Mercurius
Legend
I've been out of the loop for a few months, so just found out about the DM's Guild - still wrapping my head around how it works. But if I'm not mistaken, it at least partially solves the two big "problems" that 5E had: the lack of an OGL/GSL on one hand, and the dearth of product on the other. Is that the general view? If so, what a brilliant stroke on WotC's part - I must applaud them for killing two birds with one stone, and in a way that seems to really support community and creativity.
OK, here's my one caveat - and it is a significant one (for me, probably not for most). My gaming history over the last three plus decades has been erratic: Play regularly for a few years, not at all for a few years - not unlike an animal that hibernates for the winter. In the off or "dormant" years I tend to enjoy the hobby in a more armchair way - buy products that I like, dream about the next campaign, dabble with world-building and campaign design. In other words, products have tided me over until my next active phase, and also kept me interested in the game and part of the community.
When I saw that the next official product was Strahd, I was reminded of the problem I have with the current release schedule. While I appreciate the hygienic quality of the minimalist release schedule, and was never a fan of splat bloat (although love short adventures, setting, theme, and monster books), the problem is that if you don't like the next product you have to wait as much as an entire year until you find another official product to buy and enjoy. And the problem is even worse for me in that I'm not really a fan of any of the story arcs. They're fine, and I've bought all of them so far, but they remain little more than shelf-fillers, curiosities, and occasional browsing fodder.
I've also come to the hesitant conclusion that I'm no longer in WotC's target audience. WotC seems to be targeting people who play one story arc after the other, who are happy and willing to consume what is being served, but not as much wanting to cook up their own "meals." What demographic do I fit into? Well, I like to design and use my own homebrew world and campaign, but populate it with shorter adventures, sites and locations. What sort of products are useful for me? Well, when I'm in a dormant phase I enjoy setting material for reading pleasure and, perhaps, inspiration. When I'm in an active phase I want stuff that fuels and inspires the campaign: monster and theme books, site locations and other "plug-in" resources, and--perhaps most importantly--short adventures to place onto the map.
There's also the added bit that I'm not a huge fan of virtual products (PDFs). I like to sit down with an actual book. I don't mind PDFs for some things, but they're almost never my preference.
Now I don't feel offended or slighted, because obviously WotC isn't excluding me. Actually, they're very inclusive of all types of play. But what they aren't is supportive of my general approach to the hobby and campaign design. They aren't creating products that support either my active or dormant phases, that fuel my inspiration, or that I can use piecemeal and assemble or fit into my own campaign. And yes, I realize that I could take bits and pieces of the existing story arcs; truly a creative DM can use anything to fuel a campaign. But I'm talking about target audience and what products are actually being produced. WotC is saying to me, and perhaps others in my demographic or approach, "We love you, you're part of the community, but we're going to focus our resources on other things."
That's OK. I'm not whining about this, just kind of thinking about it, maybe with a whiff of nostalgia and a slight sense of loss. I kind of miss the days when I could go into a game store (remember those?) and find a shelf or two with a variety of product. I know, I know - I still can. There's DM's Guild, there's RPGNow, and there still are game stores with new and used books. There really is no end of material that I can use, and when I come around to an active phase in my game career I will have no problem assembling a campaign out of my imagination and available resources. But I'm still left feeling a bit on the outside looking in, like the game has passed me by a bit.
Again, I want to be clear that I'm not really upset or mad--no nerdrage from me. It is just a feeling that has been growing over the last year or so, and a sentiment that I thought worth sharing.
OK, here's my one caveat - and it is a significant one (for me, probably not for most). My gaming history over the last three plus decades has been erratic: Play regularly for a few years, not at all for a few years - not unlike an animal that hibernates for the winter. In the off or "dormant" years I tend to enjoy the hobby in a more armchair way - buy products that I like, dream about the next campaign, dabble with world-building and campaign design. In other words, products have tided me over until my next active phase, and also kept me interested in the game and part of the community.
When I saw that the next official product was Strahd, I was reminded of the problem I have with the current release schedule. While I appreciate the hygienic quality of the minimalist release schedule, and was never a fan of splat bloat (although love short adventures, setting, theme, and monster books), the problem is that if you don't like the next product you have to wait as much as an entire year until you find another official product to buy and enjoy. And the problem is even worse for me in that I'm not really a fan of any of the story arcs. They're fine, and I've bought all of them so far, but they remain little more than shelf-fillers, curiosities, and occasional browsing fodder.
I've also come to the hesitant conclusion that I'm no longer in WotC's target audience. WotC seems to be targeting people who play one story arc after the other, who are happy and willing to consume what is being served, but not as much wanting to cook up their own "meals." What demographic do I fit into? Well, I like to design and use my own homebrew world and campaign, but populate it with shorter adventures, sites and locations. What sort of products are useful for me? Well, when I'm in a dormant phase I enjoy setting material for reading pleasure and, perhaps, inspiration. When I'm in an active phase I want stuff that fuels and inspires the campaign: monster and theme books, site locations and other "plug-in" resources, and--perhaps most importantly--short adventures to place onto the map.
There's also the added bit that I'm not a huge fan of virtual products (PDFs). I like to sit down with an actual book. I don't mind PDFs for some things, but they're almost never my preference.
Now I don't feel offended or slighted, because obviously WotC isn't excluding me. Actually, they're very inclusive of all types of play. But what they aren't is supportive of my general approach to the hobby and campaign design. They aren't creating products that support either my active or dormant phases, that fuel my inspiration, or that I can use piecemeal and assemble or fit into my own campaign. And yes, I realize that I could take bits and pieces of the existing story arcs; truly a creative DM can use anything to fuel a campaign. But I'm talking about target audience and what products are actually being produced. WotC is saying to me, and perhaps others in my demographic or approach, "We love you, you're part of the community, but we're going to focus our resources on other things."
That's OK. I'm not whining about this, just kind of thinking about it, maybe with a whiff of nostalgia and a slight sense of loss. I kind of miss the days when I could go into a game store (remember those?) and find a shelf or two with a variety of product. I know, I know - I still can. There's DM's Guild, there's RPGNow, and there still are game stores with new and used books. There really is no end of material that I can use, and when I come around to an active phase in my game career I will have no problem assembling a campaign out of my imagination and available resources. But I'm still left feeling a bit on the outside looking in, like the game has passed me by a bit.
Again, I want to be clear that I'm not really upset or mad--no nerdrage from me. It is just a feeling that has been growing over the last year or so, and a sentiment that I thought worth sharing.
)
