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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Luce" data-source="post: 6126793" data-attributes="member: 29760">I think that is one of the points I been trying to engage in conversation about.This is what I think:Shifting demographics: D&D started as an indie. As the IP grew so did the demand and supply. With the increase in quality and quantity of products there came a need to sell more products to justify the cost of investment. WOTC would rather sell 5 books to 5 people (Players side) then 20 books to 1 (the DM side). This has been discussed before, so I will leave it at that. A by product of this is that we see more casual gamers, e.i. people who does not put more then hour or two between sessions on their characters (thinking, planing, reading rules, etc) then show up and play. Nothing wrong with that as they are having fun, or they would have stopped showing up. "Casual GMs": Unfortunately, one of the results of having a more clear, intuitive rules is that with a little effort (almost) anyone can pick up DM-ing. On one hand, I think there are not enough DMs so bringing more into the fold is great, and players tend to become more tolerant and having realistic expectations after seeing what DMs involves. On another hand... some previous editions (such as 1st and 2nd) by creating an artificial high bar of complexity (weapon speed, sometimes needing to roll high other times low to succeed) insured that greater level of dedication was required in order to run a game. Nowadays I occasionally see DMs who does not seem to spend any time outside of game improving their craft. The science (rules) part is very accessible, however the art side of DM ing is not something one can learn from a book, (how to read the mood of the table, improvising, dealing with problem player who is also a friend) those things one can only learn by living through them. I do not want to make it sound like an insurmountable hurdle, but it requires some dedication. Especially in:"Mixed groups":Yet another side of resent changes is that more groups (compared to previous decades) are fluid. When I started gaming in the 90s I like Manbearcat had a dedicated group composed of my friends and peers. We had known each other half our lives and hang out on a daily bases. Gaming was just one more thing we did. Nowadays, more groups starts as strangers who happen to share a common interest and meet in a public venue (as opposed to a private home). More games are episodic. This way there is less pressure to show every week (for players) or run a deep, detail rich campaign (for the DM). While I would like to be a part of a long campaign, this arrangement scratches my gaming itch and avoids the frustration of having more then 1 in 3 gaming nights being canceled due to RL issues.One of the results of this is having a mixed age groups. Parents bring their children to game. In many cases it works out and it is endearing to see the love for gaming being passed on. However, sometimes people do not take into account the age difference while interacting. Especially when providing criticism (constructive or otherwise). For that reason, among others, when facing a group of (near) strangers DMs and players alike tend to rely on game mastery as a basis of interaction. While games have become more portable (easy to switch groups or play with strangers) it also curtails the DM customization (house rules, deep personal plots etc) in favor of consistency.Put another way nowadays there arises a need for explicit social contract in contrast with the implicit one of the past. When you are gaming with long term group you know what the other boundaries and interest are and have established sense of camaraderie. With a pick up group it is harder to tell what hooks will work or that a give person is afraid of spiders for example.</blockquote>

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