D&D General D&D "influencers" need to actively acknowledge other games.

[Thomas Shey]

I wasn't, as a matter of fact, and for good reason. Console and PC games are generally seeking to suck down your time like a temporal vampire, genre be damned. The platforms themselves are not well-suited for short play cycles.

I'll just flat out say that doesn't fit my experiences. I know of some pretty short computer games (Looking at my currently installed ones, Weird Worlds - Return to Infinite Space), and even ignoring those, there's a massive difference between trying to play through pretty much any CRPG I've ever played, and a run of most strategy games. Its just apples and oranges.

 

[MGibster]

I wouldn’t want to see “here’s a review on [game] and how it compares to 5e. That’s just apples vs. oranges and pointless. But unless I missed something no one is really doing that.

I don't know if I've ever seen a reviewer compare a game to D&D. In his YouTube series about Call of Cthulhu, Seth Skorkowsky does compare and contrast against D&D in his first video on character generation. He mentions that CoC doesn't use a leveling system like you see in D&D, so characters do not get more powerful as they gain experience. i.e. They won't be getting any more hit points. But then this is less of a review of CoC and just a series of informational videos on how things work.

 

[Stormonu]

This is actually a good point. IME, a lot of the people who never read the DMG are often also the same people who believe that the DMG has nothing new to teach them because they have been playing D&D for decades. They think that just need the DMG for random tables, magic items, etc. So just because people don't read the 5e DMG doesn't mean that they wouldn't read a new game book. After all, people clearly have no problem reading the 5e PHB, which is just as much a book of core game rules as is some other game's core rulebook. Many other games often do in one book what D&D insists must be done in three books.

When I got the 5E DMG, I did a really quick flip through and nothing stood out worth reading deeper into (with plenty of other editions and other systems under my belt). It's only been recently that I've come to realize there are some sections in there that even are beneficial to my jaded experiences. It's just badly, horribly organized and plotted out.

As far as podcasts, youtube videos and whatnot, I feel the creator has the right to talk about or, more importantly, not talk about whatever they want. If they don't want to mention other RPGs, that's their choice and the reasons are their own. If I'm watching a video about a specific RPG, I feel no requirement that they mention any other game when they're talking about it - and what expectation can they have that viewership is familiar with any particular system anyway?

 

[Staffan]

So, out of curiosity, just what is the amazing solution Fate has for player investment in worldbuilding?

At least in Dresden Files, before you create characters you create the setting. I mean, it's assumed you're playing in the Dresden Files setting which establishes the large-scale stuff, but it's also assumed you're not playing in Chicago so you need to decide on the local stuff. You start by determining overall themes and threats, and then move on to deciding who the main movers and shakers are, and further on to coming up with specific locations of interest that may or may not be tied to the previous choices (some probably should be). In addition, you come up with a Face for each theme/threat and location – an NPC representing that thing. They may or may not be the bosses or proprietors of said locations – for example, if a bar is supposed to be where supernatural things get negotiated, you might have a fixer-type who uses it as an unofficial office as the bar's Face, rather than the bartender or owner.

There are two strong points with this method. One is that since the players are the ones who come up with this stuff, they will likely know it. Maybe not every player will keep track of everything, but it's much easier to remember things you co-created than something you read or had told to you. The other is that since these things are player-created, at least one player will care about that thing. When the GM invents a thing, there's no guarantee that any of the players will care, but when a player does that player will definitely care.

 

[Reynard]

So, out of curiosity, just what is the amazing solution Fate has for player investment in worldbuilding?

The group creates the setting and milieu together as the first stage of campaign creation. Players are explicitly involved in building the world and tying the world to their own and other players' characters. Fate is in creative commons. You can find out more detail if interested, starting here.

 

[jayoungr]

Why? I don’t see how that is problematic. Especially when the focus is rpg content other than Dungeons & Dragons.

Pretty much this:

Maybe they just prefer an assessment of a game on it's own merits, rather than a comparison to D&D? And, as a bonus, they are at least a little more likely to avoid anti-D&D axe-grinding.

Also:

“instead of D&D” or “what to play when you’re moving on from D&D” is not the same as disparagingD&D.

Anti-D&D axe-grinding absolutely does exist (especially since the OGL fiasco), although I'm sure not every channel that pitches itself as "alternatives to D&D" indulges in it. I just don't care to wade through them and find out which ones do it and which ones don't, when I can find what I want by sticking to channels that talk about the other games on their own merits.

