Is D&D "Rubbish"?

[wlmartin]

Is D&D rubbish? Well, a chap named Nikolas Lloyd thinks it is. He's made a series of videos which looks at the various editions of D&D over the decades. His three videos - "Early D&D Was Rubbish", "Mid-period D&D Wasn't Great" and "Fourth Edition D&D Is Terrible" make it clear what his opinion of the game is; there are some good points in there, although I disagree with the premise that "D&D is rubbish".

I am sure this guy posts on here, can't remember his name but it starts with an "F" i think

... anyways, people are entitled to their opinion but all I can say is that he must have never really played this game properly or with the right introduction or encouragement because D&D is simply the greatest RPG of all time.

 

[GameHermit]

LOL...ok, the guy does make some pretty good points....if you're a complete rules lawyer. I actually struggled with a lot of the same issues until I stopped one day and realized how silly I was being. The truth is...it's a great game for hanging out with your friends...a break from reality if you will. Who really cares if it doesn't make perfect sense.

There are systems with much better mechanics out there...like Savage Worlds for example, which is in my opinion a fantastic system. It's cheap, simple to pick up on and still has a lot of depth. But I really just like hanging out with my friends regardless of the system we play.

As far as role playing is concerned.... He's completely off base with that. It is ENTIRELY up to the group as a whole to encourage good role play. Heck, I've even run Wednesday night Encounter sessions where the players really got into character and role played very well. When someone wanted to do something cool, not covered in the rules, I just came up with a rough success check and went with it.

To be completely honest...I'm not a big fan of WotC. I kind of feel like they have done to the gaming community what commercialism has done to Christmas. That being said, however, it's all a mindset. Once I got over pouting and pointing a finger at WotC and just concentrated on have a fun night out with my friends, everything fell into place.

I'm super excited about Zeitgeist, simply because it sounds cool...I really don't give a goblin's armpit if we play it in PF or in 4th Ed... My group is going to have a blast with it!

Bottom line...If you're tweaked enough about the reality represented by or the mechanics of a game to create videos like that then I would suggest looking for something else to do.

LOL...maybe Mr. Miyagi can help the guy out

GameHermit

PS...I do want to go on record to say that E. Gary Gygax is my hero...and his creation made for some of the best memories I have from childhood. Good system...bad system...who cares? It created good times

 

[LucianzXzyl]

Wow

What a tool. It sounds to me like the guy either needs to find a good dm/group or reevaluating why he is playing an rpg because I don't think he'll ever find one that suits him. Oh wait, Runequest did. I remember that game. It was like a dumbed down idiotic attempt at creating an open environment rpg. I worked as a manager of a gaming store in high school and have played almost every system under the sun. Now that I'm older and have a kid we play as a family. D & D being a family favorite. We play the old color book version of D & D (red:basic, blue:expert, turquoise:companion etc.) plus AD&D 2nd edition. We all enjoy it quite a bit. A while back as a gift my fiance bought me the red box rerelease for 4th edition. I thought I was going to hate it, and there are plenty of people who do for whatever reasons. We on the other hand actually enjoy it. We started our game with just the three of us and now have the upstairs neighbors plying with us every other Friday. I don't know what's up with his group but we have plenty of "role-playing" going on. Like I said, I think he just needs a good dm/group or maybe go back to a console game lol.

 

[Oldtimer]

Wow, this guy is like a breath of the worst parts of D&D vs Runequest in the early eighties. Class-less is better than class-based, damage absorbtion is better than AC, etc, etc. And "better" always meant "a better simulation of reality".

But his bit about 4th edition... almost made me cry. What's this about "being a thief pretending to be a wizard"? How would that work out at the table in any system? Was he expecting the system to allow him to dupe the other players? And the DM? How does that work?

And both he and the DM had obviously missed page 42 in the DMG. System getting in the way of smashing a magic stone... yeah, right. More like lack of reading skill.

 

[RevTurkey]

Holy thread ressurection Batman!

I think he makes some excellent points.

In terms of 'making sense', then yes I think Runequest is probably a 'better' game.

In terms of being an enjoyable game...I have played both and enjoyed both but some of the abstration and failures of D&D to simulate reality actually make it a really fun game to play.

His videos are terrific for the most part.

 

[S'mon]

Since when are we enabling Trolls?

Crusading veggies steamroll university into web censorship ? The Register

That's terrible behaviour by the University. From the report he was not
trolling the vegetarian boards, he was just posting his own (sarcastic) articles on his own part of the
University's public server.

I disagree with his view that Runequest is much better than D&D (they do different things
- he doesn't like what D&D does), but he should be at liberty to express his views.

 

[S'mon]

Holy thread ressurection Batman!

I think he makes some excellent points.

In terms of 'making sense', then yes I think Runequest is probably a 'better' game.

Try stabbing someone in the back in Runequest - thanks to the combat hit location roll you can't do it, unless the GM house rules. Not much different from 4e, it needs common sense.

 

[RevTurkey]

I can't remember the details of older Runequest rules (it's a long time ago since I played it) but certainly in the latest version (6th Ed) you can do that through the combat special effects system and other things like 'kill silently' if you are trained to do so. It's pretty comprehensive in it's simulation of how a fight can be portrayed.

We stopped playing Runequest back in the day because it wasn't so much fun to have your arms chopped off in combat we prefered...you are out of the action for a bit.

 

[Zhaleskra]

There are many things I have come to dislike about D&D, chief among them "it's what everyone knows".

Because of the chief reason, I will continue to play D&D and variants because it's easier to find players or a GM for it.

 

[TreChriron]

Runequest 6 is a beautifully crafted game. As is Mongoose Legend. However, combat can be tricky unless the players are invested. DD5e is easier and simpler in character creation and combat (and magic). I feel the games target a different audience and player IMHO. I have the recently released Glorantha omnibus (it's so absolutely gorgeous) and I'm waiting for an official RQ6 game for it. One that comes out, I will certainly run a game. But this time, no new players. Or at least, no "new to RPG" players.

Polarizing language and controversy fuels attention! Hell, when I get fired up over on theRPGsite, I can lay on some vitriol and controversy. :-D Free speech!! I don't think D&D is a bad game because RQ is a good one. I think they're both good games. If this guy needs to light a fire to get attention, more power to him.