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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scott Christian" data-source="post: 8854353" data-attributes="member: 6901101">I am going to approach this from my two local game shops and the years I have running various high school D&D clubs. I will start with the latter:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Young people watch a lot of online play. A lot! And the DMs watch even more. Of the past two high schools (one with four groups and one with three) - all of them want to create their own world and campaign. All refuse to run anything printed. And all but one dresses like Mercer. Over 50% fail. This leaves a lot of disappointed players. These young players and DMs are not learning together, and in the end, it leads to DMs leaving and players looking for a new DM. But, being they are all young, few are willing to step-up for social reasons most of us can't comprehend anymore.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gamestore had D&D every Wednesday (9 tables) and Saturday 4 tables). The DMs grew tired of players wanting to use everything, including third party materials. Several stopped altogether because they also had home campaigns. This left two DMs that were good and a few that most of us wouldn't play with. (Not being mean, but some people just don't have the skill set to run a D&D game, much less a campaign. Some can't read the room, some cross too many boundaries, some are too slow and can't think on their feet, and some show too much bias.) So two DMs won't cut it. So they hired a company to come in and run their games now. The other game store kind of actively discouraged people from running their own games (which would probably lead to DMs accepting new players). They too, hired this same outside company. Which leads me to a point: I have played with a paid DM (for an entire campaign) to see what it was like. It is not the same game. One player whines, and that player gets a magic item. One player wants a dragon, they will eventually get a dragon. People paying $25 a session feel they have certain rights, and if they are new players, they perceive the game from this viewpoint.</li> </ul>So DM delusion? Player delusion? DM burnout? Increase in player base from both DM burnout and new recruits? Players just being more choosy? I am not sure if it is any of those. But those are my experiences and observations.</blockquote>

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