There are several games I still haven't played simply because 25 years ago the only pitch I ever heard was "D&D sucks and you suck for liking it. Play THIS instead." I left D&D for other RPGs many years ago and still haven't tried them. Sell your game up without putting their favorite game down. - ThreadSky

sskorkowsky.bsky.social • 63 days ago

There are several games I still haven't played simply because 25 years ago the only pitch I ever heard was "D&D sucks and you suck for liking it. Play THIS instead."
I left D&D for other RPGs many years ago and still haven't tried them.
Sell your game up without putting their favorite game down.

Reposted from Pan rolls dice!

As someone who enjoys a variety of TTRPGs, I just find the regular dunking on 5e Players and Enjoyers super boring tbh.

Sorry their game is popular, go play your own game and enjoy it! Nobody is going to listen to you insult them then go "Yknow what? Maybe I SHOULD play Fishblade."

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camibrew.bsky.social•63 days ago

Absolutely, you don't have to put something else down to show how good your thing is.

kuyvonbraun.bsky.social•63 days ago

I concur.

I remember there was this whole snobbery about Pathfinder for a while, though TBH Id moved on from heroic fantasy by that time, but it was weird watching the community argue with itself.

Er, guys, we're all nerds here 😉💜

stands-in-the-fire.bsky.social•63 days ago

Yeah; I mean don't get me wrong, while PF1 is not my cup of tea, PF2 is actually a really fun system. But the way "Pathfinder People" so often try to sell it to me makes me not want to touch it again.

And for those in the cheap seats: not everybody who plays PF is one of the "Pathfinder People".

keylo.bsky.social•63 days ago

It's tough cause I don't want to sell it that way, but I fell in love with the system BECAUSE it had built-in fixes for a lot of my issues with 5e. But 5e isn't a bad system, and I loved it for what it was at the time, I just like pf2e more now 🤷‍♂️

stands-in-the-fire.bsky.social•63 days ago

Yeah, and see right there, you're already doing better than many:
- Stated as *preferences* in design for things *you* had issues with
- No personal judgement provided or implied
- A is fine, but I found B and I really like B

You might be stunned how many fail to cross those really small hurdles 😅

stands-in-the-fire.bsky.social•63 days ago

Like, going back to Seth above: to a decent degree, his taste in RPGs and mine don't overlap a ton. Buuuut, he's incredibly up front with what he likes in a game/system, does amazingly detailed and thoughtful analysis of what he talks about, and always pitches on positives rather than negatives.

stands-in-the-fire.bsky.social•63 days ago

I keep saying this about not only TTRPGs but games and stuff in general. I play a lot of MMOs, and this is just endemic in how people try to pitch "their" MMO to you. It's just so distasteful.

jangowolf.bsky.social•63 days ago

Agreed.

I guess this is aimed primarily at creators, but when i try to get players for other games, they think im talking about 5e or when playing they compare it to 5e. It be nice if players also took this advice.

sskorkowsky.bsky.social•63 days ago

Everyone should. Telling someone the game they love is terrible doesn't just insult the game, but all the cherished and fun memories from playing it. They become naturally defensive. RPGs can become part of our identity, so attacking the game is perceived as attacking us personally.

jangowolf.bsky.social•63 days ago

Yeah-nothing is the killstge mood of trying out a new system quicker than people being negative and comparing it to another.

sandorhq.bsky.social•63 days ago

A video about the games you'd eventually like to play? A mere top 200 should suffice, I'm sure. :)

owwmyeye.bsky.social•63 days ago

In High School around 83 maybe 82 my group tired of 1st Ed AD and D and moved to Runequest we liked the crunch, the world and many of the setting books that were out like Pavis and Big Rubble. Rich characters and superb world lore, no classes, tons of flavor. The new edition I would recommend.

joewoz.bsky.social•62 days ago

Not my game, but would love to hear your take on Mothership.

Just listening to your Glass Cannon Traveler run. You're awesome on actual plays.

