Read on Twitter
This is, overall, a great thread that's worth reading.
However, I think it gets a bit reductive on some points, so I'd like to fill in some nuance about the relationship between #DnD, its fanbase, and the indie #ttrpg crowd. https://twitter.com/AcademicFoxhole/status/1284601510555516931
However, I think it gets a bit reductive on some points, so I'd like to fill in some nuance about the relationship between #DnD, its fanbase, and the indie #ttrpg crowd. https://twitter.com/AcademicFoxhole/status/1284601510555516931
And just so we're clear, I say this as someone who genuinely enjoys—and has even published—both D&D and indie titles. I have a foot in both worlds; this isn't me trying to reverse what the author was saying.
There's just some gaps that I think a lot of folks miss in this
There's just some gaps that I think a lot of folks miss in this
So, the main thrust of that thread (which you should read) is that sometimes the indie crowd looks down on D&D (and its players) as being an inferior game. Kind of a hipster situation.
I've seen this too, and it's bad and should stop. D&D is not a wholly bad game.
HOWEVER
I've seen this too, and it's bad and should stop. D&D is not a wholly bad game.
HOWEVER
I think they overstate the *prevalence* of this by misinterpreting certain things as condescension. He brings up things like D&D players being told they don't understand their own tastes, etc, and lumps it in with the Bad Talk.
But honestly? Sometimes it's true.
But honestly? Sometimes it's true.
Reminder: I like D&D. D&D is not a bad game.
But D&D is a very SPECIFIC game. And it's intentionally marketed to make you think otherwise. A significant portion of the fanbase thinks they like D&D more than they do.
And I can prove it.
But D&D is a very SPECIFIC game. And it's intentionally marketed to make you think otherwise. A significant portion of the fanbase thinks they like D&D more than they do.
And I can prove it.
Look at all the (non-liveplay) D&D podcasts, YouTube channels, etc. They're filled to the brim with ways to tweak, modify, or even outright REPLACE whole chunks of D&D.
There's literally a whole industry built on the fact that D&D doesn't do what (some of) you want it to do.
There's literally a whole industry built on the fact that D&D doesn't do what (some of) you want it to do.
If the D&D playerbase were full of people for whom D&D did what they wanted, that content wouldn't exist. But it does.
And all the folks creating and consuming that content are playing D&D.
Which means they're playing a game that doesn't do what they want.
And all the folks creating and consuming that content are playing D&D.
Which means they're playing a game that doesn't do what they want.
Now, maybe it originally didn't do what you want but now that you've already hacked it all to pieces it's exactly what you want, and that's fine and nobody should tell you to jump ship if you've got it all sorted.
But often these dialogues happen before that point.
But often these dialogues happen before that point.
Most of the time that I see the indie and D&D crowds mix is when a D&D player is *explicitly seeking remedy* to something they don't like in D&D and are prepared to put work into it, yet somehow respond to suggestions of other games with "But D&D does what I want!"
How many times does the indie crowd have to watch D&D players claim D&D fits them perfectly while they're in the middle of trying to fix it, before it's reasonable to conclude that maybe some of them lack self-awareness about their own gaming tastes?
"I dislike X in D&D. Suggestions?"
"Othergame might be a good fit."
"No way, D&D does what I want."
"But it's not built for what you said you wanted."
"Don't tell me what I like!"
This D&D player has not been hipster'd, but often thinks they have.
"Othergame might be a good fit."
"No way, D&D does what I want."
"But it's not built for what you said you wanted."
"Don't tell me what I like!"
This D&D player has not been hipster'd, but often thinks they have.
There are other issues as well (ex: D&D does have some objective flaws, but a LARGE portion of the fanbase interprets targeted critique as wholesale disparagement) but the thing about D&D players knowing whether they're satisfied or not is the one I see missed the most.
So to wrap up:
Don't hipster the D&D players.
Don't assume critique is hipster-ing.
D&D is not bad.
D&D is flawed.
Significant numbers of D&D fans don't like it as well as they think they do.
Be nice when pointing that out to someone.
Listen when it's pointed out to you.
Don't hipster the D&D players.
Don't assume critique is hipster-ing.
D&D is not bad.
D&D is flawed.
Significant numbers of D&D fans don't like it as well as they think they do.
Be nice when pointing that out to someone.
Listen when it's pointed out to you.
