D&D General How has D&D changed over the decades?

[Micah Sweet]

In that case the analogy is entirely nonsensical, because you can't "be the bad guy" with respect to those things, because those things don't have feelings. They don't care, they lack the ability to care because they're abstract constructs.


This kind of misrepresentation is becoming really tiresome.

It's only a misrepresentation if it's objectively false. Can you say that, or do you simply believe it not to be true?

 

[Umbran]

It's fine if you don't think the gm should be anything but a cruise ship guide for the wish fulfillment for a table of Mary Sue characters...

Mod Note:
Hey. You know what isn't fine? Treating people poorly. If you want to badmouth folks, you can do it on some other board. The hyperbolic misrepresentation here isn't useful to anyone - including yourself at this point.

That, of course, goes for everybody. If you can't show basic respect for others, you can take a break from the discussion.

 

[Fifth Element]

It's only a misrepresentation if it's objectively false. Can you say that, or do you simply believe it not to be true?

There's no requirement for objectivity, that's a ridiculous standard to apply to discussions about D&D. The statement is a misrepresentation because it does not reflect the experience of people who play the game in the manner being discussed.

 

[Tutara]

For me, the biggest change has been it's acceptance as just something you do in your spare time, rather than some sort of weird cult activity.

 

[Micah Sweet]

There's no requirement for objectivity, that's a ridiculous standard to apply to discussions about D&D. The statement is a misrepresentation because it does not reflect the experience of people who play the game in the manner being discussed.

People play the game differently. Clearly some of them feel the statement is not a misrepresentation based on their experience.

 

[Thomas Shey]

People play the game differently. Clearly some of them feel the statement is not a misrepresentation based on their experience.

When you make it as a generalization, it at least should be something you can show is, well, general.

 

[overgeeked]

People play the game differently. Clearly some of them feel the statement is not a misrepresentation based on their experience.

In my experience, a lot of newer players don’t want to be challenged at all and do think of and treat the DM as their personal entertainment for an evening. I’ve had players insist on a long rest after taking one damage. Singular. As in one point of damage. I’ve had players rage quit in a vulgarity-laden tirade when their character was knocked to zero hp. Didn’t die. Just knocked out. I’ve had players insist I change every aspect of a 30-year-old+ homebrew world to suit their tens-of-thousands of word backstory. Players try to shoe-horn in all kinds of wild artifacts to the backstory of their 1st-level character with zero XP. The best so far is one player wanted a fragment of a Staff of the Magi…that had most of the powers intact. Players that simply decided they should get magic items and a heap of gold at the start of a game. And rage quit when called on it. Players honestly seem to want to start at 10-20 and only face 1st-level obstacles. If that.

 

[Micah Sweet]

When you make it as a generalization, it at least should be something you can show is, well, general.

How common does something have to be to pass the "general" test? What standard of proof do you need to meet?

 

[Hussar]

In my experience, a lot of newer players don’t want to be challenged at all and do think of and treat the DM as their personal entertainment for an evening. I’ve had players insist on a long rest after taking one damage. Singular. As in one point of damage. I’ve had players rage quit in a vulgarity-laden tirade when their character was knocked to zero hp. Didn’t die. Just knocked out. I’ve had players insist I change every aspect of a 30-year-old+ homebrew world to suit their tens-of-thousands of word backstory. Players try to shoe-horn in all kinds of wild artifacts to the backstory of their 1st-level character with zero XP. The best so far is one player wanted a fragment of a Staff of the Magi…that had most of the powers intact. Players that simply decided they should get magic items and a heap of gold at the start of a game. And rage quit when called on it. Players honestly seem to want to start at 10-20 and only face 1st-level obstacles. If that.

Ok. We get it. You have had a string of bad players. Totally understandable.

By the same token I just left a group of 40+ year old gamers who have not behaved a whole lot differently, including the tirade. So blaming this on “new players” is possibly confirmation bias.

 

[Thomas Shey]

How common does something have to be to pass the "general" test? What standard of proof do you need to meet?

Signs that it applies in 51% of cases? And when you start seeing plenty of people saying "No, that's not how it works for us" its not a strong support of that being the case.