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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5766078" data-attributes="member: 2067">He is human, but there are a few other things that separate the standards of content for a DMG over the standards of content for a fan-site message board.Among them:1) James Wyatt was presumably hired in part because he displayed a certain level of knowledge and skill with D&D that is unusual. That makes his advice much stronger than some random fan-site's. 2) James Wyatt was presumably paid to write the DMG to the best of his ability. Most posters aren't paid for their opinions.3) The DMG is a core document of a game system. A message board post is not.4) A D&D book goes through several layers of editing and vetting. A message board post does not....I'm a little shocked that I need to explain the tremendous gulf separating the DMG from a message board post, and why we should expect more of the former than of the latter, honestly. I mean, if Wyatt came on ENWorld and posted that paragraph, I think he'd mostly get apathy (and maybe some spirited debate). The DMG, though, is a whole 'nother ball game.He doesn't get to set those rules. He provides a toolset for fun, and it's not up to him what we do with it. If he's a good presenter of these rules, he will acknowledge that he doesn't know how the product should be used -- he can only provide the platform. We provide the fun. The public gets to say how we will use this product. And if we use it to talk to guards, go through faerie rings, and explore catacombs, he doesn't have a Fun Police that can enforce his preferred use of the product. Part of what is great about D&D is that every game is an immensely personal experience, unique to that group, in that moment, experiencing it. That's part of what makes D&D The Best Game (IMO). Enter the recent buzz about 5e: a game with modular rules, where any group can set a multitude of dials for whatever they really want from the game, without worrying about what James Wyatt (or anyone else) thinks they SHOULD be doing. Also, I should point out, that no one is suggesting taking this thought to its ultimate end. Rather, what is being suggested is that Wyatt (or any DMG writer) would be better served explicitly mentioning the variables, in this instance, since he is talking from a position of authority. Finally, it is not Wyatt's (or anyone's) place to tell anybody what they have fun doing, any more than it is my place to tell you what your opinion on the Occupy movement is. Fun is a subjective experience, not an objective one, and no one has any authority to tell you how to feel about it. It is yours to have, not his to give.What he CAN do is help create an environment that fosters as much fun as possible. But he does that by creating a platform, not by dictating a result. He can't MAKE me have fun, and he can't STOP me from having fun, so he shouldn't pretend or imagine or even dream that this is possible, for him to do, to anyone.It is like a tween trying to understand love. No, dear, you can't MAKE her fall in love with you. That is HERS to do, or not. You can be more lovable, perhaps, but it is still not your choice, it is hers. This is what living in a world with other autonomous human beings means. You can't control their emotions and choices.</blockquote>

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