D&D 5E Toxicity in the Fandom

[AnotherGuy]

Most forum threads mutate into something completely different; apparently people have a lot to talk about!

I'm just fascinated how many pages the trouble with halfling thread is accumulating. Sadly, I just don't have the time sink to invest into what the current convo is, but I'm sure it's good.

 

[James Gasik]

I'm just fascinated how many pages the trouble with halfling thread is accumulating. Sadly, I just don't have the time sink to invest into what the current convo is, but I'm sure it's good.

You're not missing much, basically it's devolved into posters who say "halflings have terrible racials/terrible lore and I can't do anything with them as is" and posters who say "halflings might need a few tweeks/are fine, we use them just fine". There's not much traction in the debate at the moment.

 

[pemerton]

If someone's always positive though there's not much point in talking to them as you already know what they're gonna say.

This isn't my experience at all.

There are posters I interact with on these boards who are always positive about the RPGs they're playing, the techniques they're using, the different experiences they're enjoying. And they very often have new insights. Interacting with these posters has had a huge, positive, impact on my own RPGing.

 

[Zardnaar]

This isn't my experience at all.

There are posters I interact with on these boards who are always positive about the RPGs they're playing, the techniques they're using, the different experiences they're enjoying. And they very often have new insights. Interacting with these posters has had a huge, positive, impact on my own RPGing.

My statement wasn't meant to be an absolute ymmv of course

 

[Vaalingrade]

You're not missing much, basically it's devolved into posters who say "halflings have terrible racials/terrible lore and I can't do anything with them as is" and posters who say "halflings might need a few tweeks/are fine, we use them just fine". There's not much traction in the debate at the moment.

So just like the literal exact same thread about it we had last year?

 

[payn]

So just like the literal exact same thread about it we had last year?

 

[James Gasik]

So just like the literal exact same thread about it we had last year?

I wasn't there for that one, but probably?

“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose above the great mountainous island of Tremalking. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.”​

 

[Manbearcat]

This isn't my experience at all.

There are posters I interact with on these boards who are always positive about the RPGs they're playing, the techniques they're using, the different experiences they're enjoying. And they very often have new insights. Interacting with these posters has had a huge, positive, impact on my own RPGing.

Yeah, this concept of negativity-by-way-of-toxic-positivity is alien to me both in physical aspects of my real life and my gaming life.

Life is pretty damn mentally challenging in a myriad of ways as-is. And filled with pain and loss. And over before you know it. Give me infectious positivity (including someone with a persistent, infectious, genuine smile and an easy laugh) and micro-focus, belief/purpose all day any day, please (I could personally use the offset…I don’t need amplification of my own worst tendencies). The climbing community and martial arts community are generally filled with happy and healthy people. Being around them is rejuvenating and invigorating. That is not a happy accident.

Like you, my interactions with particular posters breaking down systems/techniques they love and analyzing their own play excerpts to break them down for others (and expose areas where they could improve) is extremely positive, rewarding and helpful to my TTRPG experience. Running games for (at that point) strangers in games they have low familiarity with to experience their joy is an extremely rewarding, positive experience.

What isn’t rewarding is all the negativity with scorched earth, 6+ year edition warring against 4e being the absolute zenith…the absolute mother load (here, social media, at game stores, randomly IRL). What isn’t rewarding is all the negativity that some GMs on here routinely express about how much their players suck and how much those players wreck their games. Don’t know where all of these terrible players are (I don’t run into them and I run games for a lot of people…I guess that makes me toxically positive!), but apparently the hobby is full of them given the breadth and vigor of the testimony!

 

[Thomas Shey]

You're not missing much, basically it's devolved into posters who say "halflings have terrible racials/terrible lore and I can't do anything with them as is" and posters who say "halflings might need a few tweeks/are fine, we use them just fine". There's not much traction in the debate at the moment.

Well, any hobby argument devolves into positions that have no movement given long enough because of irreconcilable differences in perspective; essentially, after saying their piece and seeing what else someone might have that's useful, anyone with potential meeting of the minds drops out, and what's left is people who usually people who find the core position of the others faulty, and keep banging up against that because they can't believe it can't be moved.

Its when the majority of a discussion starts that way that you generally have a problem.

 

[Thomas Shey]

What isn’t rewarding is all the negativity with scorched earth, 6+ year edition warring against 4e being the absolute zenith…the absolute mother load (here, social media, at game stores, randomly IRL). What isn’t rewarding is all the negativity that some GMs on here routinely express about how much their players suck and how much those players wreck their games. Don’t know where all of these terrible players are (I don’t run into them and I run games for a lot of people…I guess that makes me toxically positive!), but apparently the hobby is full of them given the breadth and vigor of the testimony!

While I agree about the first part, as I've noted before, its entirely possible for some people to encounter problems in the field (and sometimes frequently) that other people never see. The inability of people to believe the opposite situation doesn't exist does most discussions no favors. It often turns into one or both deciding the other is being either blind to reality or disingenuous, and no discussion is helped by either of those positions.