jgsugden
Legend
I've played D&D since 1979. I've spent over 10,000 hours at the table, and more than that planning, on message boards, painting minis, and just talking about the major hobby of my life. I've used the game to create fun for my friends, my family, and perfect strangers. I've used it to create fictional campaign settings filled with inside jokes, to slow build revelations (one in particular was nearly 40 years in the making), and invest decades of my creative juices. D&D is the cornerstone of something that is very personal, very meaningful, and very important to me.
Yes, I can lift and shift most of that and use it in a new system. I've done that in every edition after all. However, even if I do so - there is a real emotional attachment to it being D&D. When people asked me about it, I did not describe it as an RPG game - I said it was a D&D game. And, as much as I defined it, the things that took place in D&D also shaped and defined me in so many ways - in terms of fostering creativity, in making friendships, and in teaching life skills. Despite how much the game has changed - it has always been D&D, and I've had a 'next D&D game' on my schedule every moment of my life since the early 80s. I've long imagined a day when I was retired in a community sitting around a table with 4 or 5 people playing D&D. It has been a huge part of my past, present and the vision of my future.
So now, when everyone talks about murdering the game, about the death of D&D, about where to walk to when stepping over the corpse of D&D - remember that there are people that have a real emotional investment in D&D - and no matter how this shakes out, they're taking a huge hit these days. Even if a 3rd party comes out with an amazing game - far better than any edition of D&D has ever been - some of them are going to feel the loss of the name D&D, and the continuity of their experience over the decades.
This isn't going to be how everyone feels - but some of us are feeling a real pain over this situation. I'm just asking people to consider that when they write about the situation.
Yes, I can lift and shift most of that and use it in a new system. I've done that in every edition after all. However, even if I do so - there is a real emotional attachment to it being D&D. When people asked me about it, I did not describe it as an RPG game - I said it was a D&D game. And, as much as I defined it, the things that took place in D&D also shaped and defined me in so many ways - in terms of fostering creativity, in making friendships, and in teaching life skills. Despite how much the game has changed - it has always been D&D, and I've had a 'next D&D game' on my schedule every moment of my life since the early 80s. I've long imagined a day when I was retired in a community sitting around a table with 4 or 5 people playing D&D. It has been a huge part of my past, present and the vision of my future.
So now, when everyone talks about murdering the game, about the death of D&D, about where to walk to when stepping over the corpse of D&D - remember that there are people that have a real emotional investment in D&D - and no matter how this shakes out, they're taking a huge hit these days. Even if a 3rd party comes out with an amazing game - far better than any edition of D&D has ever been - some of them are going to feel the loss of the name D&D, and the continuity of their experience over the decades.
This isn't going to be how everyone feels - but some of us are feeling a real pain over this situation. I'm just asking people to consider that when they write about the situation.
