D&D General On gatekeeping and the 'live-streaming edition wars'

[SkidAce]

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As for Actual Play recordings...I don't watch the longer streams because I just don't have the time anymore (barely have time to play) but I do like listening to the shorter videos and podcasts during the commute to work. Stuff like One Shot, Party of One, You Don't Meet In An Inn, The Magpies, where you get a complete session, often edited down for conciseness, in 75 minutes or less.

Since I rarely have time to play anymore, it lets me experience games vicariously.

Same here, grass cutting, commuting, joggng/running, putting away laundry (bleh).

 

[Olrox17]

Low influx of basic content? You are right but then this is intentional. WotC are striving - and succeeding - at avoiding rapid rules bloat which killed 3.x and harmed 4e. So, either you go 3pp, create your own basic content or admit that 5e is not for you.

Due to all the recent UA sub-classes appearing recently it would be reasonable to assume another player crunch book is due soon. I look forward to that book(s) but I can say that I've been quite satisfied with the slow release of rules. And so has my group, we find there's plenty out there already.

Yes, I'm aware of what WotC is doing.
As I already said, I'm not saying we should go back to the old days of millions of splatbooks. I'm saying that the last two years, 2019 especially, have been slow even compared to Wotc's new slower standards. This clashed with the release of a swarm of cross promotional products, produced at breakneck speed.
When the critical role book was announced, I honestly feared this was going to be it for 2020. Apparently, it's an "extra" release, so it's fine, I guess.

 

[Rikka66]

Yes, I'm aware of what WotC is doing.
As I already said, I'm not saying we should go back to the old days of millions of splatbooks. I'm saying that the last two years, 2019 especially, have been slow even compared to Wotc's new slower standards. This clashed with the release of a swarm of cross promotional products, produced at breakneck speed.
When the critical role book was announced, I honestly feared this was going to be it for 2020. Apparently, it's an "extra" release, so it's fine, I guess.

They've had a consistent schedule of "two adventures + extra book" since 2015. As far as I can tell 2018 and 2019 only expanded on that. I'm not sure how you can claim that they've slowed down.

 

[Reynard]

Watching a live stream is not playing. That remains the case whether or not the person who watches the live stream also plays.

I think we're getting away from the point: it isn't about whether people are players, but whether people qualify as fans of D&D if they only read the books or watch the streams or whatever. The whole argument about the definition of "playing" is both entirely tangential to Morrus' edict and a way to circumvent the rule.

If people love D&D, even if all they have ever seen are D&D memes, they are fans of D&D and are welcome in D&D spaces. Full stop.

 

[Olrox17]

They've had a consistent schedule of "two adventures + extra book" since 2015. As far as I can tell 2018 and 2019 only expanded on that. I'm not sure how you can claim that they've slowed down.

So far, the slowest years I've seen are 2019 and 2015, but 2015 came after the big 3 cores of 2014, so it's understandable. I checked 2018, and it is pretty much comparable to 2016, so I stand corrected on that. Here's hoping for a big 2020.

 

[Morrus]

So far, the slowest years I've seen are 2019 and 2015, but 2015 came after the big 3 cores of 2014, so it's understandable. I checked 2018, and it is pretty much comparable to 2016, so I stand corrected on that. Here's hoping for a big 2020.

2019? There were four hardcovers in 2019, plus two boxed sets. Eberron, Avernus, Aacquisitions Inc, Saltmarsh. Plus the Stranger Things, and Rick & Morty boxed sets. (I'm not counting Tyranny of Dragons revised). It was the busiest year so far.

 

[prabe]

2019? There were four hardcovers in 2019, plus two boxed sets. Eberron, Avernus, Aacquisitions Inc, Saltmarsh. Plus the Stranger Things, and Rick & Morty boxed sets. (I'm not counting Tyranny of Dragons revised). It was the busiest year so far.

And none of those was non-setting content (other than maybe a few pages). Those of us who write our own settings and adventures find those books less than useful. I really don't want to pay ~$50 for ten pages (if that) I'll use.

 

[Morrus]

And none of those was non-setting content (other than maybe a few pages). Those of us who write our own settings and adventures find those books less than useful. I really don't want to pay ~$50 for ten pages (if that) I'll use.

Wasn't really the point. I was responding to the claim that "the last two years, 2019 especially, have been slow even compared to Wotc's new slower standards" and "So far, the slowest years I've seen are 2019 and 2015". Whether they were setting books or not didn't come into it.

 

[Henry]

And none of those was non-setting content (other than maybe a few pages). Those of us who write our own settings and adventures find those books less than useful. I really don't want to pay ~$50 for ten pages (if that) I'll use.

When you say, "non-setting content", are you speaking of mechanical content, or mechanical content that doesn't reference setting-specific IP? If we're talking mechanics as a whole, Eberron has a BOATLOAD of mechanical material included, probably 50 pages worth or more. However, if you're thinking of the Dragonmarked-related material (race variants, magic items, etc.) as not counting, it's still quite a bit, including an entire new class and three subclasses for it. I'd suggest that even the dragonmark-specific stuff is quite useful for homebrews, for reskinning if nothing else.

 

[Henry]

In a different vein, would anyone here argue that people who only watch the streaming shows aren't real D&D fans? There used to be similar arguments a couple of decades ago about people who only read the D&D novels (e.g. Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms novels.) Personally, while I think such people are missing out on something super-fun, I don't consider them any less fans of the material, and are probably better than me or some other long-term grognards on the Dragonlance or FR lore, to boot.