Just to clarify, I'm talking about Inspiration rather than Bardic Inspiration:
I come from Exalted and Savage Worlds, where meta currencies like "stunt dice" and "bennies" are handed out like candy, allowing players to gain mechanical benefits for doing cool stuff. However, I tend to see a lot of resistance to the concept in 5e. These mechanics always struck me as a good way to encourage creativity and RP, which seems like a positive thing. Hence today's question: If you tend to ignore Inspiration in your games, why?
Basically never. It's unclear, boring and goofy.
Unclear, because it doesn't say when you can expend it. According to the examples in the book, it seems like it can be intended as a
condition : you become "inspired" and as long as the reason for your inspiration is sustained, you can "expend" it (so that you cease to be inspired) in exchange for advantage on a single roll
related to the reason I am inspired. Unfortunately I only see gaming groups playing it so that you "save" your inspiration for later and can use it on something totally unrelated: "hey 3 weeks ago I got inspired for donating money to a beggar, now I want to use it for shoplifting".
Boring because it's advantage which it's the most common benefits from special abilities. Advantage doesn't even allow you to do something beyond your current capabilities, as a straight bonus does, it only increases the chances. Useful yes, exciting no.
Goofy because what does it mean I earned my advantage by doing something cool and now I can give it to you because you do something cool? Why don't you get yours from the DM so that I can keep mine?
Also, traits and ideas are very unequal before gaining inspiration, with some it's much easier than others.
Originally I thought I would rather use inspiration for rewarding players who purposefully did something
inconvenient in order to stay in character. Like not lying when it would really help, because the PC can't really be untruthful. But in practice I don't even remember to give inspiration anymore.
I might be persuaded to give it another go one day, but I really want to stick with the "inspiration as a condition", so that you have to find yourself a situation during which you both
earn and
expend your inspiration.