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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Gothmog" data-source="post: 350231" data-attributes="member: 317">I'd have to agree with Takyris on many of his points- D&D is more abstract, and it does have some pretty insane levels of power ramping that are more appealing to what some people might call "immature" types.  To use the much-hated term, "munchkins" in my experience, are much more attracted to D&D due to the fact that it is much easier to powergame and bend/abuse the rules than in other rulesets.  Again, this is due mostly to the power-ramping, and D&D has a reputation for frequent magic item dispensing, the requisite killing for experience, etc.However, I think the biggest reason some people associate D&D with immaturity is due to the players, not so much the game itself.  Several people have pointed out that their experiences while playing as teenagers were less than stellar gaming experiences, sometimes leaving a bad taste in their mouth, which they attribute to the D&D rules.  I myself remember such experiences, and feeling that so much more was possible in a game than silly remakrs and assanine behavior.  ("Oh yeah, the merchant doesn't want to sell me that +2 sword for 10 gp?  I shoot him in the gnads with my crossbow!")  When the majority of people you have seen/gamed with act in such a way, or are clearly into simply making themselves godlike in the game while disrupting everyone else's fun, its easy to make that kind of connection.I do think there might be some validity to the claim that 3E does in some ways promote what some might call immature behavior.  The rules have been touted as "back to the dungeon", where characters are intended to whack monsters, grab their stuff, and run back to town, only to do it over again the next day.  Many of the published WoTC adventures are giant dungeon crawls that advocate this type of behavior with minimal background or plot.  And lets admit it, all of us loved this kind of play when we were 12-15 years old or so- it was a thrill to see what you could do/get away with.  I think my tastes have changed over time- dungeon delving with endless streams of combat bore me to tears now, but I won't force my style of gaming on anyone, or claim it is the "right" way.  Granted, you don't have to play the game this way, but by presenting D&D in this light, WoTC has subtly done something pretty smart IMO.  Nobody yet has commented that the average age of the gaming crowd seems to be getting older, and while that means we have more disposable cash, D&D isn't attracting the kids like it used to.  If you market the game to appeal more to a younger state of mind, logic follows that perhaps more kids will become interested and keep the hobby alive.  I remember being somewhat discouraged when I first read the 3E books, I thought "wow, this really seems to have more in common with Diablo with its power-ups than the D&D I remember"  but I gave it a chance anyway, and I still love the game.  Yes, the focus of D&D has changed some, it is more oriented towards combat and power-ups than before, but its still a good game.  And if it can bring in a new generation of gamers, so much the better. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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