I can't even be bothered to pirate it.. Couldn't care less, I can play any other D&D edition, another OSR game or something else.. totally deleting Hasbro from my life even if it's free is the best way to ensure they go away
My main problem with the art is that none of the people in the pictures look like they've ever even been punched in the face much less gone on an adventure.
there is near no heroic fantasy being portrayed in the art, It's all very 'soft'. It's slice of life stuff like the Dwarves in a bakery and has an uncomfortable obsession with it's idea of "representation", like making the Orcs represented by Mexican Cowboy culture. Which is just weird
I own a complete set of OD&D books. After 44 years of DMing, I don’t really need books. But I use these. "The big secret is you don’t need the books." E. Gary Gygax.
The way I've heard the recent art direction described by Mr.Welch is "Victorian". It's safe, no blood or horror, nobody is in imminent danger, scenes are low/no action, most of the colors are pastels. Meanwhile in the DCC rule books and other systems, warriors bifurcating monsters, clerics warding off the undead, even the still pictures have stuff like a paladin looking at three demons shishkabobed on a stalagmite with blood and gore running off the stone. Visceral and active scenes meant to help players imagine what's possible within the world and the rules both good and bad. I flipped through the new DnD book and it's all just mild. It might have a neat picture here or there, but overall it's just, meh.
I assumed WotC would have upped the art in PHB '24, but it's not. Safe is a good description. I find it looks very computer generated. Safe is not all bad, but it doesn't inspire players. That's the real shame.
None of the chars in the book look like believable characters from a fantasy setting, they look like a bunch of woke cosplayer with they/them pronouns.
the pictures of the elves and the orcs made me and my kids laugh our assessment off. Then the kids got mad, wanting to know where the hell the green and purple elves even came from. And why the green elf wasn't a Sea Elf..... doh! those orc cowboys tho. aaaaashhahahahahahahahahahahaha 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 what a joke. thanks for the laughs wotc! if the monstrous manual is this funny.... I ain't wasting my dollars on it.
You may notice things like Wish and Divine Intervention changed to just replicate other spells. Why? Because they are easier to program into the VTT and AI.
I don't play D&D anymore (never enjoyed it as much as other RPG's) but it sounds like Hasbro/WOTC has reached the 'large corporation' level that you mentioned. If you compare it to something like Games Workshop - they do the same thing. Their goal is simple: make money off new players, and add just enough new players to offset the older players (who are generally seen as less likely to spend). WOTC's 'worst' customer is a D&D player who's been buying one book every 3-4 years and been happily playing D&D for the past 25-30 years. They want that brand new 20-something who watched Stranger Things and goes out and blows $350 on books, dice, subscriptions, dice boxes, apps, etc. They don't even care if that player continues to play...as long as they rope another similar customer shortly after. A lot of companies this size realize they can very easily get away with pissing off current consumers. Despite all of the D&D channels talking about "not supporting" the new game...95% will, even if they complain about it online constantly. The five percent which leave the game will be replaced by a new 10-15-20% that join to see what D&D is all about. Companies this size don't care about tradition, lore, the 'emotional connection' of the game...they're investors, axe-men, and money-makers. If they run D&D into the ground they'll sell off the scraps and move onto another huge IP.
This, thankfully tabletop games in the long run are uniquely able to survive the corporate vampires tactics. When the feeding frenzy is done, we will be there to offer shelter to those shaking off the Vampires Geas. Or put down those too far gone! /S😁
The problem with WotC current marketing plan is the loss of free advertising. If they go full digital, there are no books to thumb through and get a feel for the game. D&D had free advertising with Adventure League at conventions and local game stores. Brand new players could get a premade character and jump into the game. But with going all online, those interested players can’t take the game for a test drive. I use to DM D&D Adventure League at conventions and my local game store. I switched from 1st edition in 2018 to 5e after playing D&D 5e at a convention. My home group was good with the change as our old campaign was reaching a conclusion (we had been playing 1st edition for over 42 years). But we are not switching again in my home group. I’ve ended DMing at conventions and my local game store.
This is exactly why i don’t really want to spend anything on WOTC and prefer (unless they fall for the corporate greed too) the Chaosium products, who seem to have even better quality and much more respect for the customer in general
This is why they hate DMs, DMs are the gatekeepers to their actual target audience - if the DM says "I don't allow the new book", that's 5+ players who now won't buy the new book.
Very insightful.I liked this video before I even saw myself. I noticed the Con badge hanging in the background. We have to hang out. You going to PAX Unplugged, Mythicon, or Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo?
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 104° F as I type this, and today was a cool day. Last week it was in the 110s haha. Definitely not for everyone, but fantastic for me ❤️
I’m obsessed with dungeons and dragons art! I really miss how it was back in the 80s and 90s it had this grit and fantasy to it. Now it looks very Much like the Applebee’s or IKEA era of art (it’s good, but it’s not great) and I’m the new PHB they don’t put the artist name next to the artwork. They just plop all the names in the front of the book so you don’t know what artist or what AI created the art
The Open Beta nature as you point out about the new release is particularly galling because they had 2 years to actually playtest the game. It does lend more and more credence to the theory that they planned for "planned obsolescence" of physical books all along.
I don't have any evidence to support the claim, but that is my gut feeling as well. As I said, WotC are nowhere near as oafish as they try to appear. If they release the books this way, it's because this release somehow fits into their larger financial plan, which is definitely to integrate everything into DnD Beyond. I sometimes wonder, if the creators of DND BEYOND knew their website was going to be used to harm the DnD hobby, would they still have sold out to Hasbro?
@@funTimesInTheSun Agreed. I just got done buying the dark eye almost completely. Its a very interesting living world. Also have mythras which is a runequest 6 offshoot. AND rolemaster came out with a new clean version . Lots of great options, without even going near all the interesting D20 systems like DCC
And this is a fine list of reasons I'm glad to be playing Dragonbane, Pirate Borg, Shadowdark and Dungeon Crawl Classics. There are better games and far better companies to support.
Same. I'm sticking to the Age system myself. They recently put out their own 2nd edition for Fantasy, and its awesome! Can't wait to start up a campaign with it. 2024e can rot for all I care.
Hasbro has several issues. It might be worth more than Ubisoft right now. But just wait. They are one more catastrophic scandal away from having to sell some assets. And they deserve it.
I've personally put a lot of effort into PF2e, a spiritual successor to D&D 4e that actually works well. Its slightly more gritty for players, but is a huge step forward for DMs.
Because I started in 2E and I don't want to play old D&D where characters die like flies (more pertaining to 1E and 2E than 3rd and 4th edition). Ex. Undead that just drained multiple levels with no save or anything was a monster rule that literary ever DM or group I played with in the 80s or 90s ignored because they were not fun. My PC dying due to poor decisions or just bad dice rolls is one thing. Dying because a game is set up with no sense of balance like many OSR dungeons seems like a waste of time. OSR is great for capturing the feel of pulp fantasy worlds. It just seems to forget how powerful pulp characters like Conan and Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, and Imaro were.
It almost feels like a poor taste joke, the fact that the Dungeon Dudes are using Todd's Howard infamous and most importantly UNTRUE statement of "it just works" as a way of defending backwards compatibility. Todd Howard, one of gaming's most notorious liars, behind Peter Molineux and David Cage
Hearing you discuss point 5 actually sheds new light on the OGL. If WotC plans MtG sets 2 years in advance, then they've *definitely* been planning 2024e *at least* 2 years in advance if not longer. If all of these 3rd party books were coming out, with better ideas than WotC, and *they* were getting paid for it - then of course WotC would try to change the OGL and make it so that they could more or less *steal* those ideas for their new version *and get paid for them instead.* Really puts everything in to persepctive.
"Without your expressed consent " The problem here is how skeevy corporations are with what you consent to. They can at any time update their TOS and put in new things that you "consent" to, like they could put in some clause that regardless of how upset you are with them, you will only get a 2 week expired coupon to the sizzler and you cannot take them to court. Which is especially skeevy when they are a company that is something that is basically needed within this day and age. Like Discord for example, while there is a few other chat programs, you gotta get people to join you on them. Or your bank. Or worse, your rental payment portal so you can live in an apartment.
As some have pointed out, there seems to be a disconnect between their claims that this is the best-selling product of all time and the actual sales numbers. Shops are reporting they're getting a fraction of their orders. I just checked, and on Amazon, the new handbook is still showing less than 100 reviews. We don't even know if they're counting the purchase of the add-on ebook when placing an order for the print copy counts as one or two sales. I really enjoyed your analysis! I moved away from the heat of Arizona. I don't care if it is a dry heat-the days I was packing to move, it was 116.
It pleases me to be a local dnd DM, not beholden to the whims of an online corporation. Aside from the 2024 PHB, wotc never gets my money. Because their material is all online somewhere for free, and i print and paint my own miniatures.
They've ignored a huge deal of customer feedback since they acquired TSR. So much so that their changes caused the birth of a cottage industry that built games on the mechanics of the editions that WotC buried with their mmo-lite character building and player focused design from 3x and onward. A trend that has ramped up with each release and shows the VTT was always their ambition.
Warhammer 40k player here. Games workshop has now pretty much made the whole "Book is invalid before its even sold on day 1" concept the norm in the game. its fucking annoying and they still charge 65$+ a book. In other words: "First time?"
Here's a little conspiracy, The Dungeon Dudes were on the latest D&D Direct (or whatever it's called) advertising that Dungeons of Drakenhiem was coming to DDB. Wonder if their positive attitude towards the new edition has something to do with their appearance in WotC official streams??? Non-disparagement agreements at the very least.
Yeah, I tried watching them back in the day. It was that terrible speech pattern that got me to go somewhere else. When they talk they end every single word on an up note... As if every statement is a question? I hope I made myself clear? Just something I noticed? Can't unhear it? Plus, their advice wasn't that good?
@@ogrehaslayers605 @ericnull3470 I haven't watched the Dungeon Dudes in ages but I also haven't been running D&D 5e in ages so their content has been of little use to me. In fact I have watched a great deal of Ginny D etc either. Back in the day, I didn't mind their stuff. I think they genuinely deserve the success that they have found but I started to question allegiances in the wake of the OGL. Like every D&D youtuber abandoned WotC but now all the big D&D youtubers are WotC superfans. Plus in the case of the Dungeon Dudes, have joined a very limited group of 3rd party publishers on DDB. Just makes one wonder.
Digital is far more profitable and easier to manage than printing books. But this make it hard to game stores to exist and having a good place to play is important.
I'm impressed at your telepathic abilities that have found out indeed, that every D&D player, DM, and every D&D content creator doesn't care about gaming. The reach of your mind into others is truly inspiring.
Back in 78, we were playing with the basic Holmes Blue Book version and added AD&D rules as each book came out 1 per year. BUT back then characters were simpler and rules weren't as much of a compatibility issue. Then again, Holmes edition, were written with AD&D in mind.
Remember when DnDBeyond just deleted a bunch of lore info from the Monsters of the Multiverse book because they were vaguely worried some of it might be objectionable? Didn't replace it or update it or even make it hidden by default -- just removed it. They got away with it then, so why would they stop? Twitter errupts, it's the Discourse for a few days, and then something else terrible happens and nothing changes. This is why we need physical books and PDF copies. I don't care how convenient it is -- these people have proven you can't trust them with that power. If Paizo and the like can do it, so can you WotC.
I own a ton of 2nd edition stuff and I love it. 20 + years later I am trying to wrap my head around all the changes and just gave up. It occurred to me the fun is in the story and I don’t need feats, never did. Just roll a die and determine the outcome because you can do it all.
I’ve been playing DnD since 3e came out. 2014/5e got me back into it in a big way which I’m very big way, but I’m done with all this corporate bullshit. I got my copy of Shadowdark about a month ago. That’s the only edition of DnD I really need.
Everyone switch to Basic Fantasy RPG or OSRIC. These games are retro clones of older editions of D&D. Original D&D was refined and in 1977, TSR published Basic D&D and Advanced D&D. Basic D&D is the rules light version. Basic Fantasy RPG is the modern spiritual successor to Basic D&D, and it's free and open source. OSRIC is the spiritual successor to Advanced D&D, and the SRD for OSRIC 1e is free online. Old school D&D is better than you think it is. How do you think this game got to where it is? Modern D&D is nothing like old school D&D. You have no idea! Everyone SWITCH!
the idea that the old school mentality or playstyle is a modern construct, a myth. The debate between old school and what people call modern play now happened almost immediately at the dawn of RPGs. Old School is a myth.
@@Psuedo-Nim that's not what I'm about. When you say ir other people old school, maybe that's what they mean. I mean that a particular older game is better than a particular newer game, and it shouldn't be dismiss because one is newer and one is older.
