D&D General Matt Colville: "50 years later we're still arguing about what D&D even is!"

[Micah Sweet]

LOL obviously it makes a huge difference. You don't care how the car drives, how the seats are, and no, you're not "using it". you're using a part of it, separated from the rest.

It is basic common sense, the lowest possible most obvious sense that if you only use a part of thing your opinion differ from those who use the whole.

So you know perfectly well and were just sealioning? Is that what you're saying? Jeez.

A lot of the time? Yeah that was exactly the problem. A lot of these were advertised as X, then were essentially Y. You can say "Your dumb ass should have wised up sooner", but I was a teenager man, you're meant to be dumb when you're a teen!

It also means products are less useful, which is very disappointing even if you don't buy them, and I know you don't even disagree, because you've complained about setting books having wasted space on stuff, or not putting enough time and effort into certain bits - and settings/adventures obsessing about metaplot did the same.

It's also notable ones that were consciously and obviously metaplot were way less annoying, even cool sometimes, like The Time of Thin Blood - it wasted a little too much time on fixing what the metaplot was going to be, but at least it was up front and had useful/different stuff in it. It was metaplot focused openly, not just "SURPRISE! A THIRD OF THIS IS METAPLOT JUNK!".

First of all, the derisive laughter emoji doesn't do anyone any good.

Secondly, I agree that honesty in what they were selling would have been preferable., but I have no issue with what they were selling, and that's all I was saying. I don't mean to be sealioning from your perspective. I'm just providing my take on the subject, which is exactly as valid as anyone else's.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah I used to buy all the stuff. Now that everything has played out, my preferred approach is to use the black box for ravenloft (so no real metaplot elements). But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't on board fully when it first was happening (I might disagree with something the DoD book does, or the red Box, but I was primarily a happy GM ready to adopt what they put out)

Me too. But I reserved the right not to, and felt beholden to nothing anyone put out for my own game. Not sure why that's a hot take.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes

Then you have my sympathies. Thank you for helping me understand why this matters to you. I've certainly bought a number of game products I later regretted.

 

[Staffan]

I've seen quite a few 5e games where the players seem to express total ignorance of the rules when it's convenient. Apparently it's bad form for a gm to expect players to meet a higher standard.

Sure, there'll always be players who can't be hedgehogged to remember the rules. But that's a player problem, not the game or GM expecting ignorance.

 

[tetrasodium]

Sure, there'll always be players who can't be hedgehogged to remember the rules. But that's a player problem, not the game or GM expecting ignorance.

Yes it absolutely 100% is a player problem, what has changed is the second part of what I wrote where GM's are expected to just keep gently attempting to infuse blood into that stone rather than expecting players not arrive to the table as & maintain the form of a stone

 

[Bedrockgames]

Me too. But I reserved the right not to, and felt beholden to nothing anyone put out for my own game. Not sure why that's a hot take.

I was the same. Back then it wasn’t seen as mandatory by my groups just because it was in a book

 

[Dire Bare]

I love it that in this thread about Colville's video . . .

Some of us are arguing how TTRPGs should be played and how they should not.

Some of us are arguing, "Well, that's not how we did it in the 80s . . ."

All of which proves Colville's point.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Gamers continue to bicker over how D&D should be played, and the wheel turns to a new age . . .

 

[Hussar]

And yet, woe betide the game designer that doesn’t toe the canon line and tries to inject anything new. For all the “it’s always my game, take it or leave it”, it’s funny how that never seems to be true in practice.

 

[jasper]

I kinda wish there was more coordination back in the day for someone to see how each region played and similarities groups in areas had.

Midwest D&D
East Coast D&D
West Canadian D&D
South English D&D

Theatre nerds at my high school vs
JRROTC at my high school vs
Math nerds at my high school.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Then stop being surprised and outraged when you see playstyles that are different from yours???