Your D&D edition is not a football team

[Jawsh]

It's only wrong if it's the wrong team. So to clear things up, these are the correct teams to root for:

Team 3rd Edition

Team Open Gaming License

Team Gnome

Team Bard

Team Chaotic Good

Team Planescape

 

[FireLance]

Frankly, I'd rather root for Team Player.

 

[Mallus]

I get it - we geeks don't watch sports, so we don't get to root for "our team" every Sunday.

Speak for yourself. I watched the Giants/Niners game on Sunday with my Dalek/"Exterminate" shirt on! While they didn't exterminate SF, they are going to the Super Bowl.

Also, go Rafa! (sorry, switching to Australian Open)

We're sitting around a dinner table pretending to be elves and wizards.

Guilty as charged.

If you want to root for a team, go watch sports. But leave this kind of behavior out of D&D.

What's strikes me as weird about the D&D tribalism is that a lot of people seem to like only one version of the game. That's like... ummm, liking only one beer!

 

[billd91]

You're right, D&D editions aren't sports teams. The actually affect our lives because they affect how we play, they shape a hobby in which we invest our time and passion.

In other words, D&D rules and our relationships with them are WAY more important than sports teams.

 

[Wormwood]

The problems I see stem not from fans wanting their edition to "win", but from wanting other editions to "lose".

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Naw, game tribalism is more like this odd mixture of little girls playing with Barbies and LA street gangs. We are ready to rumble over any slight, but the actual fight consist of a pretend elf and a pretend dwarf trying to outdo each other against a dragon.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I get it - we geeks don't watch sports, so we don't get to root for "our team" every Sunday. We're sitting around a dinner table pretending to be elves and wizards.

Still, there seems to be a deep-rooted human need to identify with one side and show support for it. In RPG, this tends to be "your system" or, if everyone in the room plays the same game, "your edition", or "team Cleric". Now, as gamer, you don't get the gratification of seeing "your game" fight the other games. That's where 5E comes in. People are worried whether "their edition" will win. Every game mechanic from "your edition" that makes it into 5E is a point for "your team". If they don't put the gnome in the PHB, it means "team gnome" was defeated.

Except that this kind of behaviour makes sure that everybody loses. Factionalism for a certain edition, a certain play style, or even a certain interpretation of a class or race just makes the game less inclusive. A 5E that's just a representation of who screamed for what the loudest is not a fun game to play. It's about making a 5E that is the most fun to play, not a Quest for the Holy Grail of gaming.

If you want to root for a team, go watch sports. But leave this kind of behavior out of D&D.

What if you don't have a favorite team? I really like teams BD&D, OD&D, and 1EAD&D and cheer for all of them. More than 3 classes is a point against team OD&D. Classes separate from races is a point against team BD&D but a point FOR AD&D.

Oh noes!!! I can't even watch the game, I think I'm gonna snap!!

How can I possibly cheer for different teams?

Easy, because they are all different games, not teams competing in the same game. 5E will be yet another game. I will become a fan or not based on its own merits not because it is or isn't wearing a faded jersey belonging to another team.

 

[Kaodi]

I have been conducting an extensive review of the Geek Code, and I believe under the new, more inclusive definition of " geek " approved at the last convention, " sports fanatic " is now more or less interchangeable with " sports geek " .

 

[Rolflyn]

When you root for a football team, nothing changes if they win or lose. Sure you might be happy or sad, and you might be able to go to a championship parade or buy a nice championship hat or shirt, but that's it.

When the game style you prefer prevails, it means that the new version of D&D will be more enjoyable to you. You will have a bigger pool of players familiar with your favorite style and you will get more invites to games you prefer to play in.

So that is why wanting particular a game system is nothing like rooting for a team in sports.

 

[Umbran]

When you root for a football team, nothing changes if they win or lose.

A few years back, if you went to a Big 10 football game, and the home team lost, you could expect to see some rioting, property damage to cars, a sofa or two burned in the street.

Those same few years back, if you want to a Big 10 football game, and the home team won, you could expect to see some rioting, property damage to cars, a sofa or two burned in the street.

So, yes, no big change

Not voicing your opinion does no good. That is true. It does not follow that voicing your opinion is guaranteed to do good. How you voice your opinion matters. Abusing other players in the name of your opinion not only does no good, it does active harm. There is a pretty solid argument that much of the fracturing of the market should be blamed upon *us*, not on game design, or WotC marketing practices.

With the power to speak your mind, comes the responsibility to do so in a controlled and constructive manner. We can be passionate without acting like jerks, and should strive to do so.