

Wow I understand you don't want to dox yourself, but what general region was this, and was it a public school or a private school or what (which for the Americans here, in the UK, public school means a particularly posh private school - normal schools are called "state schools" here)? I mean from the description (some borders, and sounds all-boys) and the fact that it was still like that in the 1990s (!!!) I'd guess a private school somewhere significantly outside London? But it could have been Harrow for all I know.

I went to state school up to 10, a public school in London from 11-16, and a private school 16-18. The public school was actually really incredibly orderly and organised and any bullying got stamped down on pretty hard, pretty fast. I'd ran a couple of D&D groups there, and I know there were other D&D groups (though I didn't have much to do with them - one of them was full of 1E-forever types who thought I was a dumb kid for liking 2E - they were older, and another one, I dunno, they played but they never wanted to talk about it, not even the DM).

Hilariously we had more trouble with the chess club, who were, frankly, a bunch of superior jerks, than we did with any "jocks". They used to sneer a lot if people were carrying D&D stuff, or wargame stuff, and imply that you were dumb for liking that instead of chess. Everybody ignored them. I was actually in it the first year I was there, but that didn't last because I didn't want to dedicate my life to memorizing books full of opening moves.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

And the oddest thread derailment award goes to ... "D&D's Best Year Yet!"

We did it boys! Smoke'm if you got'm!

 

[Oofta]

We did it boys! Smoke'm if you got'm!

Don't let me stop anything. Just listen to some relaxing music from my childhood. Carry on. Hmm, come to think of it my hair is starting to look like that opening image.

 

[Fanaelialae]

And I forget to mention all the others terrible flaws that this edition is afflicted : classes balance, feats and spells balance, the absence of a sane price list for magic item, the poor skill system, ...
I just can’t imagine the results if they have been fixed right from the start!

If anything, this suggests to me that the majority of players either don't really care about those issues or would disagree regarding your assessment of them.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

Wow I understand you don't want to dox yourself, but what general region was this, and was it a public school or a private school or what (which for the Americans here, in the UK, public school means a particularly posh private school - normal schools are called "state schools" here)? I mean from the description (some borders, and sounds all-boys) and the fact that it was still like that in the 1990s (!!!) I'd guess a private school somewhere significantly outside London? But it could have been Harrow for all I know.

I went to state school up to 10, a public school in London from 11-16, and a private school 16-18. The public school was actually really incredibly orderly and organised and any bullying got stamped down on pretty hard, pretty fast. I'd ran a couple of D&D groups there, and I know there were other D&D groups (though I didn't have much to do with them - one of them was full of 1E-forever types who thought I was a dumb kid for liking 2E - they were older, and another one, I dunno, they played but they never wanted to talk about it, not even the DM).

Hilariously we had more trouble with the chess club, who were, frankly, a bunch of superior jerks, than we did with any "jocks". They used to sneer a lot if people were carrying D&D stuff, or wargame stuff, and imply that you were dumb for liking that instead of chess. Everybody ignored them. I was actually in it the first year I was there, but that didn't last because I didn't want to dedicate my life to memorizing books full of opening moves.

They probably werent that great at chess if they were that narrow minded. Narrow mindedness does not a great chess player make. I was a member of our chess club. Good times. You probably just had a bad crop of spoiled kids in that one. In my experience its not typical in any game or sport for the majority of the group to enjoy the company of the snoods. Im sorry on behalf of chess players that that is what you experienced. Screw'm.

 

[Krachek]

If anything, this suggests to me that the majority of players either don't really care about those issues or would disagree regarding your assessment of them.

I observe that too. For some the immense popularity of the game don’t mean that the game is fine or satisfying for them. In fact it’s quite the opposite I think they would prefer a personal 100% satisfaction over an obscure and disliked game.

 

[Son of the Serpent]

I observe that too. For some the immense popularity of the game don’t mean that the game is fine or satisfying for them. In fact it’s quite the opposite I think they would prefer a personal 100% satisfaction over an obscure and disliked game.

Im not 100% sure what you mean. Could you elaborate a little more please?

 

[Fanaelialae]

I observe that too. For some the immense popularity of the game don’t mean that the game is fine or satisfying for them. In fact it’s quite the opposite I think they would prefer a personal 100% satisfaction over an obscure and disliked game.

I mean, I don't doubt that many people would love for WOTC to design the perfect RPG custom made for them (and sod the rest of the gamers). But it probably wouldn't be a very popular game.

I think 5e's popularity is in no small part due to it being a good game that appeals to a lot of people. They took a lot of useful lessons from prior editions. Just to pick 3e, they used a coherent core mechanic similar to what 3e did (which was one of 3rd's greatest innovations), but streamlined DM prep (which was one of that edition's least appealing aspect to many).

 

[gyor]

This is one of the main reasons (in combination with other reasons. This alone would obviously not suggest thay to me.) that i strongly suspect d&d's popularity actually not at its all time high (especially not its all time high in strength). I suspect there is massive popularity to be sure, but i suspect that its brittle.

I knew about the red/blue... but what's black?

Utter hopelessness and dangerous bitterness.

Trust me, you don't want anything to do with the black pill.