Unique British aspects of D&D in the UK?

[Riquez]

I am British. I grew up with AD&D. I left the UK for almost 20 years. I have recently returned.

What I notice is that UK RPG players seems to be generally more Old School in that people do less Role Play, Less voices. They concentrate on solving problems & testing theories.
This is how I experienced RPGs before I left the UK in the 80s & 90s & its the same when I returned in 2021

When I lived overseas I played RPG with a lot of people from various countries, US, Mainland Europe, Asia,
Everyone seemed a bit 'higher level' in terms of character persona, personality, etc People would do voices, pull faces & do a lot of in character conversations.
I found it quite a challenge to overcome my embarrassment & do that with strangers. But it was a good experience.

In the group I run now in the UK, I encouraged more roleplay & everyone has easily embraced that. So perhaps its just that some groups dont or they are more reserved? Or perhaps I havent played in enough UK groups since i returned?

I dont think either is better or worse, somewhere in the middle is best.

 

[PrunellaUK]

As an older Briton who has recently played in paid games, mostly with Americans, what I've noticed most starkly is the generational gap. When dealing with youngsters, that gap is clearly COVID- and YouTube-influenced, in that the younger generation have grown up with Critical Role, at a time when ftf games were suppressed, and that's what's influenced their tastes. They lean much more towards online play with a lot of roleplaying when out of combat. Indeed, they might not be socialised to play FtF at all! VTTs also have some influence in that they tend to make the young think of games in terms of software tactical games. There's definitely a lean towards combat there.

As for transatlantic differences, they do exist. Certain words, like the use of 'fag' for cigarettes, draws gasps the first time I used them. Certain idioms get commented on. And I think there might be a Yank leaning towards a lot of therapy-speak in sessions. But again, the latter might be more generational than national. At 61 perhaps I'm just old...