Make It Yourself

[Tony Vargas]

I would say again that this was a hobbyist game from the beginning, so it makes sense that people have always tinkered with it. Anything from adjusting rules, to creating whole new games (most of the early RPGs were simply massive variants of OD&D that were created from DM's notes that evolved over time).

That is what Reynard has been saying. And it was.

It hasn't stayed that way, times have changed, the IP has changed hands, and the attitudes of 'new' fans (of the last 20 years or so) are not identical to those of older fans. The veneration of 'RaW' - heck, so much as an on-line consensus of what RaW even was - starting with 3e was seismic shift. It's far from the only thing that's different.

 

[Malmuria]

That is what Reynard has been saying. And it was.
It hasn't stayed that way, times have changed, the IP has changed hands, and the attitudes of 'new' fans (of the last 20 years or so) are not identical to those of older fans.

Questing Beast makes a distinction here between "official dnd" and "folk dnd." The former are those who require the material they play with to come from an official source, usually the company making the game. The latter are people who make it up themselves. Of course there is a spectrum. But I don't think this is an 'old' vs 'new' dynamic. There have always been those who were DIYers and those who liked to play with and collect more officially published supplements.

That said, there does seem to be a contingent of fans who can only color within the wotc-defined lines. But then you can also look at the profusion of content on dmsguild, drive thru, and itch.io; obviously not all of it will be great, but there is an impulse to create and be creative.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

That is what Reynard has been saying. And it was.
It hasn't stayed that way, times have changed, the IP has changed hands, and the attitudes of 'new' fans (of the last 20 years or so) are not identical to those of older fans.

But that has nothing to do with you. Or with the Warlord.

At the end of the day, you have a choice. If you want something that is not in the game, you can:
1. Make it yourself.
2. Use 3PP.
3. Complain on EnWorld that MegaCorp isn't making the product that you want.

Admittedly, I'm just an Unfrozen Caveman Roleplayer. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the weird ringtones of your smartphones make me want to get off of the internet... and runoff into the hills, or whatever... Sometimes when I create an image using DALL-E, I wonder, “Did little demons get hold of paintbrushes and make this art?” I don’t know! My primitive mind can’t grasp these concepts unless they are explained to me in High Gygaxian.

But there is one thing I do know – Corporations are in it to win it. And by win it, I mean make money. And they don't make money by listening to old people complain on message boards. They make money by pivoting to video virtual table top, not warlords. Thank you.

 

[Tony Vargas]

But that has nothing to do with you.

Correct.
And I'd appreciate it if you stopped trying to make it personal.

 

[Reynard]

That is what Reynard has been saying. And it was.

It hasn't stayed that way, times have changed, the IP has changed hands, and the attitudes of 'new' fans (of the last 20 years or so) are not identical to those of older fans. The veneration of 'RaW' - heck, so much as an on-line consensus of what RaW even was - starting with 3e was seismic shift. It's far from the only thing that's different.

I don't buy that modern D&D fandom is any less creative than previous fan generations. Just hop over to r/dnd and you will see homebrew galore,just as poorly thought out as ours was.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Correct.

Great! I love being correct. And perhaps you might want to lay off forum-splaining what young fans want to the people that are actually running games for ... you know ... younger players.

Because, quite frankly, repeatedly telling us what they want and how they aren't creative is kind of odd ... all things considered. Given that the people I've played with have gone on to create their own homebrew classes, races, and (of course) adventures, I find your repeated assertions that the younger generation lacks either the desire or the capacity to do it not just bizarre, but kinda sorta ... not cool.

When it comes to the creativity I have seen, most of which far surpasses the things I could come up with, I only have one thing to say- Lit.

As far as I'm concerned, if they can come up with things I can't even think of, I am quite sure that us olds could probably re-create something that existed before if we really wanted to. Good luck!

 

[Tony Vargas]

I don't buy that modern D&D fandom is any less creative than previous fan generations.

I'm glad to hear you didn't mean to imply that. But, whether you meant to imply less ability to DIY or less willingness to do so than we had back in the day, I still feel the need to point out, even if true, it's not a bad thing, just a different thing.

 

[Reynard]

I'm glad to hear you didn't mean to imply that. But, whether you meant to imply less ability to DIY or less willingness to do so than we had back in the day, I still feel the need to point out, even if true, it's not a bad thing, just a different thing.

I didn't mean to imply that either. I was speaking of a particular small yet vocal subset of folks who seem incapable of either finding or creating solutions to their particular TTRPG issues.

 

[Micah Sweet]

That is what Reynard has been saying. And it was.

It hasn't stayed that way, times have changed, the IP has changed hands, and the attitudes of 'new' fans (of the last 20 years or so) are not identical to those of older fans. The veneration of 'RaW' - heck, so much as an on-line consensus of what RaW even was - starting with 3e was seismic shift. It's far from the only thing that's different.

No reason for those of us who disagree to follow that lead though.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm glad to hear you didn't mean to imply that. But, whether you meant to imply less ability to DIY or less willingness to do so than we had back in the day, I still feel the need to point out, even if true, it's not a bad thing, just a different thing.

I kinda feel less creative output, regardless of why, is a bad thing.