40 ms·

Entirely true. However, Dungeons & Dragons is by far the biggest brand in the hobby. Bigger than the hobby itself, arguably. I'm pretty sure "Dungeons & Dragons

by mcv 4y ago

Entirely true. However, Dungeons & Dragons is by far the biggest brand in the hobby. Bigger than the hobby itself, arguably. I'm pretty sure "Dungeons & Dragons" is better known than "Roleplaying Games". The brand is huge, it's the biggest thing that attracts new players, and WotC/Hasbro owns it. And they want to monetise it. Most experienced roleplayers who know that there's a world outside D&D won't put up with it, but to lots of new players flocking to the big name, having something computer/app based may actually help make it more familiar. They've never heard of Pathfinder, let alone Call of Cthulhu, Fate or Shadowrun, and they have no idea how to play it. That's what they're coming to D&D for: to learn how to play it. And if WotC/Hasbro is now going to tell them they need to pay to make their character in an online virtual world, they may never find what they were looking for.

the_af 4y ago
I suspect you are right, and it's depressing. I do think it's a bit easier to escape this trap, because an inventive game master can convince their group of friends to play something else, and this is easier than getting someone to switch from Windows. It's simply teaching them a new game!
brendoelfrendo 4y ago
Not only have many players never heard of these systems, unfortunately many don't want to learn them once they do. I like Pathfinder, and Call of Cthulhu, and Mouseguard, and Fate; unfortunately, my players have little interest in picking up a new set of rules so that we can do the same thing, maybe just a little differently or cheaper. And I get that! Learning the DnD rules to a point where you can roll up a character and take full advantage of the available actions and skills without a turn taking forever takes time. And once folks have done it once, they don't really care to do it again and again; that starts to feel like work, and this is supposed to be a game. For some, the tradeoffs aren't worth it. It is a little disappointing, though, seeing all this change on the horizon and knowing that I would lose more than half of my players if I tried to get us into a different rule system.
- the_af 4y ago
  That's disappointing to hear, especially since many RPGs out there are both more fun and simpler than D&D.
- mcv 4y ago
  > my players have little interest in picking up a new set of rules so that we can do the same thing Does that mean they also won't switch to a new edition of D&D? My biggest concern, though, is for new players. The ones who aren't even invested in the D&D ruleset yet. They don't know the rules, they don't know what roleplaying even is, but they've heard of D&D, and that's what they want to play, unaware that there are better options out there. I think the really big fix here is not so much undoing OGL 1.1, but undoing the dominant position of the D&D trademark itself; prospective players need to have heard of Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and all the others. But that's hard to do, with D&D's long and rich history, and a single name is much more memorable than a long list of alternatives.
  - the_af 4y ago
    > I think the really big fix here is not so much undoing OGL 1.1, but undoing the dominant position of the D&D trademark itself; prospective players need to have heard of Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and all the others. But that's hard to do, with D&D's long and rich history, and a single name is much more memorable than a long list of alternatives. Fully agreed! If there are such things as Mac or Linux evangelists, why can't there be Call of Cthulhu ones? Evangelizing games is far easier than doing so for computers. People are willing to learn new games. It's all some people ever seem to do, learning and collecting new games!

by mcv 4y ago

the_af 4y ago

I suspect you are right, and it's depressing. I do think it's a bit easier to escape this trap, because an inventive game master can convince their group of friends to play something else, and this is easier than getting someone to switch from Windows. It's simply teaching them a new game!

brendoelfrendo 4y ago

Not only have many players never heard of these systems, unfortunately many don't want to learn them once they do. I like Pathfinder, and Call of Cthulhu, and Mouseguard, and Fate; unfortunately, my players have little interest in picking up a new set of rules so that we can do the same thing, maybe just a little differently or cheaper. And I get that! Learning the DnD rules to a point where you can roll up a character and take full advantage of the available actions and skills without a turn taking forever takes time. And once folks have done it once, they don't really care to do it again and again; that starts to feel like work, and this is supposed to be a game. For some, the tradeoffs aren't worth it. It is a little disappointing, though, seeing all this change on the horizon and knowing that I would lose more than half of my players if I tried to get us into a different rule system.

the_af 4y ago
That's disappointing to hear, especially since many RPGs out there are both more fun and simpler than D&D.
mcv 4y ago
> my players have little interest in picking up a new set of rules so that we can do the same thing Does that mean they also won't switch to a new edition of D&D? My biggest concern, though, is for new players. The ones who aren't even invested in the D&D ruleset yet. They don't know the rules, they don't know what roleplaying even is, but they've heard of D&D, and that's what they want to play, unaware that there are better options out there. I think the really big fix here is not so much undoing OGL 1.1, but undoing the dominant position of the D&D trademark itself; prospective players need to have heard of Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and all the others. But that's hard to do, with D&D's long and rich history, and a single name is much more memorable than a long list of alternatives.
- the_af 4y ago
  > I think the really big fix here is not so much undoing OGL 1.1, but undoing the dominant position of the D&D trademark itself; prospective players need to have heard of Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and all the others. But that's hard to do, with D&D's long and rich history, and a single name is much more memorable than a long list of alternatives. Fully agreed! If there are such things as Mac or Linux evangelists, why can't there be Call of Cthulhu ones? Evangelizing games is far easier than doing so for computers. People are willing to learn new games. It's all some people ever seem to do, learning and collecting new games!