@@Joshuazx well, everythign you said is wong. Modern D&D is like D&D. back when it was started--it just has far better ules for accomplishing the purpose of the game. Looking back, basic was terribly limited in options, cookie cutter characters, poor DM support. 1st and Second edition were a mess--poor skill rules, multiple resolution mechanics, terribly initiative rules, wildly imbalanced, needlessly cumbersome. Sure, we had fun--but with a good grup, even a bad rules system can still be fun. Heck, people still enjoy playing Monopoly. Eventually 5e, and 5.24 e, will be replaced by a game that does things better than them. there will be a 6E, a 7e, some day an 8e...and those games will be fun as well. And in that future someone will complain they don't have the "purity' of 5e or some such nonsense.
For those who love and enjoy 5e-2014, your best move is to let this 5e-2024 cash trap trash rot in WotC warehouses... I'm a old schooler since AD&D2e, I also enjoyed earlier 5e-2014... but now I'm moving to other games more of my taste like Old School Essentials, WotC is dead for me...that doesn't mean D&D is dead... personally, I'm aiming for Arcane Library's Shadowdark and keep playing the true D&D experience Shadowdark and OSE provides.
This is normal operation by Hasbro, they do all kinds o stupid things with magic. The executives took $150 million in bonuses and then did massive layoffs of all the people that made that money.
I can't see why any roleplayers would mess with ANY of this DnD stuff, given ALL of the great roleplaying games out there, with far easier rules, most in one simple book you keep forever, and much less money.
Because it's far easier to find people who want to play 5e or 5.5e than it is any other system. I'd happily run something else if anyone wanted to play it. Most of the people here in mid Tennessee don't play other systems so 5.5 is what I run.
Because D&D has moderately complex rules and good enough online support to make them accessible. A lot of RPGs are just too mechanically simple to be worth bothering with.
@@Daniel-Strain Right. But you said that you can't see why any roleplayers would mess with D&D. I just told you - because some roleplayers like a satisfying crunch with their mint and berry.
The 5.1th edition is like when your 4-year-old comes home from kindergarten with a piece of art that they insist needs the be displayed on the fridge because it surpasses Renoir in technique and composition. And you have to pretend you agree.
This "Edition" of D&D is a different game for the newer consumers that the corporate leaders at WOTC has been grooming to accept their anti-consumer practices. A couple of C/C- execs from fucking XBOX want to shoe horn the crappy monetization strategies from that world into D&D. Then create a bunch of arbitrary gates to creative content they had nothing to do with and call it a value add. Its been going on long enough that there are enough players that feel this is normal. However thankfully the real tabletop players have had everything they need for years now. The community can sustain itself and seems to largely be going its own way anyway. Not that WOTC is even interested in them anymore anyway.
What really got me was them changing the races to pretty much just be the same no matter what you pick. Nothing really makes it stand out over another. There is a huge Difference between a elf and dwarf and how they should be done. Both with the positive and negative sides of them. The bright side is, there is nothing stopping your DM from adding that stuff to their games. And nothing is stopping us from playing the older editions. Most the people i know still play 3.5. For other games that you can get in to for cheap. I go to humble bundle. They constantly have RP games for super cheap. They currently have pathfinder and Deathwatch on sale.
This is the first time Im seeing one of your videos - good stuff & agreed. Im a stuffy old Grognard of the Old School myself (grew up w/ BX/AD&D1e) but I like your vibe & will definitely check out more of your channel. Cheers sir
I got to say you just popped up into my RUclips feed and I decided to give you a video a listen. You're editing is hilarious and spot on very very good. I also think your opinions are concise clear and have a lot of thought in them. I started playing dungeons & dragons in 1987 but I was a huge 3.5 fan when they switch to 4th edition I was crushed and I moved over to pathfinder. The things started to sour everywhere and I started to see these changes that you're talking about and the move towards the digital micro transactional business models moving forward on top of ideological changes that I think we're not necessary but harnessed in order to attract a different consumer that they could milk far more easily. I just ended up shifting over to Shadowdark. Just like we used to do it in the late 80s and early 90s if the book doesn't cover something but everything else was right there and everything you needed could be referenced of one book. Not only that though Kelsey took it to a whole new level and making the players handbook so accessible and valuable to the player and the DM that there was no turning back for me
You are speaking my language! I am a forever DM and I get sad when we don't get the support we need. I flipped through the 2024 PHB and although it seems more organized, it feels soulless. The art work like you said is soft and Fortnite like! Feels like none of these characters have ever been on an adventure. Love the vibe of your channel. I too incorporate coffee into my videos! Books and coffee! I'm subscribed and here to stay! Keep speaking the truth.
I saw Professor Dungeon Master's video, and I really think it's a gross over-simplification of it. It's true you can use any adventure with any version of D&D, or any other RPG. It really just depends on how much of the other moduels/adventures you wish to use. If it's just the story/npcs/monsters/locations and what not. You can easily do so. A bit of work might be needed depending on how detailed you make your game, but overall easily doable. I do it often. However some adventures may have challenges that require some tweaking depending on the ruleset you use. I had commented on Professor Dungeon Master's video that when it comes to backwards compatibilbity if there are certain rules you wish to use between editions it can get muddy. And it's there that the real work will come in. Most editions of D&D or Pathfinder will not be fully backwards compatible when it comes to classes specifically. Some other rules may also be really difficult to incorperate for a past edition and vice/versa. I personally never planned to move to a new edition. I prefer 3.5 and Pathfinder 1E. I was annoyed by the announcement of Pathfinder 2 E. And to be frank, I didn't like 2E. I didn't like DnD 4E and didn't care for 5E. Never felt the need to move to this new 6E either. (I'm calling it 6E cause it is.) The main thing I think Wizards is banking on is the opposite of my feelings on it. I think Professor Dungeon Master said this and I agree with him, they are banking on those players that will feel like they are missing out. Those will be the ones to get all the new books. And low key those completionists that want to collect them just to collect them. Too often I think players have the notion that the company of games they love actually care about them, and unfortunately that's not true. To any company people are just breathing, walking wallets that are carrying what they perceive as their money. I've made peace with this and just simply choose not to buy (litterally and figuratively) into their nonsense. And that is really all it takes, is to just simply not move to the new edition. You don't have to play on what Wizards wants you to play on, or use the rules Wizards - sorry Hasbro/Wizards wants you to use. So I wont.
Eloquently stated and I agree. And because of this, I'm going to be starting up a new series in the near future, highlighting indie games that I know DnD players would like. I want to expose some of those other awesome creators out there.
I dropped a lot of money on pathfinder 2E/re, but its design has the same issues I hated in 4E-its a game. I mean I get it. Wargame is the roots and dungeon crawls are things. However kick in door fight monster is all too often their take on roleplaying, as the official modules do mostly that. So I bucked out and spent a bunch on D100 runequest/mythras, D20 The Dark Eye and new Rolemaster Unified(hate the art but love this old school IP). Didn't like the mechanics for savage world or 2d20 modipheus with piles of meta currency. I remember years playing TMNT even before the cartoon had come out. As bad as Palladium rules aren't unified, they worked great for our adventures on the US west coast in arizona bay.
I don't know if I'd call it an oversimplification - it's a valid point that serves to illustrate how 2024 *isn't* very backwards-compatible. I hear "all editions are compatible" as "Don't put much value on the claim of compatibility because it doesn't mean anything".
If we don't prioritize self-respect over convenience and entertainment, we become slaves to the most cunning and ruthless among us. Power concedes nothing without a *demand,* and all profit-seeking is motivated by the desire for power.
i knew this since they first said it was going to be backwards compatible , either its going to be a minor improvement made to squeeze money , or not be backwards compatible and they said it was just for marketing . i guess i was wrong , since its BOTH. im ending my base 5e games and hoping to others .Crucible look complex but promising , its still very early into production .
Backward compatibility is a Microsoft mantra... many (most?) of WotC's employees now are from Microsoft. They fired over a thousand of the experienced employees who weren't from Microsoft just before last Christmas. Makes sense they would have released the game before playtesting it thoroughly and ironing out all the bugs. In the old versions (AD&D, D&D BECMI) errata and updates were mentioned in Dragon magazine. WotC provided errata for 3e, 4e online. Why the staggered release? Notice it's one book per quarter. Per business quarter. The sales numbers declared in that article may not be confirmed by what Stephen at Roll for Combat saw in the stats for DnD 2024 PHB so far. ruclips.net/video/650JRuC2TPQ/видео.html
The article he references only applies to physical books sold through a very small number of retailers. It doesn't include big box stores, digital or flgs. It was a flawed look with limited info but everyone is on the "screw wotc" bandwagon so he decided to make a video he knew would get lots of interest.
Great video! You seem like a DnD guru, but remember, there are tons of other games out there that aren't published by companies that despise their players! I encourage you to explore. Take care.
WoTC is trying to faze out DM's. They want players to play with AI GM's. WoTC makes more money off of players buying content for their characters on DnD Beyond. The CEO of Hasbro has been recorded stating that he wants to get rid of DM's and replace them with AI. Forcing every player to play on DnD Beyond and pay a monthly/annual price to play.
I hate 5E! Truly and deeply. But my gaming group wanted to play it. I refused to buy any of the books, after I bought the first 3. So when 2024 edition came out, we looked at the changes and decided to try it out. We all bought the new PHB. I'll say this: the rules are better than 5E. But the "artwork" in it is fucking awful!!! One of the ugliest books I've ever seen!
Art is about the most subjective thing there is, personally I really like a lot of the artwork in the book, especially the subclass art. Only thing I am a bit sad about is that lot of the coolest subclass art is on my less favorite subclasses. But there is still some of my favorites that have great art too, like trickery cleric, and illusionist wizard.
@@Klaital1 Biggest lie ever sold in art. Yes, ultimately art has subjective part to it, it's obviously not mechanical engineering. However, so does most of things humans produce. Just because your favorite food is X, that doesn't mean people can't deem it bad. Taste for food is also subjective, yet you wouldn't let your kid eat nothing but greasy pizza because it's their favorite, and you as an adult can understand long term ramifications of such diet. Same goes for art. Saying that I cannot apply standards to art is like telling me I can't apply standards to fast food, or architecture. Yeah, you can have favorite architecture style, but overwhelming majority of people will agree that communist brutalism is an eye sore for human eyes. TL;DR "Art is subjective" is nothing but an excuse for bad art. Most of things in life are subjective, we know that with common sense, but we don't feel the need to say it because we all understand it. If art was so subjective that you can't apply standards to it, then art schools wouldn't exist, since they would be meaningless.
@@MrMrtvozornik Art do not require standardisation. Since even its standards are subjective to different cultures. Which standards are picked as a universal baseline are grounds of heated debate and conflicts that will eventually circle back to a culture war. For example, various cultures all around the globe fosters different melodic scale outside of the common harmonic Major and Minor scale. To the point that their music sounds completely alien, and dare I say, terrible to those who are used to the harmonic scales. Yet, those standards of beauty is exactly what those culture uses, and they accept and nurture it within their society. Apply the "normal" and "common" standards that orchesteal music uses, and one shall end up displacing the identity these people have developed. No different than erasing what makes these people their own, a cultural invasion. The premise of this topic is flawed. The academic institutions for arts should not be used as a way to standardise any form of art in the first place. Unless you truly think that it's beneficial for humanity to have its cultural identities be controlled by a small group of people. In which case, I disagree completely. Let the people learn from mentors they choose, not to pursue arts that fit a certain standard, but one that enrich and communicate something sublime to the people. Like Claude Monet who broke through the romantic era with beautiful impressionist imagery, fueled by his love for his wife, not by the desire to pursue the standards of his time. Invalidating other's taste as out of the norm, as if individuals are children who can't to decide what sort of colors and shaoes they like is plain rude anyway. "Art is subjective" is an ideal that should be pursued, not an excuse for anything.
@@anothun9216the art is bad because it’s bad in the context of d&d since it represents a huge tonal shift and dilution from what d&d’s core identity was: dangerous dungeons filled with treasure and monsters. Now the art depicts harvest moon with orcs ? The art might be good for another IP but it’s bad for D&D.
I bought the 2024 PHB on the grounds of 'It can't possibly be that bad.' How wrong I was. A prospective DM is faced with over 2500 different race, class, and background combinations that their PCs can select from, and that's before you figure in the 48 currently available subclasses and the casual multiclassing that the rules are so eager to promote. How am I as a DM supposed to account for all that? It's obvious who these rules are being sold to, and it's NOT DMs. Luckily for me my first edition rulebooks still work just fine!
I saw the same thing. I’ve not purchased the 2024 Players Handbook, my 5e books work just fine. I use to run D&D at my local game store. But WotC put out a notice to all D&D Adventure League players and DM’s that by mid November everyone playing Adventure League has to convert to the new rules as they are released. So, I’ve stopped running D&D at my game store. My home game will remain 5e. So, I’m thinking that in mid November, when the new DMG is released, a mass conversion of information on D&D Beyond will happen again. So, expect more videos about WotC not caring about customers and changing things without permission. Also, yes you are correct printed books still work just fine. I still have my entire 1st edition AD&D book set. I will pull them off the shelf from time to time for a rule or inspection as a DM. Which is why I’m done with buying any new D&D products. The printed books already have issues, but the corrections are only on D&D Beyond. I don’t like running a game where the rules can change at any time.
