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Message: <blockquote data-quote="koga305" data-source="post: 6715689" data-attributes="member: 6747640">Lots of good discussion! It's certainly interesting to hear from folks with a lot of experience with AL. Kalani, it's great to hear from an AL Coordinator about this! I agree that there's a lot more going on here than Angry realizes. In addition, I realize that the AL staff doesn't control what WotC does with the hardcover mega-adventures, and I don't think anyone is blaming you all for any real or perceived problems with them.That said, not sure I agree with your point that individual stores/groups can just offer different adventures for new players. Sure, they can, but isn't that an indicator that the default isn't working? Certainly it seems like WotC is focusing its marketing on Encounters, as that's the only way to get the special faction kits, and the Encounters adventures are much more nicely presented and edited than the Expeditions. It's rather counterintuitive to me that the thing WotC is pushing for new players actually isn't as good an option for new players.I agree that the "jailbreak" adventure theme isn't that bad in and of itself - I rather like it as an introduction to D&D on the whole. I also agree that the problem is not as much on the player side. Rather, I think between the many complex NPCs, the unfamiliar setting, and the particular brutality of drow (making it easy to shut down players' actions and plans), it's easy for an inexperienced DM to make mistakes, especially when you add in the complexity of breaking it into encounters sessions and dealing with players who weren't there every week.Point taken. However, I think the nature of Out of the Abyss makes it much more difficult to run - it isn't just the jailbreak concept, it's the many different "new and different". Clearly a fantastic DM can, with enough prep work, make just about anything fun for players of various experience levels. But Encounters isn't populated by just fantastic DMs - there are also a whole lot of new DMs, or DMs with weaknesses in certain areas, or just all-around mediocre DMs.When you give an adventure this complex to an inexperienced DM, it's much more likely that something the players do will throw them off, or they'll make a mistake that results in people having a bad time. I have read reports of various players walking away frustrated from season 3 Encounters because they didn't understand what was going on or they didn't feel like they could make a difference to the situation. That's dangerous - Encounters is a whole lot of people's first experience with D&D, and their first impression could make the difference between a lifelong player and someone walking away from the game. Isn't Encounters supposed to be about welcoming new players to the game?Not sure I agree with you. Angry is definitely taking advantage of a unique, rant-y style to attract attention. However, he makes a lot of strong points that shouldn't be discounted just because of his style. The guy isn't being negative for no reason - if you read his stuff, it seems pretty clear that his goal is to give genuinely good advice and help change RPG culture for the better.In addition, I personally find that his style makes his work more interesting to read. The "Angry Rants" tend to be very negative in tone, but he's actually published a lot of really helpful content on his main site - for an example, I'd recommend his <a href="http://theangrygm.com/how-to-build-awesome-encounters/" target="_blank">article on encounter building</a>.</blockquote>

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