tail wags dog: streamers want to say 'aaargh' so we are getting a pirate adventure

[GameOgre]

I am the OP's friend with the theory!

Context:
I own every published physical 5th edition product so far and l have them all on Beyond. I have played in or run every AP so far and am currently DMing DotMM (Level 14), run a 9 table Adventurers League night, co-host a D&D (not actual play) podcast and spend countless €€€€ on out of print and third party products every month. I am as hardcore a fan as it gets really!

What streamers represent is a rarified version of a playstyle that Wizards are trying to cater for. Witness the Season 8 AL modules, particulary Once in Waterdeep and the first two Tier 1 trilogies. They explicity push a type of slapstick, extra playstyle. The OP, I guess, is saying that this drive to cater for heavy RP doesn't suit everyone and is part of a move to cater to a wider audience. And again, while that particular playstyle isn't for me, if it means continued health and expansion of the game I will suffer the move to cater for it.


Any time you tell someone that they are playing the wrong game, even with your preface of 'I don't want to be a jerk but' I think you need to have a bit of a look at yourself.

Nope.Because a great many people do indeed play the wrong game. They spend years for a wide number of reasons playing a game or edition that really doesn't suite them. They get upset and frustrated often not knowing what is wrong only that something doesn't work right.
I was not saying that for any other reason than perhaps there might be a small chance that he is one of those"going by his issues" and the even smaller chance he would take anyone's advice from a online message board,

I find it strange in fact that you would make your last statement.

Any time you tell someone that they are playing the wrong game,

That is just crazy. If I told you I really wanted to play a tactical game of war and was frustrated that go fish was so hard to get to work like that...you would tell me to keep playing?

There are a ton of different rpg's of all kinds of styles and flavors, it is no crime to suggest that someone might be playing a game not well suited to them and that perhaps they should try out another one.

Having heard other people make those same remarks and then finally after much aggravation changing games and becoming much more happy with there rpg. I figured i might try and see if I could save the man some time.

 

[Charlaquin]

*Grognard even more originally comes from the Napoleonic wars - "grognard" means "grumbler", and they were the soldiers who were in Napoleon's first Imperial Guard, and were in the final charge at Waterloo.

I mean, this was the wird’s original meaning, but it eventually came to be a more generic term for an old soldier. Likewise, gorignard may have originally meant the folks who didn’t want to adopt 2e, but it has since become a general term for gamers who stick with outdated rulesets when new ones become a available. When I was an edition soldier, “Grognard” mostly referred to 3e/PF fans. Nowadays the 4e crowd could be considered grognards.

 

[Henry]

If I had to come up with a conspiracy theory between WotC and CR, it'd be that WotC let Mr. Mercer know they were working on ship stuff and he ran with it.

Rather than the other direction.

...and likely not even that; given their current timetable, they’re going to be done with their shipfaring before the ship based supplement even hits the market (they’re close to resolving that storyline probably within the next month or so). The players drive the campaign direction, not Matt, and they decided back in September or so to head south to avoid a major war coming. They had plot hooks pointing that way, but they chose it, not the other way around. I really don’t see the level of collusion that others are seeing, but I follow the show as well as the discussion show, and he’s made it clear that he runs fairly sandbox on their choices.

 

[Henry]

In its original use in the RPG set, no, not really. It isn't just about how long you've been gaming (and, you're about a decade short, there, to qualify), but also about where you came from before that. The truest grognards are the ones who came at D&D like Gygax - from wargaming, back in the days of Basic and early 1e. And it is also about attitude. If you're not grumbling* about all the newfangled stuff in 2E, you're not a grognard.

By that definition, Diaglo would have been one of the few to qualify, as he called that stuff from 1978 “new-fangled”. I do miss him around here....

 

[Mouseferatu]

I am particularly taken by the OP's friends psychic powers--as demonstrated by his ability to judge and define the playstyle encouraged by something he doesn't watch, and then to envision the changes WotC will be making in the future based on that--and I beg him to utilize his gifts for my benefit, and tell me when I might expect a publisher to purchase the novel my agent is currently shopping around.

Or, barring that, some winning lottery numbers.

 

[5ekyu]

In its original use in the RPG set, no, not really. It isn't just about how long you've been gaming (and, you're about a decade short, there, to qualify), but also about where you came from before that. The truest grognards are the ones who came at D&D like Gygax - from wargaming, back in the days of Basic and early 1e. And it is also about attitude. If you're not grumbling* about all the newfangled stuff in 2E, you're not a grognard.

But, you know, language weakens, generalizes, and loses meaning over time. Call yourself what you want.




*Grognard even more originally comes from the Napoleonic wars - "grognard" means "grumbler", and they were the soldiers who were in Napoleon's first Imperial Guard, and were in the final charge at Waterloo.

"But, you know, language weakens, generalizes, and loses meaning over time. Call yourself what you want. "

That is quite literally true.

 

[GothicEmperor]

I'm already ignoring the majority of the release schedule and not following streamers, just having semi-regular games of D&D at my brother's house. I hope I'm not playing the game wrong.

 

[5ekyu]

...and likely not even that; given their current timetable, they’re going to be done with their shipfaring before the ship based supplement even hits the market (they’re close to resolving that storyline probably within the next month or so). The players drive the campaign direction, not Matt, and they decided back in September or so to head south to avoid a major war coming. They had plot hooks pointing that way, but they chose it, not the other way around. I really don’t see the level of collusion that others are seeing, but I follow the show as well as the discussion show, and he’s made it clear that he runs fairly sandbox on their choices.

Nope - you are Nott taking this back enough, since we saw sailor shipwreck sinking background element as far back as the first couple of episodes which means it pre-dsted the airing when Trsvis took the background path and Patton choice he did.

So, really, the power driving the WotC-Hasbro-Gaming-Media-Complex is TRAVIS, the point man for a secretive cabal of oil rich Texans working behind the scenes - likely led by the Lich of one J R Ewing.

Cue that music...

https://youtu.be/I1kHnDNoa18


God, If one of them reads this and one of their comedic one-shots uses a Dallas-based prime-time-soap theme, that would be so very awesome.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

...and likely not even that.

I very much agree. Which is why I said that "If I had to come up with a conspiracy theory between WotC and CR." I was just playing the "WotC and Streamers are in Cahoots!" game.

Personally? I think the two are quite separate and distinct. Naval D&D is something that just happens.

 

[akr71]

I'm not even mad. My players begged me to run a pirate campaign, so this plays right into it.

My son has been petitioning his mother and sister for the same. "The next campaign we should be pirates!" and that was well in advance of Critical Role stealing a ship.

In fact, to think that WotC suddenly changed gears and rushed to get a 'sea-faring' book on the go once they saw CR is unrealistic. Its been in the works for months, maybe longer. The Unearthed Arcana coming out at the same time as CR's pirate escapades is pure coincidence too. Well, Ii could see Matt Mercer having an inside track and agreeing to playtest some stuff for WotC