They say that updating won't be required, but all of the new books are going to use 2024 rules. In addition, new players will simply avoid the 2014 books and only get the 2024 ones. Sooner or later, the pressure will build up.
@@Roukle You have completely missed the point. For the tables that are already established and have a dedicated DM and players, they won't care about the edition update. They will continue to play the system they love, and in the case where there is content in a 2024 book that the table likes, they'll find a way to either homebrew a translation, ignore it, or update to 2024. The problem is that there won't be growth for the 2014 system. Why would new players and DMs learn how to play an outdated system that won't be officially supported anymore when they can learn the new system that will get more and more content? Furthermore, Adventurer's League will be requiring players and DMs use the 2024 rules and content for store games and conventions. Maybe the new players and DMs will learn 2014 after they learn 2024, but I don't see most of them learning 2014 first anymore, especially as content creators make the transition themselves. It might not be right away, it might take years even, but eventually 2014 will fade into the background and 2024 will take center-stage, just like how 5th Edition overtook 3.5 (4th was a flop, but that was the exception, not the rule).
@@GoldfishEmpire You seem to think new players exist in a vacuum. Most "new players" are friends of old players. Or children of old players, at this point.
@@Roukle Sure, it's common for a newer player to learn D&D from a friend that's more experienced. However, that didn't stop the newer editions from overtaking the older ones, and I firmly believe that, given enough time and assuming 2024 doesn't flop, 2024 will overtake 2014, just as 5th overtook 3rd, 3rd overtook 2nd, and so on.
First encounter with any of your videos: your analogy of WotC coming to your house and grabbing one of your print books is spot on. That highlights one of the core issues with electronic entertainment.
Honestly, I see no reason to update to the new version when I have 10 years worth of material from 2014 to now. And honestly with the way Hasbro has been treating wizards of the coast and their staff. I’m not particularly interested in buying new material. Maybe in a couple of years if there’s an interesting book, I might buy it, but honestly, I’m probably just gonna stick to my old fifth edition material. There are a ton of campaigns. I have not yet run with that material and I’m perfectly happy just sticking with the old stuff.
Plus there's so much content from, or mostly compatible with, earlier editions of D&D that you can adapt for 5e if that's your system of choice. Absolutely no reason to give the Wizards more of your cash.
It's a little too early to say that seeing as we haven't seen any modules or the MM for 5.5e Any DM worth their salt can adjust the statblocks for the power creep. I'm withholding judgement until I get a look at the MM at least.
@@laughingpanda4395 Adjusting statblocks isn't really the problem, the problem is that powercreep necessarily leads to homogeneity as the less valuable types of effects become undesirable. That's why in the 2024 PHB, everything either has misty step or a flying speed - these are the effect types that proved good enough to stay around after powercreep.
Lets let the players run this new edition without us DMs. Clearly Wotc does not want our money. Also i have to call a massive error in your video. The darker and Grittier D&D is AD&D, 0E and D&D Basics many iterations , NOT 3.5/4.
Not having anything to do with 24E or DnD Beyond. I've got just about everything you can get from basic up through to 5E. I would need several lifetimes to play it all as it is.
I have the same situation. I’ve been a player and DM since 1982. I have the three core books minimum for all versions, except 4th edition, we skipped that version. I’ve been slowly working on converting 1st edition’s The Temple of Elemental Evil and 3.5 edition’s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil for my home game. Just these two modules will have years of play for my home group. What I’m seeing out of the 2024 edition is character power creep. Any old timer saw this in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions. The company wants to make money. They put out books with new rules boosting the PC’s power level. The players want this. So, either they buy it to get the DM to buy it. In 2nd edition it got to a point that a lever 3 blade singer was as powerful as a level 6 fighter straight from the Players Handbook. I’m seeing the same thing in 2024 edition. Eventually an entire new version is released to rest the power creep.
@@wvanyar1801 I don't remember much power creep with AD&D. I do remember though using basic spells from my characters that had no counter with the new version lol. We had fun with it for a while before merging the two.
@@wvanyar1801 Played from basic to 3rd. Missed most of that and 4th. Life and all. Vtt online stuff got us all back into it since we don't live around each other anymore. So skipped ahead to 5E. Mostly been just a player. Only last couple years in writing this adventure have I done the DM side of things. I guess our DM was just that good in countering it we didn't notice.
@@Incab , Either your DM countered or didn’t but the complete handbook series in 2nd edition. I didn’t buy them, I stuck to the basic core 3 books. But trying to play at conventions my friends and I ran into the power creep big time. Since 1st edition AD&D none of the group has purchased anything past the Players for that edition. I and the other DM bought the DMG and Monster Manual for 2nd, 3.5, and 5th. Both the other DM and I bought every book put out by TSR back in the 1980s. We both chose never to do that again. The headache I was getting from the local game store D&D Adventure League players with D&D Beyond was starting to be a pain. So, I’ve ended DMing for Adventure League, much to the sadness of the store, I always had a full table of seven players. Now listening to some other RUclipsrs I’m glade I opted out. Do an internet search on “D&D Adventure League update for 2024 Core Rules”. The DM’s are expected to honor the 2024 rules as of September 17. As new rules come out we have to use those as well. I had a pair of autistic boys and their Dad at my table regularly. Both of the boys loved D&D to the point they knew every rule and basically lived on D&D Beyond all the time their Dad told me. So, I knew these two and most likely all the other players would be up on the new rules. Now the real kicker is no new Adventure League modules have been released from WotC since 2020. So, the DM’s are expected to do the conversion work. I’d rather spend time on my home game over power gamers at my local game store. Good luck with your game. We were playing 1st edition until 2018. It was heavily modified for our home game. We only switched to 5e to play at conventions again. I’m wondering how D&D play at conventions will work? Internet connections can be very poor at times.
Selective outrage at its finest. I'm sure you don't eat chicken, wear namebrand clothing, own a cellphone or have a 401K either since hasbro of all corps gets your outrage.
Obtained the new player book a few days ago Pro: I like most of the gameplay stuff and explanation to some parts (gives more explanation, what the stats could mean, or the aligntment) The Farmer background is nice. Even, that the background gives the stat Bonus (even, when some are weird, why is guard increasing the int stat?). And i like it, that they removed the sunlight weakness of drow (that maked them near impossible to play) Con: They dont explain the raced enough in this book. The let out a big part of orc cultur (they are keeped as nomadic wanderer, who travels a lot, but they dont mention the raiding part of them). They can throw there pictures into the trash. Orcs are not mexicans. They are big, musculary, brutal beast, who screams danger by there appereance. Or, what the f is the picture by the elves? What is a drow sitting next to a high elve, who both looks gay? Why is there a brown elves? Is that a wood elve? High elves are white. Dark elve are grey to Black. Not brown. Wood elves are more green, when i understand them correctly. A "brown" elve doesnt fit.
The concerns over this being a "beta-test" version due to the staggered release is the least of my concerns with regard to this new edition. I started playing AD&D back in the 80's and have seen this boondoggle over the past...well, 50 years lol. Anyway, even the 1st edition had a staggered release: Monster Manual 1977, Players Handbook 1978, and DMG 1979. Not that your other observations aren't valid, but even 1st edition released errata and updates as publication life-cycle proceeded: The Unearthed Arcana, Monster Manual II, and Fiend Folio were mostly compiled from suggestions published in Dragon Magazine in order to address shortcomings or shortfalls with the original or "Core" rules. Just a bit of history and, perhaps, allaying your fears that a staggered and imperfected release were somehow uncommon. Keep up the great work.
My party went to PF2 when all of this stuff started happening. I don't regret this decision. 5e already had power creep for the PCs, making it really hard for DM's to challenge them. 2024e seems worse. When I was running 5e, I flat out banned the entire TCoE book at my tables for this reason. I've switched my mindset, and am starting to change that of my players to, "Abilities are cool and fun, but if you can't do cool and fun things without a sheet full of overpowered abilities then you probably are missing the point of a TTRPG and need to go back to video games." I've been looking around at ORS systems and taking concepts from those and mixing them with PF2 and content from 3.5 and it's created a great system. Yeah, it's a little crunch, yeah the players are powerful, and yeah my monsters will shred you if you screw around so you better think before you act and not hope an OP ability will save you.
Dude, I just discovered your channel and I LOVE it. Looking forward to watching more and seeing your audience grow. Great commentary, great reporting, great insight, and hilariously done with great editing. Keep leveling up; I'll be here for the ride, friend.
Love this channel, small pet peeves though: The background music and watermark are distracting and unnecessary. So are the random reaction memes, feels very 2014 (see what I did there but seriously it's a bit cringe). The inclusions from other creators is also great, especially with the credit. Anyway I'll be watching every video henceforth, you bring a fresh perspective to my usual D&D content (which is mostly just the guys you referenced).
This is why I play Moldvay Basic/Expert it was perfect when it released in 1981 and still is now. OSR is better than modern D&D. Also the only way I like playing is at a table with pencils, dice and paper.
Any publicly-traded company must answer to their shareholders, aka The Public, with always bigger numbers. WotC thus cannot be anything but focused on extracting cash from our pockets. Meanwhile, their product is meant for an intimate connection with the material and foster a DIY mentality. What a mismatch.
The PHB has always had the majority of the rules. The DMG was were you found the Magic Items, Poisons, Traps and some Tips. The Monster Manual is the book we need, but as I always do, I will just buff the monster we have.
I think compatibility depends on what kind of game you are playing and also "for whom". For a dm using adventures from older editions is going to be super easy. For a guy like prof DM that likes a loosy goosy game that only kinda uses the rules, sure then it is compatible. For other groups that are heavy into character building, the strategy side of things and so on, it is much much less compatible. And like you say it totally favors the player side. And those players that subscribe to Beyond are going to be hounding their DM to upgrade because they want all those sweet extra benefits. If they had not walked back the changing of the rules on Beyond - DMs would have been litterally FORCED to upgrade.
If I weren't sick I would be running my 5e game right now. My table is already good at the game, the type that knows that you can Ready Action cast Insect Plague before the second caster casts spherical Wall of Force to trap literally any creature for a hundred rounds where the only answer is either teleportation or Disintegrate, not even Legendary Resistances beat it because there's no save against Wall of Force. They know that they can convince and lie and sneak their way around what would otherwise be encounters contributing to daily resource loss. I'm running a Greyhawk setting, mages that aren't legacy NPCs like Mordenkainen are extremely rare and cap out around level 5, with most martials being around level 10, it would be bad for immersion if every other time the party cast Tiny Hut, there was a wandering coven of hags casting Dispel Magic. We've dabbled with playtesting 2024e features like the Fighter getting to add Fighter level to Indomitable, if they invest downtime and gold into learning the new skill, or my using some of the features to buff enemies or greenlighting some spell changes. It's still hard to keep them in line though, even when they take the initiative on playing with a Wall of Force nerfed to allow a DEX save to escape getting trapped like Wall of Stone allows. We don't use D&D Beyond because we're the type that have seen WotC's crap practices not just with D&D but also Magic: the Gathering, which helps contribute to actually knowing the rules or where to reference them. We also have gone through the playtest packets and leaks enough to notice that yes, some rules just do not work together, like how See Invisibility, while fixed to actually ignore the Invisible condition, completely negates hiding as a mechanic because 2024e has hiding make you Invisible. Between that and all of the Unearthed Arcana packets they've put out, I've basically built my own 5.5e based on what ideas I do and don't like, or what good or bad ideas inspire my own changes. People might not agree with my take that Eldritch Blast should be a Sun Soul-esque class-restricted attack option tied to Warlock progression, but they aren't at my table agreeing to the idea, which is how D&D has always been.
As a DM I have no interest in running 2024 5e, and even if I had, I haven't purchased anything from WotC even before the OGL and don't intend on buying anything from now. There are better games to be had. PF2e. Lancer. Cyberpunk RED. Too many games to count that value my time and don't force me to fix a product that it's publisher couldn't even fix properly.
@@rkcpek I'm not huge into the OSR type games but from what I have read of Worlds Without Number and Stars Without Number, those would also be worth a look at.
Cyberpunk is a great game to get in to. You only need the core book, and the company R Talsorian Games releases monthly content updates for FREE on their website, so there's never a lack of new material coming out. I can't recommend Cyberpunk Red enough since making the change over from 5e.
Man, that intro bit with the scene from 'Matilda' was do on point, I briefly forgot that I clicked on a video for DnD and not another MtG video. What was I talking about? Oh yeah! Nice intro clip! :D
All of the things that lead us to today started well before the OGL scandal. It started with the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything (That No One Asked For).
