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Only the Lonely: Why We Demand Official Product
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<blockquote data-quote="Stormonu" data-source="post: 7899119" data-attributes="member: 52734"><p>Can’t speak for others, but this has been my experience.</p><p></p><p>1) Because Gygax said to buy official D&D only. Don’t laugh. This was straight from the 1E DMG, and in the day (I was merely 15 or so), I took it to heart that “the other guys” didn’t make stuff as good as TSR. Of course, back in those days, I hadn’t seen anything from the “other guys” nor know who was being referred to (judges Guild, Aurduine, etc.). Even in 2E I shied away from 3PP products from the likes of Rolemasters because their product just didn’t seem to have the same quality or polish as “official” D&D. By 3E and the SRD/d20 glut, I had kicked that habit.</p><p></p><p>2) Most home brew material/3PP is poorly balanced (most especially my own). Years of listening to what other DMs/Players have made up for their own games have made me suspicious of anything that doesn’t come from WotC/TSR. I mostly got over that when the Complete Book of Elves was published in 2E And proved that even “official” products could be trash. Still, I tend to cast a darkly discerning eye on anything that doesn’t have the official 5E imprint on it’s cover - even stuff from Unearthed Arcana is suspect.</p><p></p><p>3) Reduce Bloat. After the glut of books in 2E and then 3E, I’ve settled down to make peace that the fewer books I use in the game, the easier it is to run said game. I try to restrict my games nowadays to the core rulebook(s) and whatever adventure I’m running. I actively try to discourage players from pulling bits and pieces from beyond that small pool and declaring “official only” let’s me sneakily do that.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stormonu, post: 7899119, member: 52734"] Can’t speak for others, but this has been my experience. 1) Because Gygax said to buy official D&D only. Don’t laugh. This was straight from the 1E DMG, and in the day (I was merely 15 or so), I took it to heart that “the other guys” didn’t make stuff as good as TSR. Of course, back in those days, I hadn’t seen anything from the “other guys” nor know who was being referred to (judges Guild, Aurduine, etc.). Even in 2E I shied away from 3PP products from the likes of Rolemasters because their product just didn’t seem to have the same quality or polish as “official” D&D. By 3E and the SRD/d20 glut, I had kicked that habit. 2) Most home brew material/3PP is poorly balanced (most especially my own). Years of listening to what other DMs/Players have made up for their own games have made me suspicious of anything that doesn’t come from WotC/TSR. I mostly got over that when the Complete Book of Elves was published in 2E And proved that even “official” products could be trash. Still, I tend to cast a darkly discerning eye on anything that doesn’t have the official 5E imprint on it’s cover - even stuff from Unearthed Arcana is suspect. 3) Reduce Bloat. After the glut of books in 2E and then 3E, I’ve settled down to make peace that the fewer books I use in the game, the easier it is to run said game. I try to restrict my games nowadays to the core rulebook(s) and whatever adventure I’m running. I actively try to discourage players from pulling bits and pieces from beyond that small pool and declaring “official only” let’s me sneakily do that. [/QUOTE]
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