A thread on RPGNet has gotten me annoyed. Now, I'm not annoyed at it for any good reason. I'm annoyed at it because it pushes my buttons
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I am not personally a huge D&D fan, but lots of folks do seem to find it fun. I mostly like much lighter systems, and outside of running D&D for nostalgia's sake, I can't see any real reason to use the system myself. But I think for newbies, especially, it definitely does have a role - they play it, they have fun, all is good. Maybe they go on to play other RPGs later, maybe they don't.
I think for better or for worse, D&D has created the hobby. There is no getting away from that. I do think one *can* mostly escape D&D's reach however, when trying to get folks involved in a new game. Just don't use the word "roleplaying game" or any of its variants to describe the game, and try not to use any of D&D's trappings, either. Admittedly, it will be very very hard to get an audience for such, but such is the price of trying to set out on one's own without relying on granddad's legacy to set things up for you.
I don't really have that much of a problem with D&D players, even exclusively D&D players -I do think they have crappy taste, but that's their business.
I have to applaud your efforts. I myself don't tend to avoid the old baggage as much. But then, I run action-oriented, medium-crunch, tactical games, so I'm much closer to the shadow than you ;)
There's nothing wrong with moving out from under the shadow, in word, deed or game design. What annoys me is when people go "What shadow? If you don't play D&D, it has no influence on your gaming." That's just being blind to the realities of the situation. It's certainly possible to get out of that shadow, butit's sometimes hard, even if only because you're trying to explain a game without referencing common context.
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I think for better or for worse, D&D has created the hobby. There is no getting away from that. I do think one *can* mostly escape D&D's reach however, when trying to get folks involved in a new game. Just don't use the word "roleplaying game" or any of its variants to describe the game, and try not to use any of D&D's trappings, either. Admittedly, it will be very very hard to get an audience for such, but such is the price of trying to set out on one's own without relying on granddad's legacy to set things up for you.
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I have to applaud your efforts. I myself don't tend to avoid the old baggage as much. But then, I run action-oriented, medium-crunch, tactical games, so I'm much closer to the shadow than you ;)
There's nothing wrong with moving out from under the shadow, in word, deed or game design. What annoys me is when people go "What shadow? If you don't play D&D, it has no influence on your gaming." That's just being blind to the realities of the situation. It's certainly possible to get out of that shadow, butit's sometimes hard, even if only because you're trying to explain a game without referencing common context.
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