Off Topic Comment: I'm a Old Blerd myself (played on and off since the early 90s, knew of it since the early 80s). Its just nice to see 'my own face' talking about this game 😅 'In my day' (ugh...did I just type that cliche 😏), there simply weren't that many who played the game at all, much less Black Folk. I've only known two others who did this (and other geeky stuff like comics). Sadly, I'm the only one who remains today 😔 I've seen many others around lately though, so I guess its 'safe' for Blerds to come out of the 'Back Issues Closet' 😂
My players were given the option to upgrade their characters to 2024e and were super excited. Then I told them I would be upgrading the monsters to reflect the new ability options in 2024e and they stopped blanked face like "Hold up, wait a minute." Power creep feels great for about 30mins and then you realize its a zero-sum game.
I wish WoTc well, I do, but it's clear as the warts on a Ogre's nose that Hasbro intends to kill the pen and paper version just as they believe that A.I. will replace GM's and content creators. Nope, I'll stick with the 50 years worth of D&D crap I have now.
One of the puzzling things about this whole situation is how much revolves around D&D beyond. Creating a character on D&D5, even on higher levels, is not hard and there is not that much math going on where automation can help you. So, it seems weird how the majority of 5e players are still using it. People are complaining that you can't order a la carte after WOTC just changed their characters to update some of the rules without asking. Just download your characters and unsubscribe instead of throwing more money at it!
I personally saw the dnd beyond change as a nice free upgrade, like they said. "it should have been optional" Errata on digital books has basically never been optional. They've been doing it for about as long as it's been a thing, and people like it. A lot. I am still sad I don't have the original hadozee written down because I didn't want to pre-order the physical book and only got it AFTER they altered a ton of its text/features. And people call me CRAZY for not liking that.
@@encounter-masteringdungeon4251 thanks man! i have a quick question... do you only cover Dnd and other fantasy rpgs? Im curious on your take games like Alien RPG, Twilight2000 (its not a gay vampire shit :D) and Mothership RPG
"They are always trying to test how far they can go". Yep the 1st such experiment was 4th edition. And they marketed a completely different game for WoW and other mmorpg audiences as D&D. And they had a huge success.
We left the brand. Two GM’s doing PathFinder and StarFinder, one GM started with Shadow of the Demon Lord and is now considering Shadow of the Weird Wizard. In truth these companies exist at our behest ; if need be it isn’t difficult at all to switch to something better. Not now. Not these days.
The 2024 PHB made you die of cringe? The way I see it from this video is that there's little or nothing wrong with it even in your view. Ignore D&D Beyond and 90% of your issues go away. Which is essentially my opinion too: the 2024 PHB is an improvement over the 2014 version, I'm just over anything WotC wants to do on the digital front. Backwards compatibility is more than close enough to work (I disagree completely with the idea that there's a ton of work involved in changing over, or that it's a problem the DMG and MM haven't been released in their new versions yet). There's never been an edition I haven't houseruled more extensively than what the publisher errata'ed about it. It's totally fine. I know quite a lot of people like D&D Beyond in concept (I do too), and that platform getting shit on is a shame, but after dropping it everything just got easier for me. Want to stay with 2014's version? Just do that. Want to move to the 2024 because it's (a little bit) better? Do that instead. It's neither difficult nor problematic to mix and match. If you don't have the 2014 versions yet, sure, then you might want to wait until the DMG is released as well (I don't think you absolutely have to wait for the MM as well, if you're new to D&D the monsters in the 2024 PHB and the ones you'll get in most of the published adventures you're very likely going to start out with will be plenty for the first couple of months). Moreover, the 2014 DMG was a pretty poor release in my estimation. Certainly the least of the WotC edition DMGs. I can only hope the 2024 DMG does what the 2024 PHB did and tackle the most obvious areas in need of improvement. Regardless, I might still decide to pass on it - and that'll be fine too, just a missed opportunity to fix a number of flaws . Tl;dr: I think the lion's share of the flaws outlined above have little or nothing to do with the 2024 PHB (or the upcoming books) but with WotC's business decisions and digital approach instead. Disliking those decisions is perfectly justified, but bringing them up as a critique of the book feels as janky to me as some of those decisions have been.
Firstly, thanks for watching! I agree with you. A lot of my issues with the PHB do stem from the circumstances surrounding its release. I do have issues with the book itself, though, mainly points #3 - #7 As a game system, 2024 PHB is an incomplete book, and part of an incomplete edition. For a new DM running things by the book, they're in for a WORLD of hurt. They'll probably buy all 3 core books, and they'll be relying on the designers to help them run a fun game. So for $200, it's expected that the game works right out of the box; the math clicks, its systems are fleshed out and refined. I want to review 2024e as a game, but I'm waiting until all 3 books release. When 2024e is finally finished in 2025, I'll start working on another deep dive video!
@@encounter-masteringdungeon4251 "For a new DM running things by the book, they're in for a WORLD of hurt." - I don't think that's really true. I think the 2024 PHB works just fine with the 2014 DMG. There is the unfortunate problem of timing for new players and DMs not being able to buy the 2024 DMG (and later, MM) yet, yes. And giving my not so positive opinion of the 2014 DMG, I will absolutely suggest waiting to anyone in that position. But me using my 2014 DMG side by side with my 2024 PHB? I don't see that making things worse. The 2014 DMGs numbers and mechanics were already a bit (to a lot) unreliable. DM discretion and adjustments have always been advised in 5E, and the reasons for that aren't really made worse by the PHB changes. Those changes aren't fundamental enough for that. Moving all subclasses to 3rd level for instance can be a bit of an issue, it might tie the players' and DM's hands a bit, but I've been part of several campaigns that handled sorcerous origins, warlock pacts and a cleric's chosen deity in different ways. Sorcerers got a bit more powerful (and fortunately feel more like a real class rather than really a significantly worse wizard with a shimmering coat of paint), but not enough to throw the CR system out of whack more than it's been for 10 years already anyway. Bottom line: I'll not advise buying the book to anyone who already has a 2014 book and isn't comfortable dropping another $40-50 depending on where they get it, but for everyone else the 2024 book really is a better purchase even regardless of being current or not. It's just a better PHB, IMO.
I'm in the "rulebooks are just guidelines" boat. I can adapt the numbers, the encounters, the monster levels, etc. Don't need the DM guide all that much, maybe the Monster Manual so I don't have to keep rebalancing everything, but it's not that much of a hassle. The new PHB gives players a boost in mechanics, even though it blew my mind to see how badly the race and background content was gutted. Where once you had ~2 pages of lore, religion, cultural customs, list of names for each race, now there's... nothing? 4 abilities and that's it? Backgrounds once helped give the character more flavor or RP opportunities, now they are just stat increases... why? All in all, continuing the trend of videogame-ification of a pen&paper RPG, which I dislike. Separately: Reference to RLM Reference to Kotor2 Good taste my man.
Great video. Good points anfd a fresh persepctive on some of these issues that I have seen so far. For me the question about who is this game for doesn't even come into the picture. I am an old school player and DM as in early 80's. To me the books are the base set of rules and the game itself ihas the feel and the tweeks needed to fit how that table wants to play. Gritty, high fantasy, low powered little magic or plane spanning powers our table and our online games can do all that as we decide. Gygax said the thing never to tell people was you don't NEED the books to play lol. Back in the day we didn't even have skills we just used the stats to do things. Want to swing on a rope, roll under your DEX score. Wan to remember a crucial detail or puzzle clue? roll under your INT. So from my perspective i am already acustomed to using the rules as a base not a bible of how to play.
It’s frustrating the amount of times we have to go through the cycle of: WOTC is completely unaware of the fanbase, They role out a new change that nobody asked for and everyone hates, and they get backlash
Hasbro wants to move D&D into an on-line service mode rather than a printed books mode. A reason they were looking to nuke the old stuff in Beyond. Force people to buy the new electronic version. Also, if I recall correctly, Hasbro only has three divisions actually making money rather than losing it. With WoTC/D&D being one of the money makers. They need to get every penny they can out of D&D for the Hasbro bottom line at the moment.
Unlike video games, there is a thriving second hand market for older books. And even without the books, they can’t take your imagination. You don’t need WotC to do home brew, run a game in Faerun with another system, or have an adventure. I’m looking forward to the collapse of the D20 hegemony, and the rise of a more diverse ecosystem of TTRPG mechanics, settings, genres, and styles.
This year has honestly really illustrated how bad the management at Hasbro/Wotc is. They have had decades to be ready and dropped the ball. Over and over.
It is absolutely by design. They've created a scenario where dms don't want anything to do with the new edition creating even more dm scarcity while making the online version more appealing to the general audience. They're funneling people to the vtt by making it a necessity. Create problems, sell solutions. It's a well known business tactic..
The books will all be PDFs within minutes. The more anti-consumer you are, the more pirates will set sail.
I can't even be bothered to pirate it.. Couldn't care less, I can play any other D&D edition, another OSR game or something else.. totally deleting Hasbro from my life even if it's free is the best way to ensure they go away
Why steal something that isn't worth owning?
@@frankb3347 *holds up 2024 PHB*
I'VE GOT A JAR OF DIRT!
Why even bother when everybody already has all the 2014 books and modules? That's not even counting all the third party content...
I would t even pirate this garbage
My main problem with the art is that none of the people in the pictures look like they've ever even been punched in the face much less gone on an adventure.
there is near no heroic fantasy being portrayed in the art, It's all very 'soft'. It's slice of life stuff like the Dwarves in a bakery and has an uncomfortable obsession with it's idea of "representation", like making the Orcs represented by Mexican Cowboy culture. Which is just weird
That's what people look like in world where healing spells are all over the place and everyone fully recovers from any injuries over a nights sleep.
@@jacobodom8401I was trying to put my finger on it, but yes.
The real adventure is your characters going to college and the local coffee shop, and the friends they made along the way.
☮️💝🫂
@@Klaital1if everyone had that much magic then it's a terrible setting. Limitations make things interesting.
01:36 "...Hasbro's biggest kryptonite, which seems to be their inability to simply stop stabbing their customers in the back."
😂😂😂
Their inability to quit touching shit that they don't know the first fukin thing about.
…and it ain’t just happening with D&D. Have you seen how they are YEETing the collections of Magic players through power creep in the new cards? Oof.
I own a complete set of OD&D books. After 44 years of DMing, I don’t really need books. But I use these. "The big secret is you don’t need the books." E. Gary Gygax.
BX is so easy to memorize I can run it on the spot so long as I have some paper and dice.
The way I've heard the recent art direction described by Mr.Welch is "Victorian". It's safe, no blood or horror, nobody is in imminent danger, scenes are low/no action, most of the colors are pastels.
Meanwhile in the DCC rule books and other systems, warriors bifurcating monsters, clerics warding off the undead, even the still pictures have stuff like a paladin looking at three demons shishkabobed on a stalagmite with blood and gore running off the stone.
Visceral and active scenes meant to help players imagine what's possible within the world and the rules both good and bad. I flipped through the new DnD book and it's all just mild. It might have a neat picture here or there, but overall it's just, meh.
To be fair, it's problem of 5e, not only DnD One
Art in Players Handbook is soo boring, if we compare it to other fantasy ttrpg
I assumed WotC would have upped the art in PHB '24, but it's not. Safe is a good description. I find it looks very computer generated.
Safe is not all bad, but it doesn't inspire players. That's the real shame.
None of the chars in the book look like believable characters from a fantasy setting, they look like a bunch of woke cosplayer with they/them pronouns.
the pictures of the elves and the orcs made me and my kids laugh our assessment off. Then the kids got mad, wanting to know where the hell the green and purple elves even came from. And why the green elf wasn't a Sea Elf.....
doh!
those orc cowboys tho.
aaaaashhahahahahahahahahahahaha 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
what a joke. thanks for the laughs wotc!
if the monstrous manual is this funny.... I ain't wasting my dollars on it.
DMs arent wanted. They want them replaced with pay to play AI.
The group that buys the most books not wanted, Hasbro sucks!
@@bluebird3281They want to get out of selling books and replace them with online microtransactions.
You may notice things like Wish and Divine Intervention changed to just replicate other spells. Why? Because they are easier to program into the VTT and AI.
@@bluebird3281 Looking for that Modern Audience I believe.
@@MushieNino Everybody is, think anyone will ever find them?
I don't play D&D anymore (never enjoyed it as much as other RPG's) but it sounds like Hasbro/WOTC has reached the 'large corporation' level that you mentioned. If you compare it to something like Games Workshop - they do the same thing. Their goal is simple: make money off new players, and add just enough new players to offset the older players (who are generally seen as less likely to spend). WOTC's 'worst' customer is a D&D player who's been buying one book every 3-4 years and been happily playing D&D for the past 25-30 years.
