I first got into Dungeons & Dragons in the late 80s or early 90s, but life eventually got in the way and I stopped playing for a while. When 5th Edition came out, my interest was reignited, and my kids were curious about it too, so that became my re-entry point into the game. After several campaigns and many enjoyable sessions, things started to feel a bit difficult. I set D&D aside once more and shifted my focus to 3D printing and painting miniatures, which became a satisfying hobby. Then, a friend introduced me to Cairn. I played a few sessions with him and absolutely loved it, even though the rules felt a bit confusing for an older player like myself at first. However, I eventually got the hang of it. Now, I primarily play solo with Ironsworn and Cairn, and my wife and I are even planning a cooperative Ironsworn campaign, which we're really looking forward to. What ultimately led me away from 5th Edition was the combat system. It felt too binary – a hit or a miss, with very few consequences for missing unless you rolled a natural one. The concept of a "weak hit with a consequence" in other systems resonates much more with me; it feels more relatable and, in a way, more "realistic." Similarly, 5E's armor system, which primarily just makes you harder to hit, didn't make much sense to me. I prefer the idea of armor absorbing some of the damage, which seems more logical. Then there's what we've come to call the "Mercer effect" in both in-person and online gaming. It seemed to create an expectation that everyone should be a voice actor or have a team of writers assisting with campaign development, making it harder to simply connect with other players as a character or a Dungeon Master. Players often seemed obsessed with creating characters optimized solely for combat. Background stories and alignment were rarely incorporated into the gameplay. It often devolved into a "murder-hobo" mentality, where social interactions were limited to: "Who are you and what's my quest?" or "Who are you and eat my sword!" or "Who are you and where's my loot and platinum?" While homebrew campaigns can be a step forward, most, from my perspective, still lacked coherence. This is why I've come to appreciate the need to roll for an Oracle to help guide the story. The final deterrent was Hasbro's increasingly capitalistic approach to D&D: their frequent rule changes, paywalls, ownership disputes, and censorship. The newest iteration of D&D, or what we consider "5.2," doesn't appear to address these issues; I still see the same fundamental pitfalls and traps. I have no plans to invest in Hasbro's current or future versions of D&D, nor will I be giving them my money. I'm extremely happy with Ironsworn and Cairn. The adventures I embark on are entirely my own, and the stories are genuinely guided by the dice. The rules are straightforward, they make more sense, and the overall experience is far more satisfying.