Quote from: Grognard GM on December 22, 2023, 01:19:45 AM
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Here's the big revelation I had though: RPGs aren't coming back like we remember. I mean I know they were niche, but I foresee a hobby so niche that clubs will die out, and it will only survive in tiny pockets.

Why? Because digital RPGs are eating its lunch. Newer players want to use VTTs that handle character creation, calculate your dice rolls, hold your hand the whole way, even sat at a gaming table in person.

I'm generally more optimistic.

CRPG's have always eaten normal RPG's lunch. Fancier graphics and more sophisticated algorithms haven't changed a thing.

And yet in recent years D&D has gotten bigger than ever.

Board games have gotten big in past years as well.

In my opinion; these things go in cycles. RPG land has currently been riding an upcycle.

But, just like in the past when the hobby goes through a contraction; there will still be more RPG players left than there were 20 years earlier.

Quote from: Grognard GM on December 22, 2023, 01:19:45 AM
And that's just convenience. Soon VTTs will all have nice 3d environments, then comes Augmented Reality, then finally V.R. Who will want to sit playing CoC with dice and paper, when they can be the investigator talking to a virtual cultist, blasting Deep Ones with a virtual Tommy gun? An ultra-niche minority.

Here I am far more cynical.

"VR" has been a pipe dream for decades. In my opinion; it is the late 20th century's version of the 1960's flying cars... It'll just be a subset of video games because I don't think that they will ever be able to overcome the fact that a not insignificant group of people get motion sickness playing VR.

I'm not that concerned. Video games have been around awhile.

Even then, I think that there will be some good that comes out of VTT's and digitization.

It will impose a practical limit on the complexity of RPG's that want to see live play at the table.

This is a good thing. (No, I don't think it will lead to a 'dumbing down' of games; It will lead to tighter, better, game design.)

If a system greatly benefits by VTT automation; it is too much/bad design. Games like Shadowrun are going to have to get their act together.

In my opinion; The future of RPG's will be set by the companies that are able to promote playing together live at the table.

Because no video game can replicate the experience that a good GM and players can have.

So Mike Mearls started a Patreon literally as a placeholder for him to someday start posting stuff. Fans found it, subscribed, started to pay him (44 paid subscribers so far), and so after he got finished being surprised three days ago he started to put stuff out though he did not intend to launch at this time and hadn't announced it anywhere.

And it's good. Interesting insights into things which were never supposed to go the direction they went in the 5e rules, things which were intended but never realized for things like skills and psionics, a replacement challenge rating system, that sort of stuff. And he's responding directly to questions over at ENWorld.

I'm not sure if "more secondary stuff about 5e from Mike Mearls" is something I think can very sustaining, but I wish him well. Who knows the future holds?

Quote from: pawsplay on January 25, 2024, 02:03:09 PM
I'm not sure if "more secondary stuff about 5e from Mike Mearls" is something I think can very sustaining, but I wish him well. Who knows the future holds?

I don't think that is his long term plan. It was more of a "Well if you guys are going to pay me for this thing I better give you something you might be interested in" sort of thing. I think his long term plan is a new 5e-based game, possibly fantasy and possible sci-fi, but he's very early in that process. Here are some quotes:

Quote from: mearls
No discord yet. Honestly, this entire thing was kind of an accident. I was setting up the Patreon for when I eventually did something in this space. I had no idea it would get any attention, but here we are!

So, with Discord I want to take some time to make sure I'm doing it right. It'll be something we grow into, or we'll find an alternative. I do like the idea of a forum-like place to answer questions and just interact with people. I was one of those oddballs who liked going into the office, and it's been an adjustment working from home.

Quote from: mearls
I'd like to keep the pieces I build compatible with the 5e SRD. If you look at the Challenge Point system I'm working on as a CR replacement, it's designed to function with any creature and give you a baseline point value based on CR.

The idea is to build modular systems that complement and improve what you have, rather than make something that forces you to pick A or B.

If I did a full game, it would be tied to a new world with its own set of ancestries, classes, magic system, monsters, and so on. I have some ideas for fantasy and science fiction worlds, but it is super early in the process.

Quote from: mearls
I'm focused on the 5e SRD for now, as that's the system I am most familiar with. In terms of [getting my content into] D&D Beyond, if that ever happened it would be pretty rad. But that's getting way ahead of myself!