They want that brand new 20-something who watched Stranger Things and goes out and blows $350 on books, dice, subscriptions, dice boxes, apps, etc. They don't even care if that player continues to play...as long as they rope another similar customer shortly after.
A lot of companies this size realize they can very easily get away with pissing off current consumers. Despite all of the D&D channels talking about "not supporting" the new game...95% will, even if they complain about it online constantly. The five percent which leave the game will be replaced by a new 10-15-20% that join to see what D&D is all about.
Companies this size don't care about tradition, lore, the 'emotional connection' of the game...they're investors, axe-men, and money-makers. If they run D&D into the ground they'll sell off the scraps and move onto another huge IP.
This, thankfully tabletop games in the long run are uniquely able to survive the corporate vampires tactics. When the feeding frenzy is done, we will be there to offer shelter to those shaking off the Vampires Geas. Or put down those too far gone!
/S😁
The problem with WotC current marketing plan is the loss of free advertising. If they go full digital, there are no books to thumb through and get a feel for the game. D&D had free advertising with Adventure League at conventions and local game stores. Brand new players could get a premade character and jump into the game. But with going all online, those interested players can’t take the game for a test drive.
I use to DM D&D Adventure League at conventions and my local game store. I switched from 1st edition in 2018 to 5e after playing D&D 5e at a convention. My home group was good with the change as our old campaign was reaching a conclusion (we had been playing 1st edition for over 42 years). But we are not switching again in my home group. I’ve ended DMing at conventions and my local game store.
Do they think there’s endless supply of new players? This sounds lots like mindset of those who believe that pyramid scheme works...
This is exactly why i don’t really want to spend anything on WOTC and prefer (unless they fall for the corporate greed too) the Chaosium products, who seem to have even better quality and much more respect for the customer in general
This is why they hate DMs, DMs are the gatekeepers to their actual target audience - if the DM says "I don't allow the new book", that's 5+ players who now won't buy the new book.
Very insightful.I liked this video before I even saw myself. I noticed the Con badge hanging in the background. We have to hang out. You going to PAX Unplugged, Mythicon, or Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo?
Unfortunately no, but I'll be at pretty much every con in the Tucson area, including RinCon!
I've never been to PAX or GenCon, but one day 🤞🏿
@@encounter-masteringdungeon4251 Arizona. Damn. It's hot there.
@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 104° F as I type this, and today was a cool day. Last week it was in the 110s haha. Definitely not for everyone, but fantastic for me ❤️
@@encounter-masteringdungeon4251 It's a dry heat
I’m obsessed with dungeons and dragons art! I really miss how it was back in the 80s and 90s it had this grit and fantasy to it. Now it looks very Much like the Applebee’s or IKEA era of art (it’s good, but it’s not great) and I’m the new PHB they don’t put the artist name next to the artwork. They just plop all the names in the front of the book so you don’t know what artist or what AI created the art
The germans version of D&D(aka best known RPG) The Dark Eye has great artwork(mostly) and not shy to show skin or be scared of morality police.
The Open Beta nature as you point out about the new release is particularly galling because they had 2 years to actually playtest the game. It does lend more and more credence to the theory that they planned for "planned obsolescence" of physical books all along.
I don't have any evidence to support the claim, but that is my gut feeling as well. As I said, WotC are nowhere near as oafish as they try to appear. If they release the books this way, it's because this release somehow fits into their larger financial plan, which is definitely to integrate everything into DnD Beyond.
I sometimes wonder, if the creators of DND BEYOND knew their website was going to be used to harm the DnD hobby, would they still have sold out to Hasbro?
I just wish Pathfinder wasn't option B because I don't like 2E/Re at all.
@@thorinbane There are so many RPGs now. Kobold press came out with one recently. The Kobold version seems pretty good in my opinion.
@@funTimesInTheSun Agreed. I just got done buying the dark eye almost completely. Its a very interesting living world. Also have mythras which is a runequest 6 offshoot. AND rolemaster came out with a new clean version . Lots of great options, without even going near all the interesting D20 systems like DCC
And this is a fine list of reasons I'm glad to be playing Dragonbane, Pirate Borg, Shadowdark and Dungeon Crawl Classics. There are better games and far better companies to support.
Same. I'm sticking to the Age system myself. They recently put out their own 2nd edition for Fantasy, and its awesome! Can't wait to start up a campaign with it. 2024e can rot for all I care.
Another thing that i noticed is that alot of the art seems to lack energy which i found quite jarring
It just makes one wonder how much of the art is influenced by AI
@@encounter-masteringdungeon4251 It all looks like AI art.
I'm sure the modern audience who loved Concord and Dustborn will save 6e D&D
All seven of them?
Hasbro has several issues. It might be worth more than Ubisoft right now. But just wait. They are one more catastrophic scandal away from having to sell some assets. And they deserve it.
Dragonbane
Shadowdark
Dungeon Crawl Classics
Mork Borg
Old School Essentials
Call of Cthulhu
Pendragon
please tell me WHY should I play DnD?
There are literally hundreds of games out there that are better than WotC D&D. The only reason people stick with it is because it's the biggest.
I've personally put a lot of effort into PF2e, a spiritual successor to D&D 4e that actually works well. Its slightly more gritty for players, but is a huge step forward for DMs.
3.5e/ PF1e and OGLs are dope do.
Because I started in 2E and I don't want to play old D&D where characters die like flies (more pertaining to 1E and 2E than 3rd and 4th edition). Ex. Undead that just drained multiple levels with no save or anything was a monster rule that literary ever DM or group I played with in the 80s or 90s ignored because they were not fun.
My PC dying due to poor decisions or just bad dice rolls is one thing. Dying because a game is set up with no sense of balance like many OSR dungeons seems like a waste of time. OSR is great for capturing the feel of pulp fantasy worlds. It just seems to forget how powerful pulp characters like Conan and Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, and Imaro were.
Can’t see any.
It almost feels like a poor taste joke, the fact that the Dungeon Dudes are using Todd's Howard infamous and most importantly UNTRUE statement of "it just works" as a way of defending backwards compatibility.
Todd Howard, one of gaming's most notorious liars, behind Peter Molineux and David Cage
He's become a big liar, sadly it didn't used to be this way.
I'm so happy that at least a handful caught that irony !
Yeah, backwards compatibility. "It just works" alright
@@encounter-masteringdungeon4251 it does work. it is backwards compatible
My wife calls them Wizards of the Cost
I still can't get over how they use hipsters as models for their art lol
Hearing you discuss point 5 actually sheds new light on the OGL. If WotC plans MtG sets 2 years in advance, then they've *definitely* been planning 2024e *at least* 2 years in advance if not longer. If all of these 3rd party books were coming out, with better ideas than WotC, and *they* were getting paid for it - then of course WotC would try to change the OGL and make it so that they could more or less *steal* those ideas for their new version *and get paid for them instead.* Really puts everything in to persepctive.
@@topkapi9351🤙🏿 Happy to help! Keep those eyes wide open, my friend
"Without your expressed consent "
The problem here is how skeevy corporations are with what you consent to. They can at any time update their TOS and put in new things that you "consent" to, like they could put in some clause that regardless of how upset you are with them, you will only get a 2 week expired coupon to the sizzler and you cannot take them to court. Which is especially skeevy when they are a company that is something that is basically needed within this day and age.
Like Discord for example, while there is a few other chat programs, you gotta get people to join you on them. Or your bank. Or worse, your rental payment portal so you can live in an apartment.
As some have pointed out, there seems to be a disconnect between their claims that this is the best-selling product of all time and the actual sales numbers. Shops are reporting they're getting a fraction of their orders. I just checked, and on Amazon, the new handbook is still showing less than 100 reviews. We don't even know if they're counting the purchase of the add-on ebook when placing an order for the print copy counts as one or two sales.
I really enjoyed your analysis! I moved away from the heat of Arizona. I don't care if it is a dry heat-the days I was packing to move, it was 116.
Haha I love the heat
It pleases me to be a local dnd DM, not beholden to the whims of an online corporation. Aside from the 2024 PHB, wotc never gets my money. Because their material is all online somewhere for free, and i print and paint my own miniatures.
They've ignored a huge deal of customer feedback since they acquired TSR. So much so that their changes caused the birth of a cottage industry that built games on the mechanics of the editions that WotC buried with their mmo-lite character building and player focused design from 3x and onward. A trend that has ramped up with each release and shows the VTT was always their ambition.
Warhammer 40k player here. Games workshop has now pretty much made the whole "Book is invalid before its even sold on day 1" concept the norm in the game. its fucking annoying and they still charge 65$+ a book. In other words: "First time?"
Here's a little conspiracy, The Dungeon Dudes were on the latest D&D Direct (or whatever it's called) advertising that Dungeons of Drakenhiem was coming to DDB. Wonder if their positive attitude towards the new edition has something to do with their appearance in WotC official streams??? Non-disparagement agreements at the very least.
I got "shill" vibes from them years ago. Quickly realized i didn't like their advice or content.
Yeah, I tried watching them back in the day. It was that terrible speech pattern that got me to go somewhere else.
When they talk they end every single word on an up note... As if every statement is a question? I hope I made myself clear? Just something I noticed? Can't unhear it? Plus, their advice wasn't that good?
@@ogrehaslayers605 @ericnull3470
I haven't watched the Dungeon Dudes in ages but I also haven't been running D&D 5e in ages so their content has been of little use to me. In fact I have watched a great deal of Ginny D etc either.
Back in the day, I didn't mind their stuff. I think they genuinely deserve the success that they have found but I started to question allegiances in the wake of the OGL. Like every D&D youtuber abandoned WotC but now all the big D&D youtubers are WotC superfans. Plus in the case of the Dungeon Dudes, have joined a very limited group of 3rd party publishers on DDB. Just makes one wonder.
Good to know.
Never really warmed up to them. A bit to inauthentic for my tastes. The slimmer one is more likable than the other one.
Digital is far more profitable and easier to manage than printing books. But this make it hard to game stores to exist and having a good place to play is important.
D&D is now being made for people who don't care about the hobby. I wonder why that is.
Corporate agendas
Corp Cash Grab. Find something great, absorb it and change it for maximum monetization = enshittification
in the sea of stupid comments, you managed to hit peak idiot
That's why i swapped to other systems that care about setting consistency, good rulesets, and no pandering. I get my dnd kick out of 3.5 ed or PF2.
I'm impressed at your telepathic abilities that have found out indeed, that every D&D player, DM, and every D&D content creator doesn't care about gaming. The reach of your mind into others is truly inspiring.
Back in 78, we were playing with the basic Holmes Blue Book version and added AD&D rules as each book came out 1 per year. BUT back then characters were simpler and rules weren't as much of a compatibility issue.
Then again, Holmes edition, were written with AD&D in mind.
The quality of this video doesn't at all match the subscriber count. Keep at it and you'll break 100k in no time.
I agree!
I'm humbled! Thanks for the motivation!!
2024 is not worth it.
Like the whole year? Because I agree
Yeah. Who wants free updates to the rules!? I'm outraged for the sake of being outraged! 😂
We have to go back
@@laughingpanda4395 Updates that nobody asked for that take more of the grit from the game in favor of more happy-go-lucky crap isn't a good thing.
@chapapa-papa oh I see. You know how everyone likes to play the game. Your way is the only correct way right? How incredibly narrow sighted of me.
Remember when DnDBeyond just deleted a bunch of lore info from the Monsters of the Multiverse book because they were vaguely worried some of it might be objectionable? Didn't replace it or update it or even make it hidden by default -- just removed it.
They got away with it then, so why would they stop? Twitter errupts, it's the Discourse for a few days, and then something else terrible happens and nothing changes.
This is why we need physical books and PDF copies. I don't care how convenient it is -- these people have proven you can't trust them with that power.
If Paizo and the like can do it, so can you WotC.
I own a ton of 2nd edition stuff and I love it. 20 + years later I am trying to wrap my head around all the changes and just gave up. It occurred to me the fun is in the story and I don’t need feats, never did. Just roll a die and determine the outcome because you can do it all.
Yup. I've had all kinds of fun with a 20 sided die and our own house rules. Just ignore it if the game they're putting out is garbage.
I’ve been playing DnD since 3e came out. 2014/5e got me back into it in a big way which I’m very big way, but I’m done with all this corporate bullshit. I got my copy of Shadowdark about a month ago. That’s the only edition of DnD I really need.
Everyone switch to Basic Fantasy RPG or OSRIC. These games are retro clones of older editions of D&D. Original D&D was refined and in 1977, TSR published Basic D&D and Advanced D&D. Basic D&D is the rules light version. Basic Fantasy RPG is the modern spiritual successor to Basic D&D, and it's free and open source. OSRIC is the spiritual successor to Advanced D&D, and the SRD for OSRIC 1e is free online. Old school D&D is better than you think it is. How do you think this game got to where it is? Modern D&D is nothing like old school D&D. You have no idea! Everyone SWITCH!
why switch to inferior half baked rules? the old school movement is pretty much a modern invention
@@Psuedo-Nim sorry, what does the second part of that mean?
the idea that the old school mentality or playstyle is a modern construct, a myth. The debate between old school and what people call modern play now happened almost immediately at the dawn of RPGs. Old School is a myth.
