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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stormtower" data-source="post: 4720562" data-attributes="member: 43631">The mode of play IS peculiar, and it's not like home games.  I love deep-immersion "fantasy simulation" games for my home stuff, where PCs acquire and manage land, titles, estates, etc. and really make their mark on the world.  I prefer that style over the RPGA style, in fact.I'd characterize RPGA play as almost uniformly combat heavy, but with extreme variance in the level of role-playing at any given table.  The certs, treasure and item tracking procedures add to this peculiar feel, almost like playing the adventures is like visiting an amusement park attraction and then getting a badge proclaiming "I survived (adventure X)!"That said, I really enjoy RPGA style play for some of the reasons you mentioned -- specifically, getting to play with and observe strangers' approach to the game, and having opportunities to make new friends.  You'll run into some jerks and socially inept people, but you take the same risk going to a pro sports event or any other large public gathering.  The play style is, IMO, inferior to the immersive quality of a good home game, but it's great for seeing a diversity of play styles and kicking monster butt with fellow D&Ders.  I could never thrive on organized play alone, however.  The necessity of adhering to proper reporting and reasonably uniform rules adjudication requires a devotion to the rules that lessens ad-hoc creativity, but I'd argue the RPGA is not the place for such creativity.I would like to see the RPGA (and WotC, as its controlling interest) take a more direct and active role in attracting and retaining new, younger-generation DMs.  I have yet to see a coherent marketing strategy to get the younger, geeky/creative set to log off of Xbox or WoW and play with us old geezers.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

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