 

[Nakana]

I don't know if I've ever seen a reviewer compare a game to D&D. In his YouTube series about Call of Cthulhu, Seth Skorkowsky does compare and contrast against D&D in his first video on character generation. He mentions that CoC doesn't use a leveling system like you see in D&D, so characters do not get more powerful as they gain experience. i.e. They won't be getting any more hit points. But then this is less of a review of CoC and just a series of informational videos on how things work.

That all makes sense to me and still doesn’t seem like it’s disparaging D&D.

Given that D&D is the biggest/most popular rpg out there, it makes sense that a reviewer might show the contrast between how HP or Armor works differently in one game compared to D&D — and I still don’t see that as being negative really.

Anyway I think it’s starting to get off topic with the whole “notDnD” example.

Getting back to the point:

Q: Should D&D influencers talk about other games?

A: No. They are exclusively D&D influencers. And there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[Nakana]

Pretty much this:



Also:



Anti-D&D axe-grinding absolutely does exist (especially since the OGL fiasco), although I'm sure not every channel that pitches itself as "alternatives to D&D" indulges in it. I just don't care to wade through them and find out which ones do it and which ones don't, when I can find what I want by sticking to channels that talk about the other games on their own merits.

I’m sure there are channels out there that are obsessed with hating D&D and/or WoTC.

Polarized people are gonna polarize.

But naming your channel in a way that lets people know you’re not a D&D focused channel is not the same as “shitting on D&D with mouth foaming rants every chance we get.”

I wouldn’t want to watch anger either.

 

[jayoungr]

In his YouTube series about Call of Cthulhu, Seth Skorkowsky does compare and contrast against D&D in his first video on character generation. He mentions that CoC doesn't use a leveling system like you see in D&D, so characters do not get more powerful as they gain experience. i.e. They won't be getting any more hit points. But then this is less of a review of CoC and just a series of informational videos on how things work.

That kind of thing is fine, and in fact, Seth Skorkowsky is one of my favorite gaming YouTubers. Ironically, one of the reasons I enjoy his channel so much is because most of the games he plays are things I have no interest in--I'm just not a big horror fan, while it's bread and butter for him. This means I can watch all the videos in which he delves into the structure of adventures, with full spoilers, absolutely guilt-free because I know I'll almost certainly never play those adventures. I can just appreciate his identification of issues and the solutions he comes up with. (Plus, his voice is so soothing!)

Given that D&D is the biggest/most popular rpg out there, it makes sense that a reviewer might show the contrast between how HP or Armor works differently in one game compared to D&D — and I still don’t see that as being negative really.

That isn't negative, but that's not what I'm trying to avoid. I just have zero patience for the people who want talk about how their game of choice is better than D&D. Whether they're right or wrong doesn't even matter. If I'm looking into a new system, I just want to know about the system. I'll judge for myself whether I think it's better than D&D or not.

(I do think this is at least tangentially relatable to the thread topic, by the way, since the OP was basically asking for people to do exactly this--for D&D influencers to regularly say, "Hey, here's a system that is better than D&D at this particular thing.")

But naming your channel in a way that lets people know you’re not a D&D focused channel is not the same as “shitting on D&D with mouth foaming rants every chance we get.”

Of course not, and I freely admit I may be missing out on some good channels by avoiding those who name themselves that way. But any channel taking a stance where they define themselves in opposition to D&D raises the possibility that they are going to spend at least part of their time putting down D&D in order to elevate some other game, and as I said above, I have basically zero interest in that, so I'm not even going to check them out. I'd probably dislike it just as much if they were putting down any other system that I liked, but since D&D is the 800-pound gorilla in the room, that's the one that comes in for it most often.

 

[Vaalingrade]

If you want to see more RPGs represented, then you have to understand how social media works and play accordingly.

- Engage with the creators (and stop calling them influencers) in their socials and ask/make recs nicely. Tells stories from your experiences and share what you like, or how that game engages issues they bring up. Keep it on topic to their content and don't just appear to be hyping the product!

- Match games to creators. A happy, silly creator is not going have a lot of interest in your FANTASY F'n VITENAM game and serious Mc Dude Bro is not going to want to play a cute animal doing good deeds. Trying to force that is just going to get you ignored.

- If you are a game designer yourself, I know there's going to be some grumblings about how 'greedy' Youtubers are, but send free product or sponsor them. Understand that YouTube's algo is going to sabotage their channel for trying something out of their wheelhouse to start with, so featuring your thing is already a risk before asking them for fifty dollars for the privilege.

- Don't ignore the little guys! Smaller creators have less to risk and can pivot more easily in their niche. It's easier for a new or smaller channel to be a general gaming channel than a midrange creator who doesn't have a fandom dedicated to them specifically to try a new game than D&DGuy42069D&DALLDAY to do the same.