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Message: <blockquote data-quote="wingsandsword" data-source="post: 1478505" data-attributes="member: 14159">I think this is fueled by the d20/OGL aspect of the "3e" culture.In 3e, we have seen the following "Official" settings:DragonlanceGreyhawkForgotten RealmsKalamar (I'll be nice and acknowledge it, although many do not since it's not from WotC)EberronThe first Four are classical fantasy settings, roughly the same general Tolkienish concepts.  The fifth is something new, different, and quite honestly, very controversial.  Eberron is very controversial (just read these boards or any other set of RPG boards, like GamingReport or Wizards.com) because while it doesn't remove options (not that I have seen), but because it challenges some of the basic assumptions people have of what is "D&D".  (Oh, when I was talking about no paladins in 2e, I was talking about Dark Sun, which didn't have Paladins, and was as far afield as D&D has ever gotten in terms of changing things)In 2e, official materials presumed that all D&D settings are part of an overarching cosmology which makes infinite crossovers possible via Spelljammer and Planescape.  Dark Sun was particularly hard to reach, and Dragonlance sealed itself off for 5th Age, but the general model was there that D&D was one solid multiverse and everything was parts of a whole.  Now, thanks to the d20 system and the OGL, lots of fantasy themed games have been released which are not D&D and step far away from the basic conceptions of D&D.  If somebody was running an OGL Ancients, Testament or even Conan game they might not refer to it as "D&D" except maybe when trying to explain it to someone only vaguely aware of gaming "Yeah mom, we're playing D&D tonight.".   However, to some people "D&D" is used generically by some to refer to anything fantasy using the d20 system, and by others to refer to the Official WotC D&D books and things directly compatible with them.   If someone says "I'm running a D&D game", I presume it's a game in one of the official worlds, or something in a similar style with similar elements.  If someone says "I'm running a game, it's in a homebrew world using the d20 system", I don't have a lot of preconceptions of what the game is and what the setting is.I think this dichotomy is a real part of the "Third Edition Culture", "D&D" is presumed to include all the core classes and races with at most minor modifications (or one or two may be removed or changed at the very most, ala Halflings/Kender).  New classes may be added, but subtracting is poorly tolerated.  However, the gloves are off if you just call it "d20", and as long as it uses just the same basic mechanics people will accept almost anything (or at least I would).I am stepping away from the issue of GM'ing styles; I think there is too much difference in philosophy and style of roleplaying and gamemastering to do much more than Agree to Disagree in this thread.  Suffice it to say, players and GM's should have the same general philosophy before gaming together, and if they don't, they should seek others to game with.</blockquote>

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