Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="innerdude" data-source="post: 7341707" data-attributes="member: 85870">So I made my first real RPG purchase in over three years this week---I picked up a copy of Genesys RPG.I think it's pretty well known around here that I'm a big fan of Savage Worlds. Reading through Genesys evoked the same vibe I got when reading Savage Worlds for the first time. I could easily picture the style of gameplay Genesys was aiming for---fast, narrative, semi-"pulpy" action while still giving characters enough flavor and character-building options to keep things interesting.I honestly felt like Genesys in some ways could be a sideways evolution of Savage Worlds in some respects, though you wouldn't necessarily see it by simply focusing on say, the core resolution mechanics.But later that day, I went downstairs and looked at my RPG shelf, and saw what little 3.x era material I had sitting on it (the FR and Pathfinder campaign settings + a few adventures), and I was struck by this feeling I couldn't quite describe. It was this idea that I was so totally over my past life where 3.x was the ONLY system I'd ever known, and ever wanted to know. It was . . . odd to even look at materials from that time in my life, because they somehow made me . . . melancholy. As if I had to mourn a little bit inside for the poor, naive man I had been in the early 2000s when I had NO IDEA that there were systems out there that would give me way better experiences than D&D 3.x ever did.I'm now so far removed from caring about the actual D&D product line that four months ago I loaned out my 5e PHB to a kid who lives two houses down from me. He came to me maybe two weeks ago and said, "Hey, I'll get that 5e book back to you pretty soon!" and I was like, "Eh, no hurry." Like, if that 5e PHB never actually ends up back in my possession, I will think on it for all of three seconds before shrugging and whispering, "Use your newfound power for good, my lad." The $32 I spent on the book is a small price to pay for the enjoyment the kid will hopefully get out of it.But it got me thinking today a little more about just what it is about the actual D&D rules---from OD&D to 5e (I'm including Pathfinder in this discussion too)---that continues to demand so much mind share amongst the overall gamer population. Why is it so . . . hmmm, what's the word . . . omnipresent even today, especially when I can think of at least six systems off the top of my head that I'd rather play or GM than anything ever published by TSR, WotC, or Paizo?Is it simply the matter of being first? Is it simply too ingrained into the social fabric of the hobby and its participants? Is it nostalgia? Is it the idea that if you're going to "play an RPG," you might as well start with the thing that gave birth to the concept in the first place? Is it that computer RPGs have so liberally cribbed its core conceits that coming to pen-and-paper from computer RPGs is that much easier? Is it that most GMs' collective knowledge of the system is too hard-earned to give up? Is it that the ecosystem of supporting adventure and campaign material is now so ubiquitous that it's just the obvious, easiest choice to get a game up and running?Why does D&D and its offspring continue to have such a vice grip on the hobby, and what is it that stops people from even considering anything else? Because I can honestly say, once I took a look outside the D&D window, I've never looked back.</blockquote>

Verification