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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JEB" data-source="post: 8238513" data-attributes="member: 10148">As mentioned last week in <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-ds-feel-enworld-vs-rpg-net.679064/" target="_blank">another thread</a>, I took the "what makes D&D feel like D&D" poll I posted <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/what-makes-d-d-feel-like-d-d.678759/" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/what-makes-d-d-feel-like-d-d.878709" target="_blank">on rpg.net</a>, and posted it again <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/duplicates/mcsmem/what_makes_dd_feel_like_dd/" target="_blank">on Reddit</a>. The poll was posted on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/" target="_blank">r/DnD</a>, and then crossposted to <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Dungeons_and_Dragons/" target="_blank">r/Dungeons_and_Dragons</a>, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/" target="_blank">r/dndnext</a>, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/4eDnD/" target="_blank">r/4eDnD</a>, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonsAndDragons35e/" target="_blank">r/DungeonsAndDragons35e</a>, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/adnd/" target="_blank">r/adnd</a>, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/BECMI/" target="_blank">r/BECMI</a>, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/odnd/" target="_blank">r/odnd</a>, and <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/" target="_blank">r/rpg</a>. The idea was to try and get as close to a "public" poll as possible, with representation from fans of every version of the game.Unfortunately, I didn't get nearly as many responses as I was hoping - possibly due to some strong objections to the nature of the poll itself, and its focus on game elements rather than the play experience. Despite that, I still got more responses from Reddit than I got here and on rpg.net combined: 185 in total.I just posted my thoughts <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/duplicates/mj3t50/what_makes_dd_feel_like_dd_poll_results/" target="_blank">on Reddit as well</a>, but I figured it would be interesting to compare the combined results of D&D players on two of the hobby's major forums, to those of D&D players on some of the major D&D hubs on Reddit.Important caveat: As with ENWorld vs. rpg.net, I specifically asked anyone who took one of the two forum-based polls to avoid responding to the Reddit version, so that might make the differences a little more extreme than they would be otherwise. (However, I'm pretty sure they would have been pretty different anyway.)I'm using the same tiers I used in every poll summary (items in bold are in different tiers between the two sets):<table style='width: 100%'><tr><td></td><td>Forums (ENWorld + rpg.net combined)</td><td>Reddit</td></tr><tr><td>Very important to D&D's feel (80% and up)</td><td>Levels [89.4%] Distinct character classes [86.6%] Ability scores (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha) [86.0%] Hit points [83.2%]</td><td>Ability scores (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha) [80.4%]</td></tr><tr><td>Important to D&D's feel (60% to 80%)</td><td>Armor Class [76.0%] Using multiple types of dice [67.6%] Saving throws [67.6%]</td><td>Distinct character classes [75.0%] Levels [73.4%] Armor Class [66.8%] Hit points [63.6%] Using multiple types of dice [69.6%]</td></tr><tr><td>Debatable importance (40% to 60%)</td><td>Distinct character races/lineages [57.5%] Experience points [52.5%] Lists of specific spells [52.5%] Alignment [41.9%]</td><td>Saving throws [54.9%] Distinct character races/lineages [54.3%] Lists of specific spells [51.1%] Alignment [50.5%] Experience points [47.3%] Initiative [46.7%]</td></tr><tr><td>Less important to D&D's feel (20% to 40%)</td><td>Initiative [36.9%] Lists of specific magic items [38.6%] Hit dice [28.5%] Lists of specific equipment [26.3%]</td><td>Hit dice [34.2%] Lists of specific magic items [33.7%] Lists of specific equipment [28.3%] Creature types [27.7%] Damage types [20.1%]</td></tr><tr><td>Not important to D&D's feel (20% and below)</td><td>Creature types [19.6%] Deities [19.0%] Multiclassing [16.8%] Great Wheel cosmology [15.1%] Proficiencies [11.2%] Damage types [10.1%] Feats [8.9%] Surprise [8.4%] Conditions [5.0%] Challenge ratings [5.0%] Advantage/disadvantage [3.9%] World Axis cosmology [3.4%] Backgrounds [2.8%]</td><td>Deities [19.0%] Feats [17.9%] Proficiencies [17.4%] Great Wheel cosmology [15.8%] Challenge ratings [15.8%] Surprise [14.7%] Conditions [14.7%] Multiclassing [14.1%] Advantage/disadvantage [14.1%] Backgrounds [11.4%] World Axis cosmology [9.2%]</td></tr></table>Some observations:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Overall, a lot of the less popular elements on the forums were much more popular on Reddit, but some of the more popular elements on the forums were somewhat less popular on Reddit.