I get it; many are out of 5E for good - permanently. They may have played for ten years and moved on to more engaging games, and I feel that way about Pathfinder - I have moved on to Savage Pathfinder for the world and stories there entirely. I like the first-edition feeling and look of the world much better than the place it is now. The original world is more Conan and 1980s sword & sorcery. The new one is like an all-ages DC Comics version of the world with too much steampunk, cute backgrounds, and guns. The remaster feels alienating.
With 5E, many walked away. They are not coming back.
I walked away from D&D but not Open 5E. I still support the third parties in that space, especially the games that speak to me more than the hollow feeling D&D and its worlds give me now. Nostalgia only gets you so far, and then the tank of memories and emotions runs dry.
Like many movies, games, and TV shows that have been rebooted and milked for nostalgia over the years, I don't care anymore. I get that feeling from many players. I am out. Take your game and do whatever you want with it, but don't bother me.
The OGL was the straw that broke the camel's back for many old-school players and DMs.
I got back into 5E late (last year), starting with my investment in Hero Lab, and then I shopped for monster books and found A5E through their bestiary. Since then, A5E has proven to be the right fit for me. But I get it; if you were in for the 10-year run and betrayed like that, I would be out. Having done and seen it all, you are also likely ready for a new game.
Tales of the Valiant is A5E compatible for adventures and stats, so supporting both is natural. A5E is my AD&D. ToV is my B/X. Tales has much work put into it; this is a significant game with much support. This is the Paizo story happening again but with 5E.
And I get people who don't want to hear about 5E anymore; they are checked out. I was checked out, too, and I have all my 5E books in storage - A5E and my ToV beta binder. I decided to sell off books recently, and my Wizards D&D books were the first to go in the sell boxes.
Then I was left with books - and a game - that would work without them. Do I eliminate all my 5E books, keep A5E, and make that my core 5E game?
The answer was easy. Sell the negativity. Support Open 5E, which includes A5E and Tales of the Valiant. Low Fantasy Gaming should be part of this conversation, too. Any book that has ties to Wizards goes out the door. Any version made by a small or medium-sized team stays.
At the end of the day, I am more invested in 3rd party 5E books than Wizards books. I vote with my wallet, and D&D's stupid choices will not make me sell things I enjoy and have paid for. I will play them with another game. Selling my D&D books seals the deal and makes the choice easy.
I choose to make the most out of what I own.
And not support companies I disagree with.
I used to think, "I am losing something!" by selling them. Oh no! I am losing the beholder and mind flayer! Oh no! Now I can't play fantasy games ever! The intellect devourer and the displacer beast! Those are iconic monsters! I was living when those monsters were new, and they intended to be something new people had never seen before. These days, we have seen them thousands of times before, and they are not new anymore. They are tired, old monsters that must be retired to the Monster Vault. Give me new things!
Dungeon Crawl Classics gets it right. No repeat monsters. Do something new every time. And this is a fun game; I don't blame people for leaving 5E to play this. Its only fault is the random tables. I am not in the mood for them right now, so my copy is on a storage shelf.
I could rediscover what I liked about 5E again while still recognizing its weaknesses and failings. Open 5E has done a lot to address 5E's problems, and I am happy with the fixes I found here. I am free to add my own. I am also much more accessible to mod and house rule Open 5E than something that will be fixed to play one way on a VTT. I can use any 3rd party subclass with my games rather than be forced to create characters one way with official paid-for rules options.
If I am walking away and supporting 3rd parties, then I am tossing out my character creation software and doing it by hand. The goal is to help the small indie publishers, who aren't always on the extensive, paid-for character-creation programs.
I still have my non-5E games and play them, and many of them are incredible. I am exploring the Walking Dead game, Dragonbane, DCC, and many others. It is a great time to be a gamer since interest in other games is high. But I understand the hurt here.
How I deal with it is to move forward, put my ideas, characters, and campaigns first, and focus on the fun I can have. With a neutral system, this works for me.
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