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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 3656982" data-attributes="member: 2067">This reductio ad absurdum tactic doesn't work so well because a lot of people are actually arguing that the DM *can* introduce the history and background that he has fun creating. Indeed, I'd say that if the DM has fun with that, he *should* introduce it, even reward players who pursue it. However, the DM in the letter had a problem where his players were totally ignoring what he had such pride in creating, and in order to fix this dilemma, the advice was to (1) don't be so touchy about your game material, and (2) make the material you want them to pay attention to relevant to their characters. And then there was this outcry of player entitlement and mollycoddling whiners, and the point that the DM shouldn't have to put away his enjoyment of the game just so that his players can be happy, because the game is about EVERYONE's enjoyment.So the answer given in the article isn't "Go play something you'll have more fun with, since D&D is a game of history and backstory and novel writing!" It's "To get players to pay attention, make the material relevant, and don't cry about your 'art' when they ignore it anyway."If they adventure in FR, they might care about the Red Wizards, because they can get magic items from them. If they adventure in Eberron, they might care about the history of the warforged if a character or two plays one. Why? Because it's relevant. Why did they interrupt his exposition? Probably because they knew it wouldn't matter in 5 minutes when he was done with it. Because they sure shut up and paid attention when the powers were being listed!For some people (like me, especially in middle school), the setting of Middle Earth is boring, dry, academic, and superfluous. And FR and Eberron have a feel that influences the actual adventure design (what the players are doing depends upon the setting: in FR, they're exploring ruins and dealing with Harpers. In Eberron, they're riding the lightning rail and bringing hope to the Mournland), so a lot of that is automatically relevant.For instance, take Middle Earth.Now strip out 100% of everything that doesn't involve, directly, Frodo, Sam, Gollum, and the One Ring making it to Mount Doom.And you are left with what is relevant. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Not everyone has the patience or the inclination to enjoy setting porn, not everyone would read a snippet of world history just because it was available, not everyone is that much of a world-building nerd. In fact, most people aren't (though D&D probably attracts a big percentage of those who are). Some are and they have great fun with it, and that's cool. But it really sounds like these players aren't into it. Perhaps, as the article suggests, they're more into character porn, marveling over high stats and great items and how many giants they could slay (like a lot of middle schoolers I know).</blockquote>

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