It never had to be a debate, and I regret that that’s what it became. Insults never had to be thrown out either. I don’t claim to be guiltless in this, but I also don’t think it’s fair to dump all of the guilt square in my lap. It’s unfair for you to promulgate your views to such a degree, that you insult me for having different ones, and act like I’m wrong for doing so. I should not have a fear of posting my views in a thread concerning a D&D game that I am participating in. I do not think it is right for any of us to dismiss or slander a view solely because it happens to be different from our own.
To me, Dungeons and Dragons is collaboration in the form of Role Playing and functional mechanics, between each of the people involved, the Dungeon Master of course serves as both referee and narrator – making him the final authority, and also providing a source of judgment that us players need to accept. I don’t think it’s possible for a real collaboration to take place when in the course of discussing differing viewpoints or concerns, instead of meaningful contribution to the discussion, insults occur. That results in shutting out varying viewpoints and leads to an experience which is cumulatively less fun for everyone, in my opinion.
I don’t think it’s fair for you to dismiss my concerns as a strawman, claim that I’m being pedantic, call me a newbie multiple times, asserting that I do not understand the game we’re attempting to play, and that what I have to say is irrelevant nonsense. We’re both adults here; I believe we’re better than that. In the future I hope that we can refrain from reverting to tendencies like that. I also contend that it is not fair to make those statements about someone in the same post that you tell them they need to stop fighting.
I urge you to respect viewpoints (in this case mine) that are different from your own, and be sure that that respect will be returned – I fully respect your desire to Role Play and I look forward to the positive things that it will add to our campaign, and I have faith it will only serve to enrich it.
I fully agree with the fact that we need to stop fighting. I also assert that we need to learn to respect each other and broaden our horizons and hopefully ultimately increase the enjoyment that all of us can derive from Dungeons and Dragons, by embracing views that are different from our own, and being better for it.
In closing, I’ll extend the olive branch of peace and hope that you do the same. I deeply apologize for the following, and will endeavor so as to never repeat them in the future: I apologize for thumping the book. I apologize for misinterpreting and rebuking your usage of the term Monty Haul – I should not have said what I did since I was ignorant of your actual meaning. I also apologize for some previous statements – particularly this one – it’s hardly fair for me to assert, as I did there – that my viewpoint is the only relevant one.
3.) I take issue with the idea that PCs shouldn't have a good say in what kind of magical treasure they will have access to. Magical Items grant many unique and interesting abilities that serve to modify what a player can and cannot do. Therefore, who's fun does it serve if the players don't get to have what they want? If I love to play D&D, and I really love the idea, for various reasons, of having a Bloodclaw weapon - let's say my character (We'll call him Nadron) has a background that suits it, we'll make him a Blood Magus Tiefling, who's religion promotes the idea of making blood sacrifices. Let's further his motivation by saying that he's aware of the Bloodclaw weapon type, and it really excites him because he knows that it's a good weapon that suits him great. Nobody's purpose is served when Nadron doesn't ever get that Bloodclaw weapon. All it does is lessen Nadron's fun, if he doesn't get to use it - and there is no reason that I can think of why he shouldn't get to have it, even if it's not right away. Now there is one reason, and one reason only that I can think of for the Dungeon Master to purposely not take PC requests into account when determining the treasure - that is if he's trying to generate something specific that he wants in the world for specific reasons. Let's say maybe... he needs a McGuffin, so he generates that instead. Let's say he knows what's coming next for our PCs, so he generates a weapon of a specific type that he knows will be advantageous/necessary for our PCs. Frainkly, if the PCs are unhappy with the loot they receive, one of two things is likely to happen. One: The PCs suck it up, have less fun than they would have had if they had recieved the items they would have liked. Two: They sell off the magical item that is unwanted, and them buy or make what they do want, themselves. This will mean that the Party loses out on wealth, because they don't end up keeping what are supposed to be useful higher-level-magical-items, and instead have to sell them off for far less than their actual value. Further on down the line this will mean trouble for the PCs, due to them having a much smaller amount of wealth than the mechanics assume that they have, and also possessing less effective magical items than the mechanics assume. Ergo, I restate: Who is having fun when the PCs don't get magical items that they actually want? Are we assuming that the DM is cruel and enjoys to torment the players by purposefully denying them what they would like? That's not the case, unless Solifuge has pulled the wool over my eyes. Are we assuming that the PCs have no ambitions or desires in terms of what kind of items they would like? I really can't speak for the other PCs, but I certainly have some things in mind that I think would be very nifty, and will be disappointed if none of them end up showing up for me.