D&D General No two people ever seem to play D&D the same way, but we can usually find people to play with anyway.

[Minigiant]

People are different but will often RPG with people who are similar to them or don't upset them. They will likely laugh off minor annoyance from disagreement or surprise.

However people can get animated from repeated minor annoyance or major dramatic swings that just hit the wrong button.

 

[Charlaquin]

People are different but will often RPG with people who are similar to them or don't upset them. They will likely laugh off minor annoyance from disagreement or surprise.

Yeah, this too. I get pretty passionate in my advocacy for the way I like to run things in the context of a discussion about DMing techniques, but when I’m actually playing at another DM’s table, I play by their rules, and generally have fun doing so. It might not be ideal for me, but that’s fine. Of course there are some things that are deal-breakers, but for the most part I’m happy to compromise.

 

[bloodtide]

Well, discussion boards, like any public forum only exist for about a third of all gamers. Like nearly anything else: a third of people just don't care(have not and never ever will log on to ENworld.); a third care a bit (make an account, maybe make a post, maybe log n once a week or month or so, but mostly lurk) and the last third have strong options they wish to share (and log in often and post often).

So online, you really only get the extreme end of viewpoints of a third of people: the other two thirds don't care, or don't care enough to say anything. You do see it in real life too, like sports fans: a third like sports and watch "the game" but don't care much who wins of looses; a third follow sports news and watch the game and care if their team looses...but does not feel the need to talk about it much most of the time; and the last third is immersed in sports 24/7 and was screaming and throwing things while watching the game on TV, cares more about sports then nearly anything else and can't WAIT to corner and talk to ANYONE about THAT game for the next week or so.

The vast majority of mature gamers, in real life practice the idea that they will, mostly silently, follow a DM's pr groups "house rules", EVEN if they don't like them at all. Some players are so desperate to play in a game that they can ignore any style or house rule or whatever.

Not everyone can always come together, but many can.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Gaming is a social group activity. We are all there to have fun with others. In person, we can talk and get along even if we don't agree on rules. On a forum, 90% of the talk is rules only, so you lose a lot. Body language, side conversations, chemistry, etc.

 

[FireLance]

I do get that different people play D&D in different ways. What I don't get are the occasional (though, I fear, gradually becoming more common) posters who express hostility and thinly-veiled aggression towards playstyles that they don't like and are dismissive of problems they don't encounter, to the point that they effectively tell others that they are playing the game wrong.

I think it's slowly but surely making the environment here more toxic. Poison goes where poison's welcome, I guess.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I agree @el-remmen ! It's crazy to me how I always play D&D the right way, and everyone else plays it the wrong way. Confounding!

 

[Fenris-77]

Lets be honest shall we? All our internet differences aside, so long as there's a useful session zero, and everyone involved is (mostly) a functional adult, everything will probably be fine.

 

[Umbran]

Anyway, I guess the topic I am bringing up for discussion is if the boards and the people who tend to frequent them have a warping effect on viewing the game and game style/approach and its players.

I guess, I am referring more to posts/replies that seem to make a general assumption about how the game is played (or should be played) or the utility or "fun" of how some iteration of the rules based on solely on a niche experience or a "white-room" look at the rules.

Putting these two together, because they seem related.

In the world where folks are actually playing, they are forming groups of people with similar approaches to the game. When someone with a major difference in style gets into a group, they probably leave soon after. And folks with minor differences probably usually sit on them.

In addition, the internet has some pretty well-recognized effects on discourse, that tends to lead to extremes and lack of compromise or empathy in the discussion. This is not necessarily how folks interact elsewhere, however - like at the game table.

But, we should also admit - everyone is working from niche experience. There are not enough hours in the day to earn a living and do long-term gaming with a statistically relevant swath of the millions of gamers out there. So, expecting folks to approach discussions from any other position is asking a bit much.

 

[DnD Warlord]

Can you give some examples? I am not sure if you're talking about tone of play, or things people do which are rude to other people, or rules questions, or what?
I don’t even agree with years ago me

Years ago in 2e rolling for a social or mental test was rare..: then I started playing with new people and found that shy people want to play bards and sorceres and later warlocks and warlords.
Now we allow all sorts of things that never would have worked before.

I even now allow players to “bluff them” without having any idea what they will say until we roll the dice.

I have been told left amd right that would never fly in some people games.

I also tell players what there characters experience through non traditional senses... “you get a bad feeling” but someone on here told me they would never play with my group because that takes away control of there characters.

 

[Shiroiken]

It's largely because forums like ENWorld, Reddit, and others represent only a tiny minority of players. We are the dedicated few that think about the game enough to take time to talk (argue) with random strangers on the internet. Most players are casual player who doesn't care about the latest tweet by Jeremy Crawford or the most recent Sage Advice. This was a big issue during the playtest, with people here saying "but no one liked that rule" when something was finalized, because they forget the thousands (millions?) of people who just went with what they liked, rather than some specific rules niche. The average new player is much more likely to be influenced by Critical Roll or the other podcasts that attract people to the game, than those of us here.