Why do you care so much about so little?

[Kzach]

Over the last few months I've lost interest in posting here because of the constant and somewhat obsessive focus of discussions on the minutia of WotC's inner-workings. Speculation on the well-being of the hobby and it's corporate entities has always been rife but it seems that with the introduction of 4e edition, there was a paradigm shift in the online hobbyist culture that leaned heavily towards intricate criticism of every minor aspect of the company's decisions and business transactions.

It's almost as if there was a sudden in-rush of stockholders, all clamouring to be heard above the din of other stockholders who's concerns about their share price were all equally valid and needing to be heard.

Only... nobody was a stockholder...

Now, I understand a certain level of emotional investment in a hobby; I engaged in many of these speculative arguments myself but the difference between myself and many others, I feel, was that I quickly realised the futility of it all. At first I didn't see this because I felt it was par for the course discussion, but when I started to see that it was actually a cultural shift towards some sort of obsessive investigative and 99% speculative and uninformed gossip-mongering, I slowly backed away.

It just seems to me that these days I come to the forums and check the topics and see a majority of the topics have little to nothing to do with discussing how cool or trash X product is, but it's about the politics of WotC or their business decisions and the death of the company, and or why it or their decisions suck. It's almost as if people have been personally offended by the company and are seeking some sort of compensation. Or possibly a dividend.

When can we get back to the real discussion about our hobby and all the cool stuff about it?

 

[caudor]

I see your point, although this community has plenty of nerds in it . I recall starting a thread a while back about why heroes wear capes. To my surprize the responses came page after page after page. That's just what we do.

We would probably be speculating on product X and product Y right now if they had not disappeared (rather suddenly) from the release schedule.

Recent events indicate more is afoot than everyday business decisions. Many folks can sense something big in the works. And many folks are very emotionally and financially invested in this hobby.

Beyond that, I really can't tell you why we care, but it seems we do. There are still many threads discussing D&D specific stuff (like that Vecna article) and I've been reading them too.

 

[Ourph]

When can we get back to the real discussion about our hobby and all the cool stuff about it?

Unfortunately, it seems like the answer may be never. Even forums for long out-of-print versions of D&D (places where, theoretically, the participants shouldn't be invested at all in what WotC does at this point) are rife with people talking about WotC's every move. But I agree with you that the overabundance of discussion regarding WotC's business decisions is really annoying.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Thanks but I do care about my hobby. And what WOTC does has an impact on my hobby, my corner of the hobby, shall I say? If it does not on have an impact on yours, then I support your decision to not say anything about it.

The forum has changed, as everything changes. I remember back in 3.5 age when every new book was devoured and discussed and analyzed for 500 posts. Each and every book. But now, you are lucky to get 50 posts about a new release. Things change.

What WOTC is going to do in the near future will signal a shift in the hobby. Or at least I think it well could. WOTC is still the majority of the hobby, especially for those who are new gamers and new to the game. What happens there IS important.

You want to see what I really don't care about, see my 0 posts on football, religion, politics and the like elsewhere on the interwebs.

 

[Dykstrav]

For starters, I think we share a bit of a kindred spirit in this thing, Kzach. I try to check ENWorld every once in a while because the information here can be useful, but there are also times where I disappear for months on end because of either real-life things or because I get tired of seeing the same dead horses beaten into a bloody pulp (repeatedly).

In short... My impression is that people speculate and talk about the politics and business of the game so much because it's honestly more interesting to them than the products that are being released. Even many ardent 4E supporters have found the latest releases either a) lackluster; or b) too few and far apart.

It's also worth noting that some bridges have been burned between WotC and D&D fans. Whether by the players or the company, the net effect is the same. Cadres of disenfranchised players that enjoy classic versions of the game hold to a thin sliver of hope that WotC will eventually produce a game that they want to play again. Conversely, many 4E fans are less than thrilled with Dungeons & Dragons Insider (among other issues) and feel just as disenfranchised.

So now we have a situation where the various factions of the edition war have found some common ground. I'm not terribly surprised that speculation and discussion of the business and politics surrounding the game has gotten to be a hot topic lately.

 

[SlyDoubt]

The reason you see no posts about how cool or not cool new products are is because there are no new products.

Oops.

People want to discuss what the hell has become of their hobby. What's odd about that? The game is floundering around with no clear solution or plan in sight. Anyone who has been playing the game for a while and invested a lot of time and money in it would be concerned.

 

[Ryujin]

We care so much about so little because what is so little to you, isn't necessarily so to us

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

It's almost as if there was a sudden in-rush of stockholders, all clamouring to be heard above the din of other stockholders who's concerns about their share price were all equally valid and needing to be heard.

Only... nobody was a stockholder...

Most of us may not be stockholders in the company, but we are all stakeholders in the hobby. I would argue that that is even more important; without interested parties to sell a product to, there can be no company to do the selling, and thus, no stockholders to profit by it.

Quite frankly, we talk about it because we care about the industry, and where it's heading.

It's only an issue at all because right now, we're all pretty much in the dark about that. The leading company in the industry has done more flip-flopping in the last year than most people are comfortable with, I think, and none of their explanations have passed the smell test, to be quite blunt about it.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Kzach, I believe I see your point. But belittling others' interests and cares is a little bit insulting.

If you want to see more threads about game substance, start them.*






*Please do, because I agree with you: we do need more threads about gaming. However, I find plenty of good threads in the 4E, Pathfinder, and Legacy forums.

 

[BobTheNob]

Normally I come here for answers to my questions, but frankly, in game terms, so little new material has come out that I dont have game related question to ask.

The only questions I have to ask is where is the new material. Unfortunately, as repetitive and speculative as these posts are, they are the closest thing to an answer we get at the moment. I do understand to treat this with a grain of salt though.

Once WOTC steers the ship back on course, this forum will return to its usual back and forth.