Most of us understand this. There's some folks out there, though, who seem confused that just because they don't want a particular product, that doesn't mean other gamers out there share that opinion.
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| And if you don't need it, you don't have to buy it. |
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Sometimes You're Not The Target
On the surface, most of us get this. If you don't play Blades in The Dark, for instance, then you know instinctively that when someone writes a supplement for it that they aren't thinking about gamers like you as their target audience. We also get it that if we prefer games with fire-breathing dragons and arcane orders, then all the content coming out for Cyberpunk RED isn't aimed at our wallets.
It's when we have more general use products, though, or gaming supplements that appeal to a specific type of play more than a particular game that (for some reason) a lot of us lose our grip on this objectivity.
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| Like this one, for example. |
I ran into some of this push back with both Towns of Sundara above, as well as its predecessor 10 Fantasy Villages. Both of these supplements provide pre-made towns with maps, NPCs, rumors, histories, and little plot hooks should you want to use them as the starting point of a campaign, or you just need a little inspiration for side quests. And for some Game Masters this was just what they were looking for (given that the fantasy villages supplement is currently sitting at Electrum status), but for some reason there were some people who felt the need to leave derogatory comments on posts about it. It seems that, to these particular individuals, any Game Master who didn't build 100% of their own setting with their own hands wasn't a "real" GM, and they didn't deserve to sit in the chair. As such, they felt the need to turn their nose up at a product that offered pre-made towns with advice, NPCs, etc.
That attitude probably merits a blog all its own, but it's useful for illustrating the point. If that's the way you feel about RPGs, and you have zero use for a supplement like either of these books, then you can rest assured that you are not the type of gamer I wrote them for in the first place.
If you don't like modules, horror games, or DND 5E, then my horror module The Curse of Sapphire Lake for DND 5E isn't a product you're going to want. If your group is steering clear from games with dark themes and topics, or you have really good communication with your table, then the tools found in the free supplement Consent in Gaming might not be something you want or need. If you're confident in your style and abilities, then you may not feel the need to check out 100 Tips and Tricks For Being a Better Game Master.
And all of that is fine. You should, as I so often say, do what works for you.
At the same time, though, if something isn't for you, then don't engage with it. Whether it's a strategy you don't want to use, or a game you have no interest in playing, or a setting you don't want to touch, you're perfectly within your rights to say no to it. Hell, as I pointed out in Let People Dislike Things, you can even go complain about it, if that will make you feel better. I've done that very thing on this blog more than once, and it can be quite therapeutic.
But if a game's only sin is that it doesn't appeal to you, remember that it probably wasn't made for you in the first place. There are other gamers out there who might enjoy it, even if it's not your preferred brand of beverage... so keep on scrolling. It's a silly hill to die on, and there's no reason to make a stand when you can better spend that energy finding things you do like, and enjoying them instead.
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I am not a fan of the World of Darkness or Warhammer. You write to these audiences and I typically ignore the post, because it is something I don't want. However, I understand that there are people who do like this stuff and want it and need it. I don't try to cut them off by attacking you. I think that idea is just silly. I have read a lot of supplements and most of my career as a DM I used a custom world of homebrew. But, I did use more than a few supplements and even some well written modules. Other modules that I didn't like as much still gave me ideas of future projects for my game. You never know where inspiration will strike or what its source will be. Those who knock you for producing content that they don't like are fools. As for me and your future content on the World of Darkness and Warmhammer, I will continue to ignore it. The Internet has a firehose of content and I can easily find content I want without knocking the content creators of stuff that I may not be interested in.
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