The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I miss the old DIY days. Yes, I know it’s still there. Behind the scenes and under the surface. And no, DIY is not the same as hundreds of 3PP pumping out products.

The DIY scene is still there, largely on (amazingly) Blogster.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In a world full of Sackville-Baggins, be a Took.

 

[Deset Gled]

According to the inflation calculator that’s equivalent to $61 today. Considering that was the whole game in 1974, I’m feeling even more ripped off that about the same amount of money covers slightly more than 1/3 of the game now.

In 1974, wasn't it the whole game. It was just the expansion set to another game (Chainmail). D&D started as the equivalent of a $61 DLC package.

 

[overgeeked]

The DIY scene is still there, largely on (amazingly) Blogster.

And reddit, and discord, and...

I'm more referring to being front and center to the hobby. Not a secondary thing you have to go looking for or stumble across.

In 1974, wasn't it the whole game. It was just the expansion set to another game (Chainmail).

The 1974 OD&D box came with an alternate combat system so you didn't need Chainmail to run it.

D&D started as the equivalent of a $61 DLC package.

Uh, no. Dave Arneson's Blackmoor game (which eventually became D&D) was started before Chainmail was published. Gygax listed Chainmail in OD&D as a way to boost sales of his other game.

 

[darjr]

1974: A DIY hobby consisting mostly in the shared imagination of players and the trading of fan zines*
2024: Fully monetized, self-proclaimed "lifestyle brand." Fans cheer the opportunity to spend more money and proclaim the inherent benevolence of multinational corporations.

...Progress?

* "Soon though, Gary came to hate APAs like A&E. Partly, he seemed to see APAs as ringleaders for thieves, and not just the sort who—in Gary’s estimation—stole a ride on his coattales. Remember that Lee Gold started with a photocopy of the D&D rules. Early on, copies of D&D, especially outside of TSR’s reach in the Midwest, proved scarce. The $10 price of the original box struck many gamers as outrageous. In the first issues of Alarums & Excursions, some contributors argued that TSR’s profiteering justified Xerox copies of the D&D rules."

Well, two things.

Alarums & Excursions, as far as I know, has never been free generally and only "recently" started offering PDF (I think it was 2016). Oh and if you want the PDF it comes with a vow and a price.

If you vow not to send copies to other people, you may opt to receive A&E as a set of emailed files, mostly Word97, or as all PDF files (specify which version you want): $2 per issue.

Note the above is irregardless of it's quality, personally I think it's a treasure trove, mostly for histories sake. But there are glorious gems in there. Have you ever purchased one?

The other:

This site I support technically, for free currently mind you, is a pillar of a company that has it's whole own version of 5e D&D with a very awesome SRD under the OGL. An SRD that you can use for free. While I have nothing directly to do with it I'm proud I can help even if it's tangentially and in a very small way. In fact the hobby is a-flush with the above kind of thing and people adding their contributions in the very same heart as you point to in the first and try to deny in the second. Maybe even some of the very people you've tried to skewer.

 

[darjr]

And I forgot to post a link to A&E which is still going.

ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS (updated July 2021)

 

[overgeeked]

Horror fans don’t complain about too much horror in horror media. But people who don’t like horror do complain at length about too much horror in horror media. So, maybe, you know, if you don’t like horror don’t play in the horror setting and then complain about it having too much horror.

 

[prabe]

Horror fans don’t complain about too much horror in horror media. But people who don’t like horror do complain at length about too much horror in horror media. So, maybe, you know, if you don’t like horror don’t play in the horror setting and then complain about it having too much horror.

Maybe the objection isn't "too much horror."

 

[darjr]

I'm sorry I laughed. It's not my fault.

I thought it was a new popcorn giff of some sort. I DID!

 

[Asisreo]

Ah yes, that tired old "I keep getting in trouble for telling the truth, so I can only sulk here in silence" argument.
Funny how the only folks complaining about "being silenced" are the ones who have been holding all of the microphones for centuries.

These types have a hard time differentiating being silenced versus being ignored.