@@Psuedo-Nim that's not what I'm about. When you say ir other people old school, maybe that's what they mean. I mean that a particular older game is better than a particular newer game, and it shouldn't be dismiss because one is newer and one is older.
@@Joshuazx well, everythign you said is wong. Modern D&D is like D&D. back when it was started--it just has far better ules for accomplishing the purpose of the game. Looking back, basic was terribly limited in options, cookie cutter characters, poor DM support. 1st and Second edition were a mess--poor skill rules, multiple resolution mechanics, terribly initiative rules, wildly imbalanced, needlessly cumbersome. Sure, we had fun--but with a good grup, even a bad rules system can still be fun. Heck, people still enjoy playing Monopoly. Eventually 5e, and 5.24 e, will be replaced by a game that does things better than them. there will be a 6E, a 7e, some day an 8e...and those games will be fun as well. And in that future someone will complain they don't have the "purity' of 5e or some such nonsense.
For those who love and enjoy 5e-2014, your best move is to let this 5e-2024 cash trap trash rot in WotC warehouses... I'm a old schooler since AD&D2e, I also enjoyed earlier 5e-2014... but now I'm moving to other games more of my taste like Old School Essentials, WotC is dead for me...that doesn't mean D&D is dead... personally, I'm aiming for Arcane Library's Shadowdark and keep playing the true D&D experience Shadowdark and OSE provides.
This is normal operation by Hasbro, they do all kinds o stupid things with magic. The executives took $150 million in bonuses and then did massive layoffs of all the people that made that money.
I can't see why any roleplayers would mess with ANY of this DnD stuff, given ALL of the great roleplaying games out there, with far easier rules, most in one simple book you keep forever, and much less money.
Because of the network effect.
Because it's far easier to find people who want to play 5e or 5.5e than it is any other system. I'd happily run something else if anyone wanted to play it. Most of the people here in mid Tennessee don't play other systems so 5.5 is what I run.
Because D&D has moderately complex rules and good enough online support to make them accessible. A lot of RPGs are just too mechanically simple to be worth bothering with.
@@yurisei6732 A lot of people prefer a more rules lite system. It is easier for players to get into, but requires a very experienced GM.
@@Daniel-Strain Right. But you said that you can't see why any roleplayers would mess with D&D. I just told you - because some roleplayers like a satisfying crunch with their mint and berry.
The 5.1th edition is like when your 4-year-old comes home from kindergarten with a piece of art that they insist needs the be displayed on the fridge because it surpasses Renoir in technique and composition.
And you have to pretend you agree.
Just an aside. The title of your channel on my iPhone is “Encounter - Mastering Dung…” which is painfully apt.
This "Edition" of D&D is a different game for the newer consumers that the corporate leaders at WOTC has been grooming to accept their anti-consumer practices. A couple of C/C- execs from fucking XBOX want to shoe horn the crappy monetization strategies from that world into D&D. Then create a bunch of arbitrary gates to creative content they had nothing to do with and call it a value add. Its been going on long enough that there are enough players that feel this is normal.
However thankfully the real tabletop players have had everything they need for years now. The community can sustain itself and seems to largely be going its own way anyway. Not that WOTC is even interested in them anymore anyway.
Lots of other games out there. Try a few and find one that you may even like better.
What really got me was them changing the races to pretty much just be the same no matter what you pick. Nothing really makes it stand out over another. There is a huge Difference between a elf and dwarf and how they should be done. Both with the positive and negative sides of them.
The bright side is, there is nothing stopping your DM from adding that stuff to their games. And nothing is stopping us from playing the older editions. Most the people i know still play 3.5.
For other games that you can get in to for cheap. I go to humble bundle. They constantly have RP games for super cheap. They currently have pathfinder and Deathwatch on sale.
Humble bundle has amazing deals. I check every single week for updates
Exactly. Everyone is the same. Everyone can do everything. There is hardly any challenge for players now. Everyone gets a participation award.
You can't start playing 2024 until at 3 books come out, I'd argue you'd want to wait till around 6 books come out, including adventures.
This is the first time Im seeing one of your videos - good stuff & agreed. Im a stuffy old Grognard of the Old School myself (grew up w/ BX/AD&D1e) but I like your vibe & will definitely check out more of your channel. Cheers sir
Also a first time viewer. Liking what I'm seeing here.
I got to say you just popped up into my RUclips feed and I decided to give you a video a listen. You're editing is hilarious and spot on very very good. I also think your opinions are concise clear and have a lot of thought in them.
I started playing dungeons & dragons in 1987 but
I was a huge 3.5 fan when they switch to 4th edition I was crushed and I moved over to pathfinder. The things started to sour everywhere and I started to see these changes that you're talking about and the move towards the digital micro transactional business models moving forward on top of ideological changes that I think we're not necessary but harnessed in order to attract a different consumer that they could milk far more easily. I just ended up shifting over to Shadowdark. Just like we used to do it in the late 80s and early 90s if the book doesn't cover something but everything else was right there and everything you needed could be referenced of one book. Not only that though Kelsey took it to a whole new level and making the players handbook so accessible and valuable to the player and the DM that there was no turning back for me
You are speaking my language! I am a forever DM and I get sad when we don't get the support we need.
I flipped through the 2024 PHB and although it seems more organized, it feels soulless. The art work like you said is soft and Fortnite like! Feels like none of these characters have ever been on an adventure.
Love the vibe of your channel. I too incorporate coffee into my videos! Books and coffee!
I'm subscribed and here to stay! Keep speaking the truth.
I saw Professor Dungeon Master's video, and I really think it's a gross over-simplification of it. It's true you can use any adventure with any version of D&D, or any other RPG. It really just depends on how much of the other moduels/adventures you wish to use. If it's just the story/npcs/monsters/locations and what not. You can easily do so. A bit of work might be needed depending on how detailed you make your game, but overall easily doable. I do it often. However some adventures may have challenges that require some tweaking depending on the ruleset you use.
I had commented on Professor Dungeon Master's video that when it comes to backwards compatibilbity if there are certain rules you wish to use between editions it can get muddy. And it's there that the real work will come in. Most editions of D&D or Pathfinder will not be fully backwards compatible when it comes to classes specifically. Some other rules may also be really difficult to incorperate for a past edition and vice/versa.
I personally never planned to move to a new edition. I prefer 3.5 and Pathfinder 1E. I was annoyed by the announcement of Pathfinder 2 E. And to be frank, I didn't like 2E. I didn't like DnD 4E and didn't care for 5E. Never felt the need to move to this new 6E either. (I'm calling it 6E cause it is.) The main thing I think Wizards is banking on is the opposite of my feelings on it. I think Professor Dungeon Master said this and I agree with him, they are banking on those players that will feel like they are missing out. Those will be the ones to get all the new books. And low key those completionists that want to collect them just to collect them. Too often I think players have the notion that the company of games they love actually care about them, and unfortunately that's not true. To any company people are just breathing, walking wallets that are carrying what they perceive as their money. I've made peace with this and just simply choose not to buy (litterally and figuratively) into their nonsense. And that is really all it takes, is to just simply not move to the new edition. You don't have to play on what Wizards wants you to play on, or use the rules Wizards - sorry Hasbro/Wizards wants you to use. So I wont.
Eloquently stated and I agree. And because of this, I'm going to be starting up a new series in the near future, highlighting indie games that I know DnD players would like. I want to expose some of those other awesome creators out there.
I dropped a lot of money on pathfinder 2E/re, but its design has the same issues I hated in 4E-its a game. I mean I get it. Wargame is the roots and dungeon crawls are things. However kick in door fight monster is all too often their take on roleplaying, as the official modules do mostly that. So I bucked out and spent a bunch on D100 runequest/mythras, D20 The Dark Eye and new Rolemaster Unified(hate the art but love this old school IP). Didn't like the mechanics for savage world or 2d20 modipheus with piles of meta currency. I remember years playing TMNT even before the cartoon had come out. As bad as Palladium rules aren't unified, they worked great for our adventures on the US west coast in arizona bay.
I don't know if I'd call it an oversimplification - it's a valid point that serves to illustrate how 2024 *isn't* very backwards-compatible. I hear "all editions are compatible" as "Don't put much value on the claim of compatibility because it doesn't mean anything".
If we don't prioritize self-respect over convenience and entertainment, we become slaves to the most cunning and ruthless among us. Power concedes nothing without a *demand,* and all profit-seeking is motivated by the desire for power.
i knew this since they first said it was going to be backwards compatible , either its going to be a minor improvement made to squeeze money , or not be backwards compatible and they said it was just for marketing .
i guess i was wrong , since its BOTH.
im ending my base 5e games and hoping to others .Crucible look complex but promising , its still very early into production .
Backward compatibility is a Microsoft mantra... many (most?) of WotC's employees now are from Microsoft. They fired over a thousand of the experienced employees who weren't from Microsoft just before last Christmas.
Makes sense they would have released the game before playtesting it thoroughly and ironing out all the bugs. In the old versions (AD&D, D&D BECMI) errata and updates were mentioned in Dragon magazine. WotC provided errata for 3e, 4e online.
Why the staggered release? Notice it's one book per quarter. Per business quarter.
The sales numbers declared in that article may not be confirmed by what Stephen at Roll for Combat saw in the stats for DnD 2024 PHB so far. ruclips.net/video/650JRuC2TPQ/видео.html
The article he references only applies to physical books sold through a very small number of retailers. It doesn't include big box stores, digital or flgs. It was a flawed look with limited info but everyone is on the "screw wotc" bandwagon so he decided to make a video he knew would get lots of interest.
Great video! You seem like a DnD guru, but remember, there are tons of other games out there that aren't published by companies that despise their players! I encourage you to explore. Take care.
WoTC is trying to faze out DM's. They want players to play with AI GM's. WoTC makes more money off of players buying content for their characters on DnD Beyond. The CEO of Hasbro has been recorded stating that he wants to get rid of DM's and replace them with AI. Forcing every player to play on DnD Beyond and pay a monthly/annual price to play.
I hate 5E! Truly and deeply.
But my gaming group wanted to play it. I refused to buy any of the books, after I bought the first 3.
So when 2024 edition came out, we looked at the changes and decided to try it out. We all bought the new PHB.
I'll say this: the rules are better than 5E. But the "artwork" in it is fucking awful!!! One of the ugliest books I've ever seen!
🏴☠
Art is about the most subjective thing there is, personally I really like a lot of the artwork in the book, especially the subclass art. Only thing I am a bit sad about is that lot of the coolest subclass art is on my less favorite subclasses. But there is still some of my favorites that have great art too, like trickery cleric, and illusionist wizard.
@@Klaital1 Biggest lie ever sold in art. Yes, ultimately art has subjective part to it, it's obviously not mechanical engineering.
However, so does most of things humans produce.
Just because your favorite food is X, that doesn't mean people can't deem it bad. Taste for food is also subjective, yet you wouldn't let your kid eat nothing but greasy pizza because it's their favorite, and you as an adult can understand long term ramifications of such diet. Same goes for art.
Saying that I cannot apply standards to art is like telling me I can't apply standards to fast food, or architecture. Yeah, you can have favorite architecture style, but overwhelming majority of people will agree that communist brutalism is an eye sore for human eyes.
TL;DR "Art is subjective" is nothing but an excuse for bad art. Most of things in life are subjective, we know that with common sense, but we don't feel the need to say it because we all understand it. If art was so subjective that you can't apply standards to it, then art schools wouldn't exist, since they would be meaningless.
@@MrMrtvozornik Art do not require standardisation. Since even its standards are subjective to different cultures. Which standards are picked as a universal baseline are grounds of heated debate and conflicts that will eventually circle back to a culture war.
For example, various cultures all around the globe fosters different melodic scale outside of the common harmonic Major and Minor scale. To the point that their music sounds completely alien, and dare I say, terrible to those who are used to the harmonic scales. Yet, those standards of beauty is exactly what those culture uses, and they accept and nurture it within their society. Apply the "normal" and "common" standards that orchesteal music uses, and one shall end up displacing the identity these people have developed. No different than erasing what makes these people their own, a cultural invasion.
The premise of this topic is flawed. The academic institutions for arts should not be used as a way to standardise any form of art in the first place. Unless you truly think that it's beneficial for humanity to have its cultural identities be controlled by a small group of people. In which case, I disagree completely.
Let the people learn from mentors they choose, not to pursue arts that fit a certain standard, but one that enrich and communicate something sublime to the people. Like Claude Monet who broke through the romantic era with beautiful impressionist imagery, fueled by his love for his wife, not by the desire to pursue the standards of his time.
