For many of the newcomers to this fine hobby, this latest controversy may seem insurmountable, like the end of an era. For those of us who have been here since before the satanic panic era, this is just another wave in the ebb and flow of our community. This is not the first time that the powers that be have let greed outweigh their common sense. In 1993 TSR sued Mayfair games and drove them out of business. Many, including myself, spent the rest of the 1990s focused on other systems. TSR went bankrupt.
I and a good part of the community came back when 3rd edition and its OGL was released. Wizards then turned its back on the third party community with the release of 4.0 (also known as WoW the board game) and the GSL. It became the worst selling edition of D&D ever. Many went to Pathfinder, many more stayed with 3.5 and sales of other systems rose. I did buy a second hand Players Handbook for 4.0. It sits on my shelf in near pristine condition having been thumbed thru and abandoned.
Now we are coming in to 6th edition, and Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro, thinks that the new generation of players won't know what to do without the brightest, shiniest new version. That they will scramble to buy it, no matter what the cost. Simply because it is Dungeons and Dragons. They forget that Dungeons and Dragons isn't a set of rules, or a shiny red ampersand, it is a community of people that support each other.
An AI DM might be able to handle straightforward combat, but will it know what to do when the death knight who has just finished a touching speech on the loneliness of eternity, and the big dumb barbarian reaches down and grabs one of the necromancers skeletal cats and turns to him with puppy dog eyes asking, "Wanna kitty?" I don't think so!
Hasbro doesn't understand us. We aren't children. We aren't toy collectors. We aren't competitive card players looking for anything that will give us an edge. We don't gotta get 'em all. We're not video gamers jonesing for an adrenaline rush for the next boss fight.
All we really need is a way to generate random numbers and friends. I have played Marvel FASERIP using the last 2 numbers on a stopwatch. I have played GURPS using index cards with the numbers 1 thru 6 written on them. I even invented a system on the fly using playing cards to entertain a few soldiers during a 16 hour overnight layover at the USO in the Salt Lake City airport.
So, like before, I will explore other systems and wait for Dungeons & Dragons to come back to me. Because it will. This game needs its community far more than the community needs a new system. When they come around and realize that we in the ttrpg community already have everything we need to play, and that they need to cater to our values rather than have them enforce theirs on us. we and our wallets will be waiting patiently.
For many of the newcomers to this fine hobby, this latest controversy may seem insurmountable, like the end of an era. For those of us who have been here since before the satanic panic era, this is just another wave in the ebb and flow of our community. This is not the first time that the powers that be have let greed outweigh their common sense. In 1993 TSR sued Mayfair games and drove them out of business. Many, including myself, spent the rest of the 1990s focused on other systems. TSR went bankrupt.
I and a good part of the community came back when 3rd edition and its OGL was released. Wizards then turned its back on the third party community with the release of 4.0 (also known as WoW the board game) and the GSL. It became the worst selling edition of D&D ever. Many went to Pathfinder, many more stayed with 3.5 and sales of other systems rose. I did buy a second hand Players Handbook for 4.0. It sits on my shelf in near pristine condition having been thumbed thru and abandoned.
Now we are coming in to 6th edition, and Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro, thinks that the new generation of players won't know what to do without the brightest, shiniest new version. That they will scramble to buy it, no matter what the cost. Simply because it is Dungeons and Dragons. They forget that Dungeons and Dragons isn't a set of rules, or a shiny red ampersand, it is a community of people that support each other.
An AI DM might be able to handle straightforward combat, but will it know what to do when the death knight who has just finished a touching speech on the loneliness of eternity, and the big dumb barbarian reaches down and grabs one of the necromancers skeletal cats and turns to him with puppy dog eyes asking, "Wanna kitty?" I don't think so!
Hasbro doesn't understand us. We aren't children. We aren't toy collectors. We aren't competitive card players looking for anything that will give us an edge. We don't gotta get 'em all. We're not video gamers jonesing for an adrenaline rush for the next boss fight.
All we really need is a way to generate random numbers and friends. I have played Marvel FASERIP using the last 2 numbers on a stopwatch. I have played GURPS using index cards with the numbers 1 thru 6 written on them. I even invented a system on the fly using playing cards to entertain a few soldiers during a 16 hour overnight layover at the USO in the Salt Lake City airport.
So, like before, I will explore other systems and wait for Dungeons & Dragons to come back to me. Because it will. This game needs its community far more than the community needs a new system. When they come around and realize that we in the ttrpg community already have everything we need to play, and that they need to cater to our values rather than have them enforce theirs on us. we and our wallets will be waiting patiently.
To quote Professor Dungeonmaster "We are not a part of their community, they are a part of ours."
Just continue voting "NO" with your wallets.