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Everyone seems to agree that ability scores are very important, though how "very important" still differs.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Classes, levels, and hit points are still important to the Reddit crowd, but significantly less so than forum folks. Hit points actually have the biggest drop, nearly 20% lower on Reddit.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Classes outrank levels on Reddit.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Most of the debatable stuff is debatable on both forums and Reddit, even if the numbers differ a bit. With 364 results from 11 different communities, I'm pretty confident now that a lot of D&D players are divided as to how important those are to "feel". (Though I suppose the sample is still small, even if the diversity of sources is notable.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Initiative is considered more a part of D&D's feel on Reddit (though it only ups it to "debatable" tier).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Most of the "less important" and "not important" stuff is also agreed upon by both forums and Reddit, although even the stuff ranked lowest on Reddit still has more support than most of the stuff in the same tier on the forums.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">However, despite 5E being the currently popular edition, its key elements are still near the bottom of the heap (if about 10% more popular). That's tenure for you.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Alignment is almost exactly at 50% on Reddit, nearly 10% higher than on forums. But it's still "debatable". (As I noted on Reddit, the word "divisive" comes to mind.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Damage types are a lot more popular on Reddit, about 10% and a whole tier higher. Challenge Ratings also get about a 10% bump. I'd suspect that's the influence of folks from 3E and 4E adding to 5E, but I would have thought there were plenty of overlapping fans of all three here, too...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The numbers on deities were extremely close. Rounds to 19% in both, and more precisely it's 34/179 (18.99%) for ENWorld+rpg.net, and 35/185 (18.92%) for Reddit. Kinda creepy.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lists of specific spells had exactly the same number of votes in both polls, 94.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Great Wheel is also ranked about the same, though the World Axis has more support on Reddit.</li> </ul>Bonus! Combining all the results (ENWorld + rpg.net + all nine subreddits), to create what's probably the closest I can get to a general opinion on D&D's "feel"...Very important to D&D's feel (80% and up):Ability scores (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha): 302 [82.96%]Levels: 295 [81.04%]Distinct character classes: 293 [80.49%]Important to D&D's feel (60% to 80%):Hit points: 266 [73.08%]Armor Class: 259 [71.15%]Using multiple types of dice: 249 [68.41%]Saving throws: 222 [60.99%]Debatable importance (40% to 60%):Distinct character races/lineages: 203 [55.77%]Lists of specific spells: 188 [51.65%]Experience points: 181 [49.73%]Alignment: 168 [46.15%]Initiative: 152 [41.76%]Less important to D&D's feel (20% to 40%):Lists of specific magic items: 131 [35.99%]Hit dice: 114 [31.32%]Lists of specific equipment: 99 [27.20%]Creature types: 86 [23.63%]Damage types: 85 [23.35%]Not important to D&D's feel (20% and below):Deities: 69 [18.96%]Multiclassing: 56 [15.38%]Great Wheel cosmology: 56 [15.38%]Proficiencies: 52 [14.29%]Feats: 49 [13.46%]Surprise: 42 [11.54%]Challenge ratings: 38 [10.44%]Conditions: 36 [9.89%]Advantage/disadvantage: 33 [9.07%]Backgrounds: 26 [7.14%]World Axis cosmology: 23 [6.32%]Thoughts, everyone?</blockquote>

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