Invalidating other's taste as out of the norm, as if individuals are children who can't to decide what sort of colors and shaoes they like is plain rude anyway. "Art is subjective" is an ideal that should be pursued, not an excuse for anything.
@@anothun9216the art is bad because it’s bad in the context of d&d since it represents a huge tonal shift and dilution from what d&d’s core identity was: dangerous dungeons filled with treasure and monsters. Now the art depicts harvest moon with orcs ? The art might be good for another IP but it’s bad for D&D.
I bought the 2024 PHB on the grounds of 'It can't possibly be that bad.' How wrong I was. A prospective DM is faced with over 2500 different race, class, and background combinations that their PCs can select from, and that's before you figure in the 48 currently available subclasses and the casual multiclassing that the rules are so eager to promote. How am I as a DM supposed to account for all that? It's obvious who these rules are being sold to, and it's NOT DMs. Luckily for me my first edition rulebooks still work just fine!
I saw the same thing. I’ve not purchased the 2024 Players Handbook, my 5e books work just fine. I use to run D&D at my local game store. But WotC put out a notice to all D&D Adventure League players and DM’s that by mid November everyone playing Adventure League has to convert to the new rules as they are released. So, I’ve stopped running D&D at my game store. My home game will remain 5e.
So, I’m thinking that in mid November, when the new DMG is released, a mass conversion of information on D&D Beyond will happen again. So, expect more videos about WotC not caring about customers and changing things without permission.
Also, yes you are correct printed books still work just fine. I still have my entire 1st edition AD&D book set. I will pull them off the shelf from time to time for a rule or inspection as a DM. Which is why I’m done with buying any new D&D products. The printed books already have issues, but the corrections are only on D&D Beyond. I don’t like running a game where the rules can change at any time.
Here is to simpler days.
They say that updating won't be required, but all of the new books are going to use 2024 rules. In addition, new players will simply avoid the 2014 books and only get the 2024 ones. Sooner or later, the pressure will build up.
What pressure? DMs drive the market, not players. If you don't want to play the system your DM is running, you're not gonna play at that table.
@@Roukle You have completely missed the point. For the tables that are already established and have a dedicated DM and players, they won't care about the edition update. They will continue to play the system they love, and in the case where there is content in a 2024 book that the table likes, they'll find a way to either homebrew a translation, ignore it, or update to 2024. The problem is that there won't be growth for the 2014 system. Why would new players and DMs learn how to play an outdated system that won't be officially supported anymore when they can learn the new system that will get more and more content? Furthermore, Adventurer's League will be requiring players and DMs use the 2024 rules and content for store games and conventions. Maybe the new players and DMs will learn 2014 after they learn 2024, but I don't see most of them learning 2014 first anymore, especially as content creators make the transition themselves. It might not be right away, it might take years even, but eventually 2014 will fade into the background and 2024 will take center-stage, just like how 5th Edition overtook 3.5 (4th was a flop, but that was the exception, not the rule).
@@GoldfishEmpire You seem to think new players exist in a vacuum. Most "new players" are friends of old players. Or children of old players, at this point.
@@Roukle Sure, it's common for a newer player to learn D&D from a friend that's more experienced. However, that didn't stop the newer editions from overtaking the older ones, and I firmly believe that, given enough time and assuming 2024 doesn't flop, 2024 will overtake 2014, just as 5th overtook 3rd, 3rd overtook 2nd, and so on.
@@GoldfishEmpire And now we're back to the so what. So I ask again, what pressure?
Pressure on who, to do what?
First encounter with any of your videos: your analogy of WotC coming to your house and grabbing one of your print books is spot on. That highlights one of the core issues with electronic entertainment.
Honestly, I see no reason to update to the new version when I have 10 years worth of material from 2014 to now. And honestly with the way Hasbro has been treating wizards of the coast and their staff. I’m not particularly interested in buying new material. Maybe in a couple of years if there’s an interesting book, I might buy it, but honestly, I’m probably just gonna stick to my old fifth edition material. There are a ton of campaigns. I have not yet run with that material and I’m perfectly happy just sticking with the old stuff.
Plus there's so much content from, or mostly compatible with, earlier editions of D&D that you can adapt for 5e if that's your system of choice. Absolutely no reason to give the Wizards more of your cash.
The last thing D&D needed was stronger characters. The CR system was already broken now it’s even worse
It's a little too early to say that seeing as we haven't seen any modules or the MM for 5.5e
Any DM worth their salt can adjust the statblocks for the power creep. I'm withholding judgement until I get a look at the MM at least.
@@laughingpanda4395 Adjusting statblocks isn't really the problem, the problem is that powercreep necessarily leads to homogeneity as the less valuable types of effects become undesirable. That's why in the 2024 PHB, everything either has misty step or a flying speed - these are the effect types that proved good enough to stay around after powercreep.
Lets let the players run this new edition without us DMs. Clearly Wotc does not want our money.
Also i have to call a massive error in your video. The darker and Grittier D&D is AD&D, 0E and D&D Basics many iterations , NOT 3.5/4.
Some of the old black & white D&D still looks better than some of the D&D artwork of today.
True hahaha! But we can all agree that ANY edition is grittier than 2024e
I see Earthdawn and CoC on your shelf. A man of culture.
Not having anything to do with 24E or DnD Beyond. I've got just about everything you can get from basic up through to 5E. I would need several lifetimes to play it all as it is.
I have the same situation. I’ve been a player and DM since 1982. I have the three core books minimum for all versions, except 4th edition, we skipped that version. I’ve been slowly working on converting 1st edition’s The Temple of Elemental Evil and 3.5 edition’s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil for my home game. Just these two modules will have years of play for my home group.
What I’m seeing out of the 2024 edition is character power creep. Any old timer saw this in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions. The company wants to make money. They put out books with new rules boosting the PC’s power level. The players want this. So, either they buy it to get the DM to buy it. In 2nd edition it got to a point that a lever 3 blade singer was as powerful as a level 6 fighter straight from the Players Handbook. I’m seeing the same thing in 2024 edition. Eventually an entire new version is released to rest the power creep.
@@wvanyar1801 I don't remember much power creep with AD&D. I do remember though using basic spells from my characters that had no counter with the new version lol. We had fun with it for a while before merging the two.
@@Incab , Did you play 2nd edition? The complete handbook series was where the 2nd edition power creep was the most evident.
@@wvanyar1801 Played from basic to 3rd. Missed most of that and 4th. Life and all. Vtt online stuff got us all back into it since we don't live around each other anymore. So skipped ahead to 5E.
Mostly been just a player. Only last couple years in writing this adventure have I done the DM side of things. I guess our DM was just that good in countering it we didn't notice.
@@Incab , Either your DM countered or didn’t but the complete handbook series in 2nd edition. I didn’t buy them, I stuck to the basic core 3 books. But trying to play at conventions my friends and I ran into the power creep big time. Since 1st edition AD&D none of the group has purchased anything past the Players for that edition. I and the other DM bought the DMG and Monster Manual for 2nd, 3.5, and 5th. Both the other DM and I bought every book put out by TSR back in the 1980s. We both chose never to do that again.
The headache I was getting from the local game store D&D Adventure League players with D&D Beyond was starting to be a pain. So, I’ve ended DMing for Adventure League, much to the sadness of the store, I always had a full table of seven players. Now listening to some other RUclipsrs I’m glade I opted out.
Do an internet search on “D&D Adventure League update for 2024 Core Rules”. The DM’s are expected to honor the 2024 rules as of September 17. As new rules come out we have to use those as well. I had a pair of autistic boys and their Dad at my table regularly. Both of the boys loved D&D to the point they knew every rule and basically lived on D&D Beyond all the time their Dad told me. So, I knew these two and most likely all the other players would be up on the new rules.
Now the real kicker is no new Adventure League modules have been released from WotC since 2020. So, the DM’s are expected to do the conversion work. I’d rather spend time on my home game over power gamers at my local game store.
Good luck with your game. We were playing 1st edition until 2018. It was heavily modified for our home game. We only switched to 5e to play at conventions again. I’m wondering how D&D play at conventions will work? Internet connections can be very poor at times.
I quit supporting WotC over a year ago. I won’t buy their products anymore.
Haven't bought anything from them in the 21st Century and I'm not about to start.
I only ever bought one campaign book a handful of years ago. I love getting to play D&D and not supporting wotc while doing it
Homebrew for the win
Selective outrage at its finest. I'm sure you don't eat chicken, wear namebrand clothing, own a cellphone or have a 401K either since hasbro of all corps gets your outrage.
Obtained the new player book a few days ago
Pro:
I like most of the gameplay stuff and explanation to some parts (gives more explanation, what the stats could mean, or the aligntment)
The Farmer background is nice. Even, that the background gives the stat Bonus (even, when some are weird, why is guard increasing the int stat?).
And i like it, that they removed the sunlight weakness of drow (that maked them near impossible to play)
Con:
They dont explain the raced enough in this book.
The let out a big part of orc cultur (they are keeped as nomadic wanderer, who travels a lot, but they dont mention the raiding part of them).
They can throw there pictures into the trash.
Orcs are not mexicans. They are big, musculary, brutal beast, who screams danger by there appereance.
Or, what the f is the picture by the elves?
What is a drow sitting next to a high elve, who both looks gay? Why is there a brown elves? Is that a wood elve? High elves are white. Dark elve are grey to Black. Not brown.
Wood elves are more green, when i understand them correctly.
A "brown" elve doesnt fit.
The concerns over this being a "beta-test" version due to the staggered release is the least of my concerns with regard to this new edition. I started playing AD&D back in the 80's and have seen this boondoggle over the past...well, 50 years lol. Anyway, even the 1st edition had a staggered release: Monster Manual 1977, Players Handbook 1978, and DMG 1979. Not that your other observations aren't valid, but even 1st edition released errata and updates as publication life-cycle proceeded: The Unearthed Arcana, Monster Manual II, and Fiend Folio were mostly compiled from suggestions published in Dragon Magazine in order to address shortcomings or shortfalls with the original or "Core" rules. Just a bit of history and, perhaps, allaying your fears that a staggered and imperfected release were somehow uncommon. Keep up the great work.
My party went to PF2 when all of this stuff started happening. I don't regret this decision. 5e already had power creep for the PCs, making it really hard for DM's to challenge them. 2024e seems worse. When I was running 5e, I flat out banned the entire TCoE book at my tables for this reason. I've switched my mindset, and am starting to change that of my players to, "Abilities are cool and fun, but if you can't do cool and fun things without a sheet full of overpowered abilities then you probably are missing the point of a TTRPG and need to go back to video games." I've been looking around at ORS systems and taking concepts from those and mixing them with PF2 and content from 3.5 and it's created a great system. Yeah, it's a little crunch, yeah the players are powerful, and yeah my monsters will shred you if you screw around so you better think before you act and not hope an OP ability will save you.
Dude, I just discovered your channel and I LOVE it. Looking forward to watching more and seeing your audience grow. Great commentary, great reporting, great insight, and hilariously done with great editing. Keep leveling up; I'll be here for the ride, friend.
Thanks for that gas bro!!
Love this channel, small pet peeves though: The background music and watermark are distracting and unnecessary. So are the random reaction memes, feels very 2014 (see what I did there but seriously it's a bit cringe). The inclusions from other creators is also great, especially with the credit.
Anyway I'll be watching every video henceforth, you bring a fresh perspective to my usual D&D content (which is mostly just the guys you referenced).
@@madjarov42 "Thanks for your feedback." 😉
But seriously, noted. And as always, thanks for watching!!
This is why I play Moldvay Basic/Expert it was perfect when it released in 1981 and still is now. OSR is better than modern D&D.
Also the only way I like playing is at a table with pencils, dice and paper.
PREACH!
Any publicly-traded company must answer to their shareholders, aka The Public, with always bigger numbers. WotC thus cannot be anything but focused on extracting cash from our pockets. Meanwhile, their product is meant for an intimate connection with the material and foster a DIY mentality. What a mismatch.
The problem is, what they're doing neither connects nor extracts cash.
Thank you for putting a voice to many of the things that I have been thinking about regarding DnD2024. You said it so much better than I could.
The PHB has always had the majority of the rules. The DMG was were you found the Magic Items, Poisons, Traps and some Tips. The Monster Manual is the book we need, but as I always do, I will just buff the monster we have.
I think compatibility depends on what kind of game you are playing and also "for whom".
For a dm using adventures from older editions is going to be super easy. For a guy like prof DM that likes a loosy goosy game that only kinda uses the rules, sure then it is compatible.
For other groups that are heavy into character building, the strategy side of things and so on, it is much much less compatible.