I like the added tension of the Mothership panic system. Wounds are really fun and the modules are stunning.

irishbeefcakes.bsky.social•63 days ago

I feel this way as well. People should sell game systems to other people as being unique experiances. Not just "Better because not D&D"

jason-mythforged.bsky.social•58 days ago

Yeah. I used to say stuff like this. I probably still do sometimes, but I try not too. Not everyone likes the same stuff, and that's cool. D&D is not something I enjoy, although I do like Dragonbane a lot, which has a similar feel buy descended from RuneQuest/BRP. You ever checked that one out?

werthead.bsky.social•63 days ago

I often feel grateful for getting into D&D in 1995 when the game was possibly the least popular and unhippest it's ever been. My group were talked down to because we were playing D&D and not, say, Vampire. Irony is we actually did play plenty of other games (Deadlands mostly & WEG Star Wars).

banjax451.bsky.social•63 days ago

I still unapologetically love the Dark Sun setting, which came out around then. People called us lame for liking it. And like you, we played tons of other stuff!

sskorkowsky.bsky.social•63 days ago

Dark Sun was badass. And Brom's art was just so damned great for it.

chlamydiakoala.bsky.social•57 days ago

Dark Sun, Eberron and Planescape are arguably the best settings that D&D has. And all 3 are better played with other systems. The High Fantasy superhero curve of D&D doesn't fit the settings.

darklament.bsky.social•63 days ago

The same thing happens in tabletop miniatures gaming. I love & play 40k but i also love trying new games but ya won't get me to if you say "we're better cuz we hate evil games workshop."

cgoodson.bsky.social•63 days ago

I've had this conversation so many times. Too often, people don't get it and only double down on their D&D insults.

spleeter.bsky.social•63 days ago

I'm not a huge fan of D&D 5e but it's an excellent way to get new people into the hobby if they don't know a thing about TTRPGs. And for quite a few people, its simplicity suits them as well. I like the phrase "Don't yuck someone's yum."

scotsdragon.bsky.social•61 days ago

Your sentence should probably start with 'Hey you should check out [X]!' and then elucidate on reasons why X is so good.

sskorkowsky.bsky.social•61 days ago

Yup. If you're trying to talk someone into playing something outside of D&D, don't mention D&D at all. Talk about the new game and how awesome it is and all the cool stuff it can do and how we're going to have so much fun playing it. The success rate is far, far higher.

katosepe.bsky.social•63 days ago

Out of curiosity, what did get you to leave D&D? You seem pretty thoroughly over it but your AD&D videos seem to suggest it meant something to you at one point.

sskorkowsky.bsky.social•63 days ago

I was absolutely in love with AD&D for 17 years.
Little things annoyed me, but we house-ruled patches. So many patches.
Eventually all the little nits and frustrations built up and I burned out. We moved to Cyberpunk as our primary game and I realized how much more I preferred Skill-Based RPGs.

katosepe.bsky.social•63 days ago

So by the time later editions came out, you had already opted more towards skill-based games? So whether or not they solved your frustrations wouldn't have made a difference, is that right? Would something like RuneQuest be more interesting or is it also that fantasy doesn't appeal as much?

sskorkowsky.bsky.social•63 days ago

We did 3.5 for a brief stint, went back to AD&D, left in late 2008, returned for 5e in 2015. After a year, I concluded D&D simply isn't my jam. I'm 100% fine with that. I have plenty of TTRPGs I prefer.

katosepe.bsky.social•63 days ago

Yeah absolutely. There are tons of options out there. Thanks for taking the time to answer. I was just curious about your thoughts on the system.

I'm excited for the next Secrets of the Ancients vid!

sskorkowsky.bsky.social•61 days ago

My greatest disappointment with the current RuneQuest was their refusal to go with the new rules introduced in 7e Call of Cthulhu (Extreme, Hard, and Regular Success levels, Stats on the 100-scale, the Resistance Table). Their Lore is presented in a way that makes it intimidating to casual players

roouk.bsky.social•63 days ago

While not played anywhere near all the systems out there every system I have tried has something good and fun about it. I regard any system as a framework though and don't get too hung up on it.
Starfinder is one of the best for me because right from the start it oozed flavour.

jssf1992.bsky.social•63 days ago

I'm very thankful that my current group isn't like this. When we take breaks from the long campaign I run, we try a lot of different systems. Thankfully, the guys usually pitch them as "I think this one does X better", which is a lot more specific and workable than just saying something is better.

chlamydiakoala.bsky.social•57 days ago

Same here. I have run several long 5e campaigns and when I finish we try something new for a while. We've switched to Pathfinder because I was getting frustrated with the amount of work 5e puts on the GM. My group is happy to try stuff for a change but always want to go back to high fantasy.

robertbush.bsky.social•63 days ago

Totally agree. D&D isn't my cup of tea (although I did play some during the pandemic), but if somebody wants to play it, fair play to them, I hope they have a good time.

Come to think of it, I feel the same way about religion, TV shows and movies (with the possible exception of CSI:Miami fans!!)

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