Let's also observe that even in his jokes Alvin didn't just go do the thing. "I *can* play an audiobook," says fictional Sng. "If you *insist.*"

One thing I ALWAYS forget, after all these years, is how much I love the subway on a Saturday night.

Like Don Draper used nostalgia by naming something modern a 'carousel.' He wasn't selling literal adult carousel rides.

Okay I get wearing a video game T-shirt out of nostalgia...but spending hours playing the damn game? If it's not actually enjoyable? What is the profile of the person who'd do that (instead of doing something else with that time).

Okay I think that's eliding the nuance of the original question, but let's just emphasize: this argument is about a speculated explanation for a fact not in dispute. If I'm not mistaken, the discourse boils down to: "Yo, can you guys believe these assholes?" "'No,' but sadly yes."

1d3 is unimpeachable. d3 is not incorrect, but I think sometimes that's used contextually with a dynamic mod? Like, a weapon's damage might be d4 because the number of dice scales with proficiency.

Let's not underestimate the power of poor reading comprehension! He saw "most powerful non-violent tool" (which arguably implies that there are powerful violent tools!) and read it as "violence is never the answer."

Yeah, I believe in speaking the words we wish to see in the world.

I think he actually just dislikes any tools that AREN'T violent, and is trying to inspire people to violence by sheer obnoxion.

But regardless I don't think anyone was ever suggesting that any Creative Director is Taylor Swift.

We're not talking about WotC. We're talking about D&D. (Right?)

Why'd you start it with "no" as though someone in this thread had said that?

For the original argument about the union stuff, you basically nailed off the bat, to the point that, is it even worth debating? But you went too all-or-nothing on that one point, so that merits delving into. But like yeah: general anto-unionism (duh), love of/loyalty to the system itself.

Correct! I mean, 'proxy' is the wrong word, cuz like I'm literally just asking you about the thing you used as evidence. But you're correct that the reason I care is because of a whole different argument (that you've subsumed into yours).

Okay but no one on the D&D side is analogous to whoever Swift's record label is lol.

Btw my questions about the data were genuine, I'd love to know the actual sales impact of everything that got announced last fall. Though I'm remembering now, P&C were announced before PAXU—it was the expansion and campaign frames, plus (perhaps most significantly) AcqInc's permanent move to DH.

Taylor Swift strikes me as an awfully bad-faith comparison. *Obviously* people love the system more than two specific creators, and that wasn't what OP meant in the first place. But it's silly to pretend this is an immediate, zero-sum sitch where Perkins and Crawford are *no loss or gain.*

I'm not contesting your larger point. I'm asking about the notion that Perkins and Crawford didn't boost Daggerheart sales, and contesting the idea that DH isn't selling well. (In general I find it absurd that people require D&D to, idk...disappear overnight? Before they call DH successful.)

Was this at the GAMA Expo in March 2026? When was the data collected? And what pre-PAXU2025 data are you comparing it to?

Thank you, I'm baffled by that take.