And like you say it totally favors the player side. And those players that subscribe to Beyond are going to be hounding their DM to upgrade because they want all those sweet extra benefits. If they had not walked back the changing of the rules on Beyond - DMs would have been litterally FORCED to upgrade.
If I weren't sick I would be running my 5e game right now. My table is already good at the game, the type that knows that you can Ready Action cast Insect Plague before the second caster casts spherical Wall of Force to trap literally any creature for a hundred rounds where the only answer is either teleportation or Disintegrate, not even Legendary Resistances beat it because there's no save against Wall of Force. They know that they can convince and lie and sneak their way around what would otherwise be encounters contributing to daily resource loss. I'm running a Greyhawk setting, mages that aren't legacy NPCs like Mordenkainen are extremely rare and cap out around level 5, with most martials being around level 10, it would be bad for immersion if every other time the party cast Tiny Hut, there was a wandering coven of hags casting Dispel Magic. We've dabbled with playtesting 2024e features like the Fighter getting to add Fighter level to Indomitable, if they invest downtime and gold into learning the new skill, or my using some of the features to buff enemies or greenlighting some spell changes. It's still hard to keep them in line though, even when they take the initiative on playing with a Wall of Force nerfed to allow a DEX save to escape getting trapped like Wall of Stone allows.
We don't use D&D Beyond because we're the type that have seen WotC's crap practices not just with D&D but also Magic: the Gathering, which helps contribute to actually knowing the rules or where to reference them. We also have gone through the playtest packets and leaks enough to notice that yes, some rules just do not work together, like how See Invisibility, while fixed to actually ignore the Invisible condition, completely negates hiding as a mechanic because 2024e has hiding make you Invisible. Between that and all of the Unearthed Arcana packets they've put out, I've basically built my own 5.5e based on what ideas I do and don't like, or what good or bad ideas inspire my own changes. People might not agree with my take that Eldritch Blast should be a Sun Soul-esque class-restricted attack option tied to Warlock progression, but they aren't at my table agreeing to the idea, which is how D&D has always been.
As a DM I have no interest in running 2024 5e, and even if I had, I haven't purchased anything from WotC even before the OGL and don't intend on buying anything from now. There are better games to be had. PF2e. Lancer. Cyberpunk RED. Too many games to count that value my time and don't force me to fix a product that it's publisher couldn't even fix properly.
I suggest the totaly free B/X clone "Basic Fantasy role playing game" . Or Labyrinth Lord or Dark Dungeons. Don't give wotc money.
@@rkcpek I'm not huge into the OSR type games but from what I have read of Worlds Without Number and Stars Without Number, those would also be worth a look at.
Cyberpunk is a great game to get in to. You only need the core book, and the company R Talsorian Games releases monthly content updates for FREE on their website, so there's never a lack of new material coming out. I can't recommend Cyberpunk Red enough since making the change over from 5e.
Man, that intro bit with the scene from 'Matilda' was do on point, I briefly forgot that I clicked on a video for DnD and not another MtG video.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah! Nice intro clip! :D
Haha thanks!!
we STILL play AD&D 2nd. im old.
No, this is wrong, WOTC just texted me and said they've changed, things will be different this time...
I walked away from DnD a few years ago. WotC and Hasbro have killed it, it's only a matter of time until the husk collapses and rots.
All of the things that lead us to today started well before the OGL scandal.
It started with the release of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything (That No One Asked For).
“Just like they wouldn’t come in your house.”
*WotC and the Pinkertons exchange a look and start laughing*
Off Topic Comment: I'm a Old Blerd myself (played on and off since the early 90s, knew of it since the early 80s).
Its just nice to see 'my own face' talking about this game 😅
'In my day' (ugh...did I just type that cliche 😏), there simply weren't that many who played the game at all, much less Black Folk.
I've only known two others who did this (and other geeky stuff like comics). Sadly, I'm the only one who remains today 😔
I've seen many others around lately though, so I guess its 'safe' for Blerds to come out of the 'Back Issues Closet' 😂
My players were given the option to upgrade their characters to 2024e and were super excited. Then I told them I would be upgrading the monsters to reflect the new ability options in 2024e and they stopped blanked face like "Hold up, wait a minute."
Power creep feels great for about 30mins and then you realize its a zero-sum game.
I wish WoTc well, I do, but it's clear as the warts on a Ogre's nose that Hasbro intends to kill the pen and paper version just as they believe that A.I. will replace GM's and content creators. Nope, I'll stick with the 50 years worth of D&D crap I have now.
One of the puzzling things about this whole situation is how much revolves around D&D beyond. Creating a character on D&D5, even on higher levels, is not hard and there is not that much math going on where automation can help you. So, it seems weird how the majority of 5e players are still using it.
People are complaining that you can't order a la carte after WOTC just changed their characters to update some of the rules without asking. Just download your characters and unsubscribe instead of throwing more money at it!
Preach it bruh. Also, I spy Call of Cthulhu, Cyberpunk and Earthdawn. Truly a man of culture and taste!
@@bnickxavier6102 Thanks! I'll be putting up more of my books in the next video. Physical books are GOOD. More people need to see them haha
I personally saw the dnd beyond change as a nice free upgrade, like they said.
"it should have been optional"
Errata on digital books has basically never been optional. They've been doing it for about as long as it's been a thing, and people like it. A lot.
I am still sad I don't have the original hadozee written down because I didn't want to pre-order the physical book and only got it AFTER they altered a ton of its text/features.
And people call me CRAZY for not liking that.
its my first video from you. Was a very well made and articulated video! Got a subscriber buff from me :D
Thank you! Welcome to the club!
@@encounter-masteringdungeon4251 thanks man! i have a quick question... do you only cover Dnd and other fantasy rpgs? Im curious on your take games like Alien RPG, Twilight2000 (its not a gay vampire shit :D) and Mothership RPG
"They are always trying to test how far they can go". Yep the 1st such experiment was 4th edition. And they marketed a completely different game for WoW and other mmorpg audiences as D&D. And they had a huge success.
They fired people who had actual experience and talent to cut costs for one financial statement and we're seeing the impact now.
We left the brand. Two GM’s doing PathFinder and StarFinder, one GM started with Shadow of the Demon Lord and is now considering Shadow of the Weird Wizard. In truth these companies exist at our behest ; if need be it isn’t difficult at all to switch to something better. Not now. Not these days.
The 2024 PHB made you die of cringe? The way I see it from this video is that there's little or nothing wrong with it even in your view. Ignore D&D Beyond and 90% of your issues go away. Which is essentially my opinion too: the 2024 PHB is an improvement over the 2014 version, I'm just over anything WotC wants to do on the digital front. Backwards compatibility is more than close enough to work (I disagree completely with the idea that there's a ton of work involved in changing over, or that it's a problem the DMG and MM haven't been released in their new versions yet). There's never been an edition I haven't houseruled more extensively than what the publisher errata'ed about it. It's totally fine. I know quite a lot of people like D&D Beyond in concept (I do too), and that platform getting shit on is a shame, but after dropping it everything just got easier for me. Want to stay with 2014's version? Just do that. Want to move to the 2024 because it's (a little bit) better? Do that instead. It's neither difficult nor problematic to mix and match. If you don't have the 2014 versions yet, sure, then you might want to wait until the DMG is released as well (I don't think you absolutely have to wait for the MM as well, if you're new to D&D the monsters in the 2024 PHB and the ones you'll get in most of the published adventures you're very likely going to start out with will be plenty for the first couple of months). Moreover, the 2014 DMG was a pretty poor release in my estimation. Certainly the least of the WotC edition DMGs. I can only hope the 2024 DMG does what the 2024 PHB did and tackle the most obvious areas in need of improvement. Regardless, I might still decide to pass on it - and that'll be fine too, just a missed opportunity to fix a number of flaws . Tl;dr: I think the lion's share of the flaws outlined above have little or nothing to do with the 2024 PHB (or the upcoming books) but with WotC's business decisions and digital approach instead. Disliking those decisions is perfectly justified, but bringing them up as a critique of the book feels as janky to me as some of those decisions have been.
Firstly, thanks for watching! I agree with you. A lot of my issues with the PHB do stem from the circumstances surrounding its release. I do have issues with the book itself, though, mainly points #3 - #7
As a game system, 2024 PHB is an incomplete book, and part of an incomplete edition. For a new DM running things by the book, they're in for a WORLD of hurt. They'll probably buy all 3 core books, and they'll be relying on the designers to help them run a fun game. So for $200, it's expected that the game works right out of the box; the math clicks, its systems are fleshed out and refined.
I want to review 2024e as a game, but I'm waiting until all 3 books release. When 2024e is finally finished in 2025, I'll start working on another deep dive video!
@@encounter-masteringdungeon4251 "For a new DM running things by the book, they're in for a WORLD of hurt." - I don't think that's really true. I think the 2024 PHB works just fine with the 2014 DMG. There is the unfortunate problem of timing for new players and DMs not being able to buy the 2024 DMG (and later, MM) yet, yes. And giving my not so positive opinion of the 2014 DMG, I will absolutely suggest waiting to anyone in that position. But me using my 2014 DMG side by side with my 2024 PHB? I don't see that making things worse. The 2014 DMGs numbers and mechanics were already a bit (to a lot) unreliable. DM discretion and adjustments have always been advised in 5E, and the reasons for that aren't really made worse by the PHB changes. Those changes aren't fundamental enough for that. Moving all subclasses to 3rd level for instance can be a bit of an issue, it might tie the players' and DM's hands a bit, but I've been part of several campaigns that handled sorcerous origins, warlock pacts and a cleric's chosen deity in different ways. Sorcerers got a bit more powerful (and fortunately feel more like a real class rather than really a significantly worse wizard with a shimmering coat of paint), but not enough to throw the CR system out of whack more than it's been for 10 years already anyway. Bottom line: I'll not advise buying the book to anyone who already has a 2014 book and isn't comfortable dropping another $40-50 depending on where they get it, but for everyone else the 2024 book really is a better purchase even regardless of being current or not. It's just a better PHB, IMO.
the best part of d&d 2024e problems is finding new creators like you! so happy to be a new sub
I'm humbled!
The best new version of D&D is Savage Worlds.
I'm in the "rulebooks are just guidelines" boat. I can adapt the numbers, the encounters, the monster levels, etc.
Don't need the DM guide all that much, maybe the Monster Manual so I don't have to keep rebalancing everything, but it's not that much of a hassle.
The new PHB gives players a boost in mechanics, even though it blew my mind to see how badly the race and background content was gutted. Where once you had ~2 pages of lore, religion, cultural customs, list of names for each race, now there's... nothing? 4 abilities and that's it?
Backgrounds once helped give the character more flavor or RP opportunities, now they are just stat increases... why?
All in all, continuing the trend of videogame-ification of a pen&paper RPG, which I dislike.
Separately:
Reference to RLM
Reference to Kotor2
Good taste my man.
Great video. Good points anfd a fresh persepctive on some of these issues that I have seen so far. For me the question about who is this game for doesn't even come into the picture. I am an old school player and DM as in early 80's. To me the books are the base set of rules and the game itself ihas the feel and the tweeks needed to fit how that table wants to play. Gritty, high fantasy, low powered little magic or plane spanning powers our table and our online games can do all that as we decide. Gygax said the thing never to tell people was you don't NEED the books to play lol. Back in the day we didn't even have skills we just used the stats to do things. Want to swing on a rope, roll under your DEX score. Wan to remember a crucial detail or puzzle clue? roll under your INT. So from my perspective i am already acustomed to using the rules as a base not a bible of how to play.
It’s frustrating the amount of times we have to go through the cycle of: WOTC is completely unaware of the fanbase,
They role out a new change that nobody asked for and everyone hates, and they get backlash
Hasbro wants to move D&D into an on-line service mode rather than a printed books mode. A reason they were looking to nuke the old stuff in Beyond. Force people to buy the new electronic version. Also, if I recall correctly, Hasbro only has three divisions actually making money rather than losing it. With WoTC/D&D being one of the money makers. They need to get every penny they can out of D&D for the Hasbro bottom line at the moment.
Unlike video games, there is a thriving second hand market for older books. And even without the books, they can’t take your imagination. You don’t need WotC to do home brew, run a game in Faerun with another system, or have an adventure.
I’m looking forward to the collapse of the D20 hegemony, and the rise of a more diverse ecosystem of TTRPG mechanics, settings, genres, and styles.
Does anyone actually like this new edition? How are they going to ever sell this?
This year has honestly really illustrated how bad the management at Hasbro/Wotc is. They have had decades to be ready and dropped the ball. Over and over.
It is absolutely by design. They've created a scenario where dms don't want anything to do with the new edition creating even more dm scarcity while making the online version more appealing to the general audience. They're funneling people to the vtt by making it a necessity. Create problems, sell solutions. It's a well known business tactic..
Which is the ultimate proof that D&D leadership inherently misunderstands the product they sell.
"Hellooo beta testers."