D&D 5E Toxicity in the Fandom

[Art Waring]

More importantly, I think it's important to bring this back into the context of the OP. The great thing about TTRPGs when I was growing up is that it was inclusive for many people that were considered outcasts at the time. Sure, "geek culture" is the new hotness now, but it wasn't that way when D&D started. TTRPGs were a welcoming place for people that didn't fit in elsewhere. That it wasn't always welcoming to some (women, POC, LGBTQA+, etc.) doesn't mean that when we think fondly back on the good aspects of older games, we carry with it the baggage of that exclusion.

Really glad to see that many peoples first experiences with the hobby were positive, because mine was not. 2e players where i grew up had absolutely no interest in teaching new players. and they often treated "newbs" with disdain for not understanding how the game worked, despite never having played (I know right?).

I had to learn in a trial by fire, my first characters were fighters, and even with an 18/xx strength I had the worst experiences playing the game. Then, i played a thief, and did nothing but prod floors and walls with ten foot poles. They really weren't making things easy for new players at all.

But, I was still interested in gaming, and shadowrun was our go to game for years. My best experiences of gaming back in the day were mainly playing shadowrun.

No to mention, the groups playing dnd in the area were also all male, and very much part of the "this is a guys hobby" mentality.

Today, we are part of an amazing and diverse community, because we have distanced ourselves from the often toxic origins of the hobby. Kudos!

 

[dragoner]

1984, I remember sitting in the food court of the mall with the other punk rockers, and my stepmother saying how progressive people were because ten years ago the police over there wouldn't have let that black guy talk to a white woman, like you could see what was happening. All the bad things happened within memory. It's like cleaning out the lower storage room on the house in Oakland I was renting, so a friend could stay there, he found a shoe box that belonged to some previous tenant, and inside there was a polaroid of a hanged black person, of just regular tree, maybe even the tree in front of the house! Still makes me shudder.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Really glad to see that many peoples first experiences with the hobby were positive, because mine was not. 2e players where i grew up had absolutely no interest in teaching new players. and they often treated "newbs" with disdain for not understanding how the game worked, despite never having played (I know right?).

I had to learn in a trial by fire, my first characters were fighters, and even with an 18/xx strength I had the worst experiences playing the game. Then, i played a thief, and did nothing but prod floors and walls with ten foot poles. They really weren't making things easy for new players at all.

But, I was still interested in gaming, and shadowrun was our go to game for years. My best experiences of gaming back in the day were mainly playing shadowrun.

No to mention, the groups playing dnd in the area were also all male, and very much part of the "this is a guys hobby" mentality.

Today, we are part of an amazing and diverse community, because we have distanced ourselves from the often toxic origins of the hobby. Kudos!

Unfortunately, it's a tale as old as time.

The people that are excluded band together in solidarity, and eventually find that they have but one true power- to exclude others. There's a reason of the stereotype of the "comic book store guy" or the "record story guy" or the "I saw this band when they were playing in 20-seat bars guy" or the "What, you don't understand the entire history and canon of Star Wars guy."

 

[Mistwell]

And here I thought this thread was going to be about edition warriors in our fandom. Which is where I've seen the largest quantity of toxicity from fans. It's raging now on social media between 5e and PF2e fans.

 

[payn]

And here I thought this thread was going to be about edition warriors in our fandom. Which is where I've seen the largest quantity of toxicity from fans. It's raging now on social media between 5e and PF2e fans.

One of the nice things about the rise of social media like twitter, reddit, facebook, is the E-war chuckle heads have abandoned places like ENworld.

 

[Art Waring]

Unfortunately, it's a tale as old as time.

The people that are excluded band together in solidarity, and eventually find that they have but one true power- to exclude others. There's a reason of the stereotype of the "comic book store guy" or the "record story guy" or the "I saw this band when they were playing in 20-seat bars guy" or the "What, you don't understand the entire history and canon of Star Wars guy."

And that's exactly what happened in the midwest, we were part of the goth/ industrial scene, which was perfectly enmeshed with the LGBTQ and the punk scenes because all of us were excluded from every other group in the area, so we came together and had the greatest times.

 

[James Gasik]

And here I thought this thread was going to be about edition warriors in our fandom. Which is where I've seen the largest quantity of toxicity from fans. It's raging now on social media between 5e and PF2e fans.

Yeah instead, it's 5e fans lashing out against people joining the hobby. "Pandemic Posers" was a comment I saw thrown around a lot. I really have no words.

 

[Jahydin]

Is the idea that contributing to a hobby gives you allowance for a certain amount of potentially dangerous political rhetoric?

Good point!

I guess in mind I do weigh the value of their output with whatever it is I'm in disagreement with. Much easier to pass on an artist I never liked to begin with after all. I guess I shouldn't though...?

But if that's the case, I'd be more inclined to judge artists work solely in a vacuum. For me, I'm always looking for any good that can come from a person, no matter how miserable. Like if someone's only redeemable quality is they write fiction well, I don't really like the idea of taking away the ONE positive output they contribute to the world.

But completely understand others' not wanting anything to do with those they disagree with on moral grounds.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

For what it's worth, I found most people using it derogatorily have postmodernism and/or CRT beliefs in mind.

I've found most people who use "woke" as an insult are miserable arseholes.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I've found most people who use "woke" as an insult are miserable arseholes.

I know quite a few that do it because they were taught it was a bad thing by miserable scumbags and actually have no context for what it is other than 'woke bad'. Like they have all the talking points, but none of the actual scumbag caloric content and they will NOT give their beloved buzzwords up because they get rewarded for it on the internet. It is super weird and concerning.

I've actually walked them through the entire actual definition of woke, asked them a serious of question that proved they themselves were, indeed, woke... and then they immediately started parroting talking points again in chat.