Over On The Wizards Boards...
I think I kind of get it...
The whole "dumbing down" (so-called) of D&D and the reaction to this isn't really in direct reference to the rules. It's in reaction to who these rules are going to attract.
It's like the players are trying to close ranks against, shall we say, outsiders. From where I've been sitting, being a player/gamer holds a certain sense of pride. Geekdom is not a dirty word. Casual gamers are... well, a lesser breed, shall we say. They play, but they don't quite get it.
I've spoken to some people about this in the past, and there does seem a general idea that digital gaming created a whole lot more of these casual gamers. Rules and systems were no longer that much of an issue, because the computer was pretty much doing all the thinking for you.
Therefore, when people start recognising systems like, well WoW has been tossed in there, then the little alarm bells go off. "Here come the casual gamers - duck and cover!" In short, here come the players we don't want playing our game. I'm not entirely certain why this is. Maybe because the game is precious to us, and we don't want it changed to attract the... the "others". Or maybe because gamers have a bad enough rep out in the "real world" as it is, and this just isn't going to help matters. I don't know. I really don't know.
And then there's what I've discovered is termed "grognardise" - "It seems the term has been mutated on these boards to represent a person who likes how a previous edition did something and complains about how it works in the current/future edition." There's also a vague idea that this is what's killing the settings (Eberron has died its proverbial death? I'm not sure if that's helpful to my thesis or not.) It's not, couldn't possibly be, the beautiful destruction the rules are wreaking on them. I have to side with the "grognards" here at this point in time. Changing something so that new players don't have to wade through backstory is not really an argument. I came to the Realms eight years ago (they began 20 years ago) and had no problem with the backstory. That was actually the drawcard. It's numbing to watch it disappear.
I don't mind being miserable about it. I can always pretend that we're still back in v3.5 and that the Realms is still functioning like it does in my head. I do mind reading these boards, though. It's squirmingly uncomfortable, watching people gripe back and forth. Flame wars, anybody? Not a happy place to be, and very hard to figure out what anything means...
D&D v4 Concerns and Criticisms Board
The whole "dumbing down" (so-called) of D&D and the reaction to this isn't really in direct reference to the rules. It's in reaction to who these rules are going to attract.
It's like the players are trying to close ranks against, shall we say, outsiders. From where I've been sitting, being a player/gamer holds a certain sense of pride. Geekdom is not a dirty word. Casual gamers are... well, a lesser breed, shall we say. They play, but they don't quite get it.
I've spoken to some people about this in the past, and there does seem a general idea that digital gaming created a whole lot more of these casual gamers. Rules and systems were no longer that much of an issue, because the computer was pretty much doing all the thinking for you.
Therefore, when people start recognising systems like, well WoW has been tossed in there, then the little alarm bells go off. "Here come the casual gamers - duck and cover!" In short, here come the players we don't want playing our game. I'm not entirely certain why this is. Maybe because the game is precious to us, and we don't want it changed to attract the... the "others". Or maybe because gamers have a bad enough rep out in the "real world" as it is, and this just isn't going to help matters. I don't know. I really don't know.
And then there's what I've discovered is termed "grognardise" - "It seems the term has been mutated on these boards to represent a person who likes how a previous edition did something and complains about how it works in the current/future edition." There's also a vague idea that this is what's killing the settings (Eberron has died its proverbial death? I'm not sure if that's helpful to my thesis or not.) It's not, couldn't possibly be, the beautiful destruction the rules are wreaking on them. I have to side with the "grognards" here at this point in time. Changing something so that new players don't have to wade through backstory is not really an argument. I came to the Realms eight years ago (they began 20 years ago) and had no problem with the backstory. That was actually the drawcard. It's numbing to watch it disappear.
I don't mind being miserable about it. I can always pretend that we're still back in v3.5 and that the Realms is still functioning like it does in my head. I do mind reading these boards, though. It's squirmingly uncomfortable, watching people gripe back and forth. Flame wars, anybody? Not a happy place to be, and very hard to figure out what anything means...
D&D v4 Concerns and Criticisms Board
posted by Daebereth at 3:41 am
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