Yes, as long as people are having fun, that’s all that matters.
But it’s also fair to point out that hacking D&D to do something fundamentally outside of what it’s designed to do is going to be a lot of work for little pay off. Take it from people who are familiar with other games, it would honestly be easier to learn something new. (And most games aren’t as hard to pick up as 5e!) That’s not gatekeeping, that’s just advice based on experience. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze, so unless you like the squeeze for its own sake, maybe try something else.
Also, to speak on the system not mattering if you have a good DM: sure, that’s technically correct. That also doesn’t invalidate criticism of a set of rules. Yeah, a skilled and experienced DM can fix things, even on the fly, but maybe the entire system shouldn’t rely on that. 5e has notoriously bad DM-facing material, and after years of running it, I got burnt out. The DM is playing the game, too, and their time, effort, and fun matter just as much as anyone else’s. I’m sick of 5e’s approach that the DM will either figure it out or take the blame. The fact that it’s so hard to be a new DM is, in my opinion, the likely reason there’s a DM shortage. You don’t get the same problem with other games!
So yeah, like you said. System matters. Even if you don’t use a system per se and go FKR, that’s a choice you made on the structure of the game.
Yeah, it’s such a frustrating conversation.
Yes, as long as people are having fun, that’s all that matters.
But it’s also fair to point out that hacking D&D to do something fundamentally outside of what it’s designed to do is going to be a lot of work for little pay off. Take it from people who are familiar with other games, it would honestly be easier to learn something new. (And most games aren’t as hard to pick up as 5e!) That’s not gatekeeping, that’s just advice based on experience. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze, so unless you like the squeeze for its own sake, maybe try something else.
Also, to speak on the system not mattering if you have a good DM: sure, that’s technically correct. That also doesn’t invalidate criticism of a set of rules. Yeah, a skilled and experienced DM can fix things, even on the fly, but maybe the entire system shouldn’t rely on that. 5e has notoriously bad DM-facing material, and after years of running it, I got burnt out. The DM is playing the game, too, and their time, effort, and fun matter just as much as anyone else’s. I’m sick of 5e’s approach that the DM will either figure it out or take the blame. The fact that it’s so hard to be a new DM is, in my opinion, the likely reason there’s a DM shortage. You don’t get the same problem with other games!
So yeah, like you said. System matters. Even if you don’t use a system per se and go FKR, that’s a choice you made on the structure of the game.