maxophone
cryptotheism

Every tabletop system I've ever played was better than D&D

cryptotheism

D&Ds cultural niche is to get new people interested in tabletop. It's only upwards from here.

thehorizonmachine

this is true but also D&D sucks as an introduction to tabletop. it's genuinely one of the worst possible games a player could start with. it:

  • is extremely expensive, expecting you to buy three separate $30 rulebooks and pay a subscription fee if you want the online bookkeeping service
  • offers no meaningful support to GMs whatsoever, giving them a huge workload and making everyone who starts with D&D permanently wary of any facilitator role in any other game ever.
  • has a horribe play culture stretching back decades that heavily discourages any frank out-of-character discussions about what the table wants from the game as 'metagaming'
  • as of 5e, straight-up lies about what it is and contains ('three pillars' is a crock of horseshit innit)

and all these things not only make D&D a bad game, but they make it an actively detrimental introduction to the hobby, because people who start with D&D interalize all this shit as being true about 'TTRPGS' and so either refuse to approach other TTRPGs or, when they do, approach it with the weight of all this hanging on them

maxophone

Agree and disagree. Its past my bedtime so short response. D&D is not dnd 5e. Actually you can find copies of DND and re-written-for-clarity DND for free online right now - it just might not have any sexy tieflings written into it. GMs have been supported since the 1970s but also i feel like most GM support comes from other GMs and players. At its core DND is a cultural phenomenon, its a social thing, and i feel like GMming without having played with a seasoned GM or such/players at your table, you will not learn how to GM. Many activities are like this and have richer histories and cultures than can be written down: this is folklore. Take quilting for example. DND also has no single play culture. There are many. Many include frank discussions. 5e is definitely a very shit incarnation of DND and does not support 3 pillars well. I also agree DND is an unfortunate intro to the world of ttrpgs and can put many off and i wish other ttrpgs could have more of a foothold. I think it makes sense for dnd to dominate somewhat given history, but at the present moment its undeserved and agree likely detrimental to roping in new players to the hobby.


Anyone who responds in a rude or ‘well actually’ way will be blocked. Interesting good faith discussions appreciated. My post is in response to but not directed at the reply above, and i am not trying to make the person im replying to agree with me.

roughlyrowan
conarcoin

i will never understand the insane takes against having games be more accessible

conarcoin

“does every game NEED to be accessible to disabled people? 🤨” yeah, actually

conarcoin

also the pissing and shitting over difficulty settings. just play the game on the normal difficulty dumbass it’s not for you

demonicae

Same with stuff like screen shake, particle effects, flashing/lightning effects: “But the game would look terrible without them!”

Then Just.... Don’t turn them off then, dickface...

Meanwhile, *having the option to turn them off* would greatly increase the number of people able to play the game.