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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jacob Lewis" data-source="post: 9774755" data-attributes="member: 6667921">I get the joke, but that's actually driving it home for me. Nobody actually wants to “oppress” other playstyles, yet the structure of D&D creates that perception by default. Any time someone advocates for their preferred approach—whether tighter balance, more freedom, deeper story, or greater challenge—it’s interpreted as trying to claim ownership over the shared space. But that tension only exists because everyone is forced to share the same rule framework.Speaking personally, I’m not trying to take anything away from anyone. I don’t want my preferences to replace anyone else’s—I just want space for the kind of game I enjoy. The reality, though, is that I’ll probably never get that within the official D&D ecosystem. 5E is a solid and enjoyable game, but it doesn’t offer the structural or mechanical support for the kind of D&D experience that most appeals to me. And that’s fine—but it’s also the point. The system can’t be everything to everyone.In a universal design, balance itself becomes performative. The rules present an illusion of neutrality, but every omission or abstraction implicitly takes a side. It’s not a moral failing—it’s an unavoidable consequence of trying to serve all audiences with one toolset.And yes, I know the easy response is “then play a different game.” I do, and I have. But that isn’t really the point. The discussion isn’t about personal satisfaction—it’s about how D&D defines itself as the central game of the hobby while remaining deliberately noncommittal about its own design priorities. That approach keeps the audience unified under one brand but ensures that a large portion of that audience will always be partially unsatisfied. It’s not about wanting to leave D&D—it’s about recognizing that the design philosophy itself guarantees this constant tension will never go away.</blockquote>

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