D&D General How Important Is The "Shared Experience" To You?

[tetrasodium]

You could search/replace "o5e" with "AD&D" and this sentiment would echo clearly from 40-odd years ago. That is to say, it was bunk then and it is bunk now.

I was around back then too and don't agree.. Basic and ad&d were different games in parallel with similar combat and character options. Ad&d & 3.x were not but combat at was at least dangerous needing thought while character options were dramatically greater. O5e is designed to ensure bland predictable combat no matter the matchup right up until contrived executions & certain tpk while minimizing meaningful choice when building characters

 

[LadyElect]

I wouldn’t quite call it important to me, since I like to imagine I would still enjoy D&D if it were only ever released as rules text by which to operate and conceive of games. Nevertheless, I enjoy when those shared moments come up, which is why I still like to play official modules in addition to brewed settings.

It’s fun to trade chatter on how you and others experienced or prepped things differently in a campaign, and I find that it provides a nice, familiar grounding point by which you can get insight on how people brew their ideas off of it.

 

[delericho]

Is this shared experience important to you?

Somewhat. I've recently found myself in a position where I've run at least part of a couple of adventures twice (which is extremely unusual for me). It has been interesting seeing the contrasting approaches.

Do you like comparing experiences with other players who have gone on the same adventures?

Yep. There are only so many times you can discuss minutae of rules, or speculate on WotC's upcoming releases, or complain about the umpteen ways that the most popular RPG in history falls short. It's good to have something else to talk about.

Is it a selling point for you?

Sort of. It's a very, very small selling point - the least of all the things that might attract me to an adventure. But it is a very minor plus point.

 

[MichaelSomething]

"Shared Experience?" If I wanted something where WOTC crafted a uniform system that funneled everyone into a singular type of game, I go play 4th Edition!!!

 

[beancounter]

Just curious:
The "shared experience" of having explored Undermountain, beaten the Storm King or descended into Avernus is a thing some people find valuable and is one of the features of playing pre-written campaigns, APs and organized play seasons.
Is this shared experience important to you? Do you like comparing experiences with other players who have gone on the same adventures? Is it a selling point for you?

I always found that a strange question because by default, a party of people is sharing an experience. (I don't know of any one person adventures).

Whether you care about a shared experience or not, it happens automatically by simply playing the game.

 

[Reynard]

I always found that a strange question because by default, a party of people is sharing an experience. (I don't know of any one person adventures).

Whether you care about a shared experience or not, it happens automatically by simply playing the game.

I have found this a strange response because it completely ignores the actual question posed in the OP.

 

[beancounter]

I have found this a strange response because it completely ignores the actual question posed in the OP.

I didn't mean your OP specifically. It's a question WoTC has asked, and without further context it seems redundant, so I "jumped the gun" in my response.

Do I like "comparing notes" with other players that I didn't play with on strategies, tactics and encounters used in an adventure that they've also played in?

No, that doesn't appeal to me. The adventure is over, and I've moved on. I don't need to spend time rehashing it.

 

[Vaalingrade]

"Shared Experience?" If I wanted something where WOTC crafted a uniform system that funneled everyone into a singular type of game, I go play 4th Edition!!!

I mean, yeah. If you want a good game that plays well, you play The Good One.

But we're talking about playing what everyone else plays.

 

[Retreater]

I love the shared experience part of D&D. You've got the shared experiences of the people in your gaming group that you've accumulated over years, but then there are characters/stories that you can share with players you've just met.
Like I was telling my wife about the history of a certain character mentioned in Stranger Things. It's a way of connecting with fellow hobbyists. I imagine it's a similar experience my dad has about baseball, talking about Mickey Mantle with other fans.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

For me, it's definitely important. Being able to share war stories with going to the Moathouse in Hommlet, daring Strahd's castle in Ravenloft/Curse of Strahd, or going head-to-heads with Demogorgon in Out of the Abyss, is part of what connects us all within this hobby.

It's also exists on a much granular level - people talking about how the Deck of Many Things wrecked their campaign, facing off against your first dragon, etc. One of the joys of gaming is being able to sit down with a wide variety of people and being able to form connections based on these shared experiences.