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Listen I love that D&D became mainstream, seriously, I think overall ttrpgs becoming more and more popular is a good thing. 5e is when I finally actually got into D&D for the first time so I’m not knocking it.
BUT there’s also something to say for how WotC’s treatment of the IP has gotten a bit more…watered down, corporate and “safe” feeling where it’s explicitly trying to cater to the broadest common client now, since it became a major franchise. Heaven forbid the “normies” feel like nerds for playing the nerd game genre, after all. The pre 5E books I picked up are from before then, where it’s not really trying to be mass-appealing or hide it’s inherent goofy nature yet, it’s playing it’s silly or weird qualities earnestly, and I really love that. I’m excited to read them.
not to say that D&D material from this era doesn’t have problems, especially regarding race/gender (some of which they still have now…) but in terms of the broad appeal and dumbing down, I think it’s why I’m both excited AND ‘meh’ on the upcoming Planescape book for 5e. Not just bc 5e print materials are kind of a joke anyway but because Planescape is SO weird and bizarre I don’t know if I trust them to NOT neuter it.
THIS IS WHY I’M EXCITED FOR BG3. THEY’RE NOT AFRAID
More than being watered down and safe I think what we’re noticing is the fact that despite all the production value that goes into making 5e content, WOTC has effectively killed off creative engine within their D&D department, which is why the game has felt so stagnant for the past decade.
There was a joke back in the day that a lot of DMs were failed fantasy novelists, but that wasn’t too far off from the mark: Campaign settings had authors, and so had authorial intent, to say nothing of creators like Greenwood or The Hickmans who created campaign worlds around the stories that they were already telling. They made shit up, and then that was codified into the game.
Nowadays however you see a lot of “colouring inside the lines”, a trepidation around changing or expanding the IP in anyway. WotC hires creative consultants, but not actual creators who might rock the boat or take the brand in directions the corporate overlords don’t approve of. This is why just about every product wizards has made has either been either a rehash of something that’s come before or an anthology where no one author can stand too far out from the crowd.
We’re not going to see that watering down stop until d&d has another shakeup, possibly after oned&d crashes and burns and the corporate ladder gets reshuffled with different priorities.
