The shows follow the rules and utilize all mechanics, but you need the context. As someone familiar with 3.5, Critical Role got me 95% to playing the 5th edition without touching the books.

Can’t say the same would apply to someone new to pen-and-paper RPGs.

I believe even “one book one rental” was kind of a gray area. Publishers probably didn’t sue at the time as the potential ruling was less certain, and they didn’t want a precedent not in their favour.

Welcome! Hope you have fun!

Don’t worry about understanding - all you need is patience and a hard skull to break through the more user-unfriendly pieces.

Or, you know, maybe some people are assholes and we should not always look for excuses for them?

You put it on your profile on a dating site, so you should be OK with this as a conversation starter.

For example, I do not wear a Nirvana t-shirt in public because I don’t want some teenagers asking me if I know this great song “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

This is just another data point that French police and government are in repression mode. Let’s not forget also how they attacked firefighters during their protests in 2020: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/28/french-police-clash-with-firefighters-during-paris-protest