In general, I am pretty ”turned off” new D&D. There has been so much nonsense around it in recent times. I am very thankful of DDO staying out of political nonsense. I was alittle worried about their direction after the Erryn quest in Vecna (What dreams may come), But I hope They go into less silly fantasy, more like eveningstar area with the Next expansion :)
I think the great thing about D&D being 50 years old is that there is a giant library of content and books from previous iterations, so if a group today wants they can home-brew using rules mixed from what they like best. A great example is Wizards of the Coast removing half-elves and half-orcs, and calling races, 'species.' Despite the present zeitgeist of deleting things that political agendas are offended by, there is a rich deep history in fantasy fiction that insulates the tropes being attacked, so even if they are removed in the latest books by idiotic npcs, players can just utilize the older complete source material. As an example to my point, Tolkien filled his secondary world with all sorts of half-breeds, not because he was trying to be racist, but because the trope serves a very important narrative element: half-breeds bridge between two utterly different cultures. Elrond Half Elven was both Elf and Man, which allowed him to sympathize with and help Gandalf and Aragon, contrary to the other elves who cared nothing for the others of middle earth leaving for the Undying Lands. Only Galadriel due to her ability to see in her mirror maintained her help for lesser beings, but she was a ring-bearer which anchored her to the other races by another narrative plot. Good writing utilizes elements not to further some unrelated political agenda of the day, but to craft a timeless story in a compelling secondary world. Everyone who's not dumb or insane knows a good story when they hear it and know that Elrond was not some racial slur, but one of the most beloved fantasy characters of all time.
After the OGL and Pinkerton stuff, I am never giving WotC money (directly) again, can't give up my DDO :)
I did recently find a bunch of old books at an estate sale, was a nice find, but I haven't bought a book in a long time.
In general, I am pretty ”turned off” new D&D. There has been so much nonsense around it in recent times. I am very thankful of DDO staying out of political nonsense. I was alittle worried about their direction after the Erryn quest in Vecna (What dreams may come), But I hope They go into less silly fantasy, more like eveningstar area with the Next expansion :)
I think the great thing about D&D being 50 years old is that there is a giant library of content and books from previous iterations, so if a group today wants they can home-brew using rules mixed from what they like best. A great example is Wizards of the Coast removing half-elves and half-orcs, and calling races, 'species.' Despite the present zeitgeist of deleting things that political agendas are offended by, there is a rich deep history in fantasy fiction that insulates the tropes being attacked, so even if they are removed in the latest books by idiotic npcs, players can just utilize the older complete source material.
As an example to my point, Tolkien filled his secondary world with all sorts of half-breeds, not because he was trying to be racist, but because the trope serves a very important narrative element: half-breeds bridge between two utterly different cultures. Elrond Half Elven was both Elf and Man, which allowed him to sympathize with and help Gandalf and Aragon, contrary to the other elves who cared nothing for the others of middle earth leaving for the Undying Lands. Only Galadriel due to her ability to see in her mirror maintained her help for lesser beings, but she was a ring-bearer which anchored her to the other races by another narrative plot. Good writing utilizes elements not to further some unrelated political agenda of the day, but to craft a timeless story in a compelling secondary world. Everyone who's not dumb or insane knows a good story when they hear it and know that Elrond was not some racial slur, but one of the most beloved fantasy characters of all time.
@@McmxtTV Agreed.