I was thinking today of the various mechanics used in rpgs over the decades; how some are still used in games today, while others aren't seen as much or just gone. This all started when I was debating whether the Hit Point mechanic is still viable compared to wound/injury level mechanics.

It got me thinking, are some mechanics considered "old" or "outdated"? How would you classify these games and mechanics?

Then, no doubt thanks to starting a recent Marvel game, I thought of the ages of comics - Golden Age, Silver Age, etc.

Just as a way of categorizing the history of rpgs and rpg mechanics by time, a thought experiment of sorts, how would you classify rpgs and where would the cutoff lines be between ages?

My opinion, I would have to consider OD&D, AD&D 1e and T&T (and their basic mechanics) as Golden Age games.

I'm not sure where I would draw the line for a Silver Age of rpgs though. 1989 for the release of AD&D 2e, or 1992 for Vampire?

Then what of other ages? Where do you see cutoffs occurring? Or is it your opinion that the industry can't be pigeonholed into ages like this?

Cheers,
Mark

John Kim's Fashions in roleplaying game design might help get you started.
http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/theory/fashions.html

Thanks for the link. I haven't seen this before.

Cheers,
Mark

Actually, it sounds like 2nd generation "Forge" to me.

Quote from: Soylent Green;563387John Kim's Fashions in roleplaying game design might help get you started.
http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/theory/fashions.html

Beat me to it. I would suggest you check out this one as well.

I don't think there's a clear line of division. You can say where certain things started, but the implication that anything from old school gaming has now become "outdated" is patently absurd, particularly now in this age when the OSR is the most popular thing happening!

RPGPundit

Maliszewski teaches us that the Golden Age ended in 1984 - http://grognardia.blogspot.co.uk/
AIR the Silver Age ended in 1989 with the release of 2e (Bronze, Copper, the Age of Chaos when TSR fell, I guess 3e was the Rust Age or Age of Unutterable Darkness) and it was downhill ever since until the OSR.

Quote from: RPGPundit;564714I don't think there's a clear line of division. You can say where certain things started, but the implication that anything from old school gaming has now become "outdated" is patently absurd, particularly now in this age when the OSR is the most popular thing happening!

RPGPundit

I missed that part of the OP. I agree, mechanics are not outdated just because alternatives exist. HP and wounds for example, which the OP mentions, serve two very different functions. HP have stood the test of time, they are perfectly viable today.

I do think breaking up the different "ages" rpgs for convenience can be helpful. I think we all might settle on slightly different break downs of course.

Quote from: Soylent Green;563387John Kim's Fashions in roleplaying game design might help get you started.
http://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/theory/fashions.html

Amazing article. Thanks.

That's good but it does leave out stuff that's happened since it was written (2004).

I wasn't really clear in the original post in that I don't consider certain mechanics outdated; rather asking if trending in the industry did such a thing. The replies confirm what I was thinking - mechanics are pretty much ageless, trends aside.

@BedrockBrendan: I agree with your view that the separation would end up being subjective.

Thanks all.
Cheers,
Mark

There's definitely a school of thought that likens game mechanics to computer processors and/or operating systems. It's a school I've never agreed with.

The idea that 1e or Basic D&D are "outdated" in anything like the sense that a commodore 64 or DOS are outdated just makes no sense to me.

Quote from: Dimitrios;565253There's definitely a school of thought that likens game mechanics to computer processors and/or operating systems. It's a school I've never agreed with.

The idea that 1e or Basic D&D are "outdated" in anything like the sense that a commodore 64 or DOS are outdated just makes no sense to me.

Yup.  That's exactly why I pitched trends in game design for my article as "fashions" rather than "generations" (i.e. first gen, second gen, etc.) as some people have.  

BTW, thanks for the people praising it.  I still have in mind updating it for trends that have become clear since 2004.

Quote from: jhkim;565261Yup.  That's exactly why I pitched trends in game design for my article as "fashions" rather than "generations" (i.e. first gen, second gen, etc.) as some people have.  

BTW, thanks for the people praising it.  I still have in mind updating it for trends that have become clear since 2004.

Fashionsis definitely a better term.