Does anyone else play with many more non-AL DMs in 5E than 3E/4E?

[Deathtongue]

I don't know if it's because sites like meetup.com roll20 and discord went mainstream or it's just the nature of having an edition that's simpler to run, but it feels like I know and play with a lot more 5E D&D DMs than I did for previous edition. It's not even an issue of table longevity, it just feels like it's much easier to get a game both in immediate availability and long-term logistics. Anyone else notice that?

Full disclosure, before C-19 hit I was averaging about 10-12 hours of D&D a week between online, Adventurer's League, and Home Games.

[Lyracian]

All our local AL games went none-AL with the latest set of changes but between Discord and Roll20 I find it fairly easy to get a game sorted out.

This edition does seem very well streamlined for one shot style games where you can just take your character from one game to another.

I am also becoming a real fan of D&D Beyond. Wonderful for character management. I can add items directly to players sheets and no more issues with people losing sheets or forgetting who has what items.

[Sigreid]

I've had the same group since the late 90's and I've never done AL.

[LordCdrMilitant]

I don't know if it's because sites like meetup.com roll20 and discord went mainstream or it's just the nature of having an edition that's simpler to run, but it feels like I know and play with a lot more 5E D&D DMs than I did for previous edition. It's not even an issue of table longevity, it just feels like it's much easier to get a game both in immediate availability and long-term logistics. Anyone else notice that?

Full disclosure, before C-19 hit I was averaging about 10-12 hours of D&D a week between online, Adventurer's League, and Home Games.

Having played in the Adventurer's League twice, yes, I know many more non-AL GM's than older edition GM's. Like 99% of what I do isn't AL.

Part of it is just that with all the new people in the hobby, there's also more GM's. Another part of it is that I was just starting out in older editions. I reached the point where I decided to run my first D&D game in 4E, and then moved to 5E after that.

It's the current edition, so the most people are playing it anyway. It's also had a massive surge of players, so even more people are playing it and for many it's the only system they know. Thus, there should logically be like way more 5e GM's than GM's running other editions.

[firelistener]

Yeah, I agree and think it's mostly because of the internet. That's alsobthe primary reason I think 5e has exploded in popularity recently. D&D got some good press via Critical Roll and Stranger Things, so now all people have to do is search for "how to play D&D" and get a wealth of videos, character generators, and digital source books. In the past, being DM usually meant needing to borrow or have your own copies of source books, but these days it's fairly easy to just search up free modules or build an adventure alone from purely online references.