Quote from: RPGPundit;298511What I'm saying, what you all seem to be missing, is that this policy will oblige writers to produce crappier books and to design crappier game worlds!

"Crappier" = you don't like it
"Crappier" =/= everyone else won't like it

I didn't enjoy Eberron, but the setting has plenty of fans.  

Quote from: J Arcane;298564The greater the sourcebooks, the greater the inconsistencies in the system.  New classes find their way in that break the balance of the game, the setting starts to fall apart, new little rules here and there just add more contradictions and clashes and break the existing ruleset.

I have not these problems in 30 years of gaming.   Maybe it's my magical ability to say NO to stuff I don't want in my games and CHANGE anything that I feel needs changing.

QuoteI have not these problems in 30 years of gaming. Maybe it's my magical ability to say NO to stuff I don't want in my games and CHANGE anything that I feel needs changing.

So you have never had a problem ever with a player vs. GM conflict that didn't end with the player bending over and taking it like a bitch?

Will it be self-correcting? Who knows. Once you change a setting its hard to say "that never happened".
If Sembia suddenly has to be a country full of Dragonborn-Tiefling-Psionicists not because it makes any sense but because the WoTC board demands it of a writer because its what is going to be in the next PHB, this is going to be a way to destroy a setting pretty fucking fast.

RPGPundit

Quote from: Abyssal Maw;298527Ultimately, a self-correcting problem. If they are actually crappy-- nobody will buy them.

Didn't we have an intricate plan on how you was gonna be not here any more?

Quote from: Spinachcat;298572I have not these problems in 30 years of gaming.   Maybe it's my magical ability to say NO to stuff I don't want in my games and CHANGE anything that I feel needs changing.

See, many DMs have a problem that goes like this:

DM: Would you like to play in Godawful Glitz?  We're starting with level 1 characters.  (Hands colorful hardcover book to prospective recruit.)

Prospective Recruit: (Flips through book, noting LesbiStripper race and Ninjirista class.)  Yeah, looks cool.

DM: Great, roll your own stats and bring a char sheet on Saturday...

[One week later]

Prospective Recruit: Here's my LesbiStripper Ninjirista.

DM: Are you sure you want such a weak character?

Prospective Recruit: But Ninjiristas kick ass once they hit level 2 with their hot mocha rays!

DM: Yeah, the hot mocha rays sucked so I took them out of this campaign.  Also I took out the LesbiStripper's auto-seduce-gaze. I mean, it's not like WotC can come into my living room and tell me I'm playing their game wrong.

Prospective Recruit: No, but I can tell you you're taking the best parts out of the game, and then I can *leave* your living room.

[Exit Prospective Recruit]

That is why I prefer not to need to take stuff out of published rules...

Why didn't the DM in your example say up front what was being allowed/disallowed?

The problem with disallowing a lot of stuff is that it can make it difficult to find players for a game or to convince players to give the game a go.

This may not be a problem for a regular group of players who know you and trust you, however it does affect huge chunks of the gaming fanbase and the expectations that players may have.

If Glitzword has become synoymous with Lesbistripper Ninjirista characters then you may have trouble finding players for your game if you house rule them out.

This is kind of the reason I gave up on Forgotten Realms years ago during 2E. I liked the flavour of the 1E boxed set but it seemed everyone either thought of Forgotten Realms through the lens of it's 2E excesses and automatically dismissed it, or expected the kind of game and suggested the sort of characters that I emphatically didn't want.

Quote from: KenHR;298649Why didn't the DM in your example say up front what was being allowed/disallowed?

The example reflects my experiences as a player.  I think I'm good about telling players these things in advance when I run the game.  (Of course I'm biased...)

I can't speak for what went wrong with other DMs.  In some cases I've been the only new player and the DM was house-ruling based on experiences with the old players.  Edit: In some cases the DM is over-correcting from a Monty Haul episode.  Have you ever started up with a new AD&D group and had a conversation like this:

Player: So what rolling system can I use, should I roll 4d6 and drop the lowest or...?
DM: No.  Roll 3d6, in order, once, with me watching, and use those damn stats.  And if you roll one damn hit point you play with one damn hit point.
Player: But ... the rules say that hopeless characters should not be used---
DM: YOU LITTLE MAGGOT I AM GOD HERE!
Player: Ok, God, so can I start rolling now? Would you please start watching me roll?
DM: SHUT YOUR HOLE I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOU I NEED TO GET MINDY'S SPELL LIST FIGURED OUT.

This kind of unpleasantly common conversation often happens because, in the prior campaign, the DM  let his players start riding dragons at level 2 and handed out artifacts for killing bugbears.  The last campaign ended when all the players had stats above 30 at level 6, and the DM is not going to let that happen again, so he thinks the opposite approach will make everything work great...


In many cases the DM intends to draw up a list of house rules but never gets to it due to time limits.

In some cases the DM didn't decide to house-rule items X, Y, and Z until the player mentioned them, because he didn't think of them but he gets "hate at first sight" as soon as the player mentions them.

I personally don't think I get this problem much, but starting my GURPS campaign I had the opposite problem.  My players were expecting standard fantasy cliches like healing potions and GURPS Lite doesn't make such things easy.  So it is my slavish adherence to the letter of the rules and my lack of modifications that causes my players to suffer.

In fact, I need a "GURPS Idiot-Proof" edition to make healing simple enough so that I stop killing my player characters.  Deus Ex Machina healing is starting to grate on everyone's nerves...

IME, the real gaming world outside the internet sounding boards doesn't respond well to all that "MY WORD IS LAW" Viking Hat nonsense.  In fact, those sorts of GMs will very quickly gain a rather dismal reputation amongst players.