D&D (2024) Why are you still playing D&D?

[Mercurius]

We're now ten plus years into 5th edition and I've heard various whispers of people commenting that it is starting to feel a bit out-dated, perhaps not unlike AD&D in the mid-to-late 90s, after Indie games had innovated in various ways. I could be reading this wrong, of course, or more likely it is a small minority of diehards who consume new games rather voraciously, but...it just seems that there isn't quite the buzz around 2024 that you might expect, even if sales are presumably robust.

Now we have not only the OSR and its descendants, but a variety of well-regarded fantasy games on the market such as the various games by Free League and several others. It even seems that with advances in self-publishing, we're in a bit of a golden era of RPGs, as far as diversity and quality - so it is arguably the best era to be into RPGs, as far as options are concerned.

Yet...D&D still holds a huge percentage of the market share. Other games have fan-bases, but it still seems that no other fantasy game is able to carve out more than a cult following - and of those, probably a lot of folks still play D&D as their main game, if only for convenience.

This thread is NOT meant to be a criticism of D&D or an under-handed way of saying it sux. I'm just curious why folks, especially for long-time players and diehards, are still playing D&D as their primary game, given the wealth of other options.

For the poll, just pick the one or two options that best suit your particular case.

 

[TiQuinn]

But I really miss the 7-layer burrito too.

 

[Micah Sweet]

We're now ten plus years into 5th edition and I've heard various whispers of people commenting that it is starting to feel a bit out-dated, perhaps not unlike AD&D in the mid-to-late 90s, after Indie games had innovated in various ways. I could be reading this wrong, of course, or more likely it is a small minority of diehards who consume new games rather voraciously, but...it just seems that there isn't quite the buzz around 2024 that you might expect, even if sales are presumably robust.

Now we have not only the OSR and its descendants, but a variety of well-regarded fantasy games on the market such as the various games by Free League and several others. It even seems that with advances in self-publishing, we're in a bit of a golden era of RPGs, as far as diversity and quality - so it is arguably the best era to be into RPGs, as far as options are concerned.

Yet...D&D still holds a huge percentage of the market share. Other games have fan-bases, but it still seems that no other fantasy game is able to carve out more than a cult following - and of those, probably a lot of folks still play D&D as their main game, if only for convenience.

This thread is NOT meant to be a criticism of D&D or an under-handed way of saying it sux. I'm just curious why folks, especially for long-time players and diehards, are still playing D&D as their primary game, given the wealth of other options.

For the poll, just pick the one or two options that best suit your particular case.

When you say "D&D", you are referring to WotC's current game, yes? I know you tagged this as 5.5, but that's not always a guarantee.

 

[TwoSix]

Convenience and inertia. Once casual players have gotten familiarity with a system and invested in its infrastructure, it can be hard to move them.

Plus, once you open up the table to new options, you get 5 players wanting 5 different options.

 

[cbwjm]

5e is what my friends are running and I like playing RPGs and hanging out with them. We also have a game of OSE that is semi in motion. DnD (any version) isn't necessarily a requirement for me to play RPGs though, I'm happy to run or play in others.

I tried to get a trial run of savage worlds going with another group, but scheduling put an end to that. We moved the game date so much that in the end we stopped even trying to schedule.

 

[Dragonhelm]

For me, it's familiarity and what I like.

However, it's also about the lore and settings. I am a huge fan of D&D's settings and the lore that goes with them. In particular, Dragonlance.

 

[pukunui]

I answered “other” because right now I honestly don’t really know. Inertia maybe?

EDIT: Also familiarity and sunk costs? I've put a lot of money into 5e books and DDB content, and while I've become less enamored of it of late, no other game I've looked at over the past few months has grabbed my interest either.

 

[Mercurius]

When you say "D&D", you are referring to WotC's current game, yes? I know you tagged this as 5.5, but that's not always a guarantee.

You know, I thought of that right after I posted it. Hmm...I guess 5/5.5?

 

[TiQuinn]

I’m just gonna go with preference and familiarity with convenience close behind followed by the burrito.

 

[R_J_K75]

We are playing 5E 2024 now. Although different from 2014, the system is still familiar to me and my players. D&DB makes it convenient to run and play so far. I don't love or hate 5E its just what's easiest for us at this time. Maps does seem like a good feature to D&DB so that makes prep and play simpler. Whether we keep playing it over any length of time remains to be seen.