Wow. Just began reading Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes -- WOTC is really putting out some awesome books.

[MNblockhead]

I guess I'm not as privileged as you are.

Tell me something, if the book didn't have those at all, would you still buy the book?

What? Look, I'm firmly in the fan-camp for XGTE, but how is it a statement made from privilege to say that it is not a selling point for them when a good chunk of a book is not of interest to them.

I mean, I can understand if you are irked by differing opinions on something you like, especially if you feel they are uninformed or unfair. But I don't know where your comment on "privilege" is coming from?

Has privileged just become the Internet's new generic pejorative?

 

[MNblockhead]

I can understand from an organizational standpoint why it would be attractive to segregate player crunch, DM crunch, and setting lore into different books. But combining the three into one book has proven to be a very successful model. It greatly increases the customer base.

Personally, it doesn't bother me at all and makes the books more enjoyable to read. I'm more annoyed by not having basic monster stats inline in the adventure books.

When I played 1e, I never bought a published setting like Greyhawk, Dragonlance, or Mystara. I don't have any knowledge of lore from Forgotten Realms, Plane Scape, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, etc. so any inconsistencies in 5e don't bother me. I do enjoy the "lore you should know" segments in the Dragontalk podcast and it seems that they at least give a good deal of thought to what lore to use and what to change. In any event, I use a home brew world and just use the parts of official lore that I like and enjoy the rest as an interesting read.

I think many of the new players being drawn to the game by 5th edition appreciate having some "canon" to lean on. It also builds the brand for use in other media.

I've only through the Fiends and Elves sections of MToFs, so far, but I really enjoyed both sections.

Overall, I've been impressed with the quality of 5e material and am glad to see the games growing success. I've had no major disappointments yet.

 

[Shasarak]

I guess I'm not as privileged as you are.

Yeah, I know. It is a real first world problem when you have the "privilige" to not buy something that you are not interested in.

Tell me something, if the book didn't have those at all, would you still buy the book?

If I would not buy it with it in then why would I buy it without it? Why dont they make the font smaller and fit even more content into the book instead of cutting chafe away.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Yeah, I know. It is a real first world problem when you have the "privilige" to not buy something that you are not interested in.



If I would not buy it with it in then why would I buy it without it? Why dont they make the font smaller and fit even more content into the book instead of cutting chafe away.

Marketing 101: If a significant proportion of your audience is over 40, you do not make the font smaller for a physical book. By 6e, all the books will have 30 point font.

 

[TylerDurden]

I agree with the original poster...these books are great and the focus on good and relevant material vs pumping out books to make product is the way to go. Reading this thread though so many people whining and complaining. I honestly think these people are never satisfied, just grumble and moan and focus on how Wizards doesn't create the perfect book for them. No constructive criticism, just negative crap. If you hate the books so much, don't buy them or go play Pathfinder 2.0 or something. It is clear from the books put out that Wizard's is targeting a wide swath of players to provide something for everyone which they obviously have done because everyone complains about the parts they aren't interested in and like the parts they are interested in. The strategy so far seems to be working, 5e is very popular.

Here is an idea....take a pair of scissors and cut the sections out that you don't like instead of bitchin and complaining.

 

[MNblockhead]

I agree with the original poster...these books are great and the focus on good and relevant material vs pumping out books to make the product is the way to go. Reading this thread though so many people whining and complaining. I honestly think these people are never satisfied, just grumble and moan and focus on how Wizards doesn't create the perfect book for them. No constructive criticism, just negative crap. If you hate the books so much, don't buy them or go play Pathfinder 2.0 or something. It is clear from the books put out that Wizard's is targeting a wide swath of players to provide something for everyone which they obviously have done because everyone complains about the parts they aren't interested in and like the parts they are interested in. The strategy so far seems to be working, 5e is very popular.

Here is an idea....take a pair of scissors and cut the sections out that you don't like instead of bitchin and complaining.

When I want to join in on a D&D 5e love fest I go to the D&D Beyond forums.

When I want diverse and divergent opinions from a well-informed and experienced group of TTRPG enthusiasts, I read these boards.

I may roll my eyes at some of the more over the top posts by the 5e haters, but if they are not attacking me personally for expressing my enjoyment of the books, they are entitled to their opinions.

In another thread, there was talk about implementing "[+]" threads, which I figured were unnecessary. But perhaps it is not a bad idea to set up safe spaces for those who want a purely positive discussion so they can leave the rest of us miserable crumudgeons in peace.

 

[gyor]

Has privileged just become the Internet's new generic pejorative?

Yes.

 

[Li Shenron]

The list of names is helpful for people who are playing rpgs for the first time and want everything in one place rather than go trawling the internet.

They’re obviously not aimed at people who post on Internet forums, so we’re not a great sample for adjudicating that section. It’s only a couple of pages for gods sake.

Yeah... people who are playing rpgs for the first time start by buying XgtE?

18 pages are not a couple of pages anyway.

Everything else from XGtE sounds good to me tho, I am just waiting until the errata/corrige are in the print before getting the book.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Yeah... people who are playing rpgs for the first time start by buying XgtE?

Yeah, the new person is probably not buying anything, let alone XGtE. But the experienced DM that is teaching the RPG newbie probably has XGtE and will share it, name list and all (unless he cut out the name list b/c someone on a forum told him to, I suppose).

 

[guachi]

If it's like my MM, PHB, and DMG, the pages will just fall out, anyway. Then you just don't put them back. Win!