Not just the Danger-Haired types, The insufferable rules attorney acting as though they've been paid retainer fees are the other half of the reason I just tossed D&D aside.
Honestly, these days, I'm ashamed I defended it and had I known this is what it would have become, I wouldn't have.
I've also left the brand behind. So many things about Hasbro/WotC bother me, to say nothing of the new aesthetic. I think many retroclones are better. And then, of course, there are the earlier editions--OD&D, Holmes, etc. Why not just get those on PoD and have a good time? OSRIC / Castles & Crusades is another great way to go. I'm even running the beginning of a For Coin & Blood mini-campaign (essentially a Swords & Wizardry White Box hack--so a "meta hack") and enjoying the hell out of that, too. Cairn. The White Box. The list goes on.
Retroclones, yeah, I'm on board with you. Buy the originals in PoD? Okay, valid option but there are a few problems.
1. Still giving money to WoTC & Habro. I'd rather support an indie creator
2. D&D has had expectations built up with the name. Ones that I no longer care to manage. It's not so much that I don't like the brand (that's it's own discussion) but there's the fact that I'm ashamed of defending it because of what it's turned into and it has to deal with the culture around it. It's either the Danger Hair Brigade or Rules Attorneys On Retainer. I've been getting both sets show up only to start bickering, my time wasted and me heading home wishing I'd picked another game. I'll run Official Brand for family and close friends and only from what I currently own. I'd still rather run anything but, to be honest.
3. Touching on point 1 again, WoTC and Hasbro love to lecture you for buying the older games. Pretty soon, that warning is probably going to be slapped to anything from 5E as well. Also, WoTC and Hasbro are only looking at the bottom line. They don't care where the money is coming from, only that it's coming.
4. The Secondary Market is expensive again with every single new bit of stupid rolling out from WoTC. Currently, the only TSR books I own are the books and maps from the Buck Rogers game which is suprisingly good and the Rules Cyclopedia. Though I'd love to have my lost 2E material back, I'm kinda priced out at the moment with the job change from a few months ago.
I think most on the creative end have forgotten that RPGs are a luxury and I can't really have them all but what I do have is enough to keep me and whatever tables I can form in material pretty much going on into forever. While I have my differences with Goodman Games and their own behavior, I have to give them credit for actively preserving original adventures as they've done.
Yep. I'm lucky in a way, since I have most of my old TSR books, but I see what you're saying. Most gamers are pretty smart and they know what the highly monetized, all-digital, micro-transaction model is meant to do. So you're right that games are expensive (and kind of have to be if we're talking quality--by contrast D&D 6e is inflated without justification), but I think I'd rather wait, save up some side money, and get cool things. I'm pretty sure you agree with me on that. At the same time, you could get a free game in PDF like Cairn 1e and play it for 20 years . . .
If I could post a "This" gif pointing up at what you're saying, I would because I agree with it all.
As for Cairn, if you go back through my posts, I'm actually running that for brand new players and we've been having a blast. We've minimally house-ruled it to fix a few things, not much and it's been absolutely great. I'm kinda kicking myself for having sat on it for a couple of years but not anymore.
Cairn proves that you just need minimal rules for DMs who are imaginative and the best DMs, in my opinion, have always come from games that didn't have tomes and tomes of rules on rules on rules on rules that become frustrating and unwieldy to use at times. The added bonus is that there are a host of great games that run on Cairn's rules like We Deal In Lead, which I'm also playing solo right now and I'm probably going to use it as a central hub for all of the games played so that every world links either directly or indirectly, similar to Stephen King's The Dark Tower series.
I've seen this.
I shrugged and moved on.
Nothing WotC does really interests me, beyond their boneheaded missteps giving me something to laugh at.
I think I have the original KoTB in storage somewhere.
AD&D news is so Meh.
Wokeism has sullied the brand.
Not just the Danger-Haired types, The insufferable rules attorney acting as though they've been paid retainer fees are the other half of the reason I just tossed D&D aside.
Honestly, these days, I'm ashamed I defended it and had I known this is what it would have become, I wouldn't have.
I've also left the brand behind. So many things about Hasbro/WotC bother me, to say nothing of the new aesthetic. I think many retroclones are better. And then, of course, there are the earlier editions--OD&D, Holmes, etc. Why not just get those on PoD and have a good time? OSRIC / Castles & Crusades is another great way to go. I'm even running the beginning of a For Coin & Blood mini-campaign (essentially a Swords & Wizardry White Box hack--so a "meta hack") and enjoying the hell out of that, too. Cairn. The White Box. The list goes on.
Retroclones, yeah, I'm on board with you. Buy the originals in PoD? Okay, valid option but there are a few problems.
1. Still giving money to WoTC & Habro. I'd rather support an indie creator
2. D&D has had expectations built up with the name. Ones that I no longer care to manage. It's not so much that I don't like the brand (that's it's own discussion) but there's the fact that I'm ashamed of defending it because of what it's turned into and it has to deal with the culture around it. It's either the Danger Hair Brigade or Rules Attorneys On Retainer. I've been getting both sets show up only to start bickering, my time wasted and me heading home wishing I'd picked another game. I'll run Official Brand for family and close friends and only from what I currently own. I'd still rather run anything but, to be honest.
3. Touching on point 1 again, WoTC and Hasbro love to lecture you for buying the older games. Pretty soon, that warning is probably going to be slapped to anything from 5E as well. Also, WoTC and Hasbro are only looking at the bottom line. They don't care where the money is coming from, only that it's coming.
4. The Secondary Market is expensive again with every single new bit of stupid rolling out from WoTC. Currently, the only TSR books I own are the books and maps from the Buck Rogers game which is suprisingly good and the Rules Cyclopedia. Though I'd love to have my lost 2E material back, I'm kinda priced out at the moment with the job change from a few months ago.
I think most on the creative end have forgotten that RPGs are a luxury and I can't really have them all but what I do have is enough to keep me and whatever tables I can form in material pretty much going on into forever. While I have my differences with Goodman Games and their own behavior, I have to give them credit for actively preserving original adventures as they've done.
Yep. I'm lucky in a way, since I have most of my old TSR books, but I see what you're saying. Most gamers are pretty smart and they know what the highly monetized, all-digital, micro-transaction model is meant to do. So you're right that games are expensive (and kind of have to be if we're talking quality--by contrast D&D 6e is inflated without justification), but I think I'd rather wait, save up some side money, and get cool things. I'm pretty sure you agree with me on that. At the same time, you could get a free game in PDF like Cairn 1e and play it for 20 years . . .
If I could post a "This" gif pointing up at what you're saying, I would because I agree with it all.
As for Cairn, if you go back through my posts, I'm actually running that for brand new players and we've been having a blast. We've minimally house-ruled it to fix a few things, not much and it's been absolutely great. I'm kinda kicking myself for having sat on it for a couple of years but not anymore.
Cairn proves that you just need minimal rules for DMs who are imaginative and the best DMs, in my opinion, have always come from games that didn't have tomes and tomes of rules on rules on rules on rules that become frustrating and unwieldy to use at times. The added bonus is that there are a host of great games that run on Cairn's rules like We Deal In Lead, which I'm also playing solo right now and I'm probably going to use it as a central hub for all of the games played so that every world links either directly or indirectly, similar to Stephen King's The Dark Tower series.
That sounds interesting.
It's gonna be a balancing act. Maybe it will blow up in my face, maybe not. won't know unless I try.
Go forth!