   I'm surprised the Usual Suspects haven't come for his Patreon yet. Has that controversy been forgotten, do they feel they've gotten what they wanted, or is it just a matter of time?

Quote from: Mistwell on January 25, 2024, 02:16:35 PM

Quote from: pawsplay on January 25, 2024, 02:03:09 PM
I'm not sure if "more secondary stuff about 5e from Mike Mearls" is something I think can very sustaining, but I wish him well. Who knows the future holds?

I don't think that is his long term plan. It was more of a "Well if you guys are going to pay me for this thing I better give you something you might be interested in" sort of thing. I think his long term plan is a new 5e-based game, possibly fantasy and possible sci-fi, but he's very early in that process.

I think that's right. He is someone who has, if anything, too many options right now.

Quote from: Mistwell on January 25, 2024, 01:52:57 PM
So Mike Mearls started a Patreon literally as a placeholder for him to someday start posting stuff. Fans found it, subscribed, started to pay him (44 paid subscribers so far), and so after he got finished being surprised three days ago he started to put stuff out though he did not intend to launch at this time and hadn't announced it anywhere.

And it's good. Interesting insights into things which were never supposed to go the direction they went in the 5e rules, things which were intended but never realized for things like skills and psionics, a replacement challenge rating system, that sort of stuff. And he's responding directly to questions over at ENWorld.

Hopefully he will find somewhere that actually appreciates a game designer. WOTC clearly isn't interested in hiring them anymore.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer on January 25, 2024, 02:40:23 PM

   I'm surprised the Usual Suspects haven't come for his Patreon yet. Has that controversy been forgotten, do they feel they've gotten what they wanted, or is it just a matter of time?

I am sure it's a matter of time but I was shocked it's many pages into the ENWorld thread and not one person has raised that topic.

But yeah, you know someone will, and the usual suspects will pile on.

Quote from: Monero on December 12, 2023, 08:57:46 PM
It would be incredible if Hasbro tanks and they're forced to sell their IPs. I'd love for D&D and Magic to be bought by somebody that gives a fuck and doesn't hate their REAL supporters.

Instead it would end up in even worse hands.

Honestly I;d expect Habro/wotc to sell to only the worst possible new owner out of spite.

Quote from: GhostNinja on December 12, 2023, 11:21:08 PM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on December 12, 2023, 11:05:03 PM
So, by the looks of it it was a woketard purge, I bet there's still lots of them there left but still, below a list of those fired from WotC that we KNOW off so far:

Dan Dillon: Woketard confirmed
Trystan Falcone: Pronoun Wearer (so woketard confirmed)
Dixon Dubow: Woketard confirmed
Bree Heiss: Woketard confirmed
Eytan Bernstein: Woketard confirmed

Mike Mearls either because he's a true believer or out of fear threw his lot with the they/thems, so same difference

I thought WOTC loved the woke crap.  Or are they seeing the light and seeing it's backfiring and trying to stear the ship in a better, non-woke direction?

Only till it is convenient not to. Just like protecting the minorities and enforcing "diversity" is a priority. Only till it is convenient not to.

More likely it is just cutting off the chaff and excess and not even noticing who they are tossing out.

Quote from: Omega on January 25, 2024, 08:56:37 PM

Quote from: GhostNinja on December 12, 2023, 11:21:08 PM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on December 12, 2023, 11:05:03 PM
So, by the looks of it it was a woketard purge, I bet there's still lots of them there left but still, below a list of those fired from WotC that we KNOW off so far:

Dan Dillon: Woketard confirmed
Trystan Falcone: Pronoun Wearer (so woketard confirmed)
Dixon Dubow: Woketard confirmed
Bree Heiss: Woketard confirmed
Eytan Bernstein: Woketard confirmed

Mike Mearls either because he's a true believer or out of fear threw his lot with the they/thems, so same difference

I thought WOTC loved the woke crap.  Or are they seeing the light and seeing it's backfiring and trying to stear the ship in a better, non-woke direction?

Only till it is convenient not to. Just like protecting the minorities and enforcing "diversity" is a priority. Only till it is convenient not to.

More likely it is just cutting off the chaff and excess and not even noticing who they are tossing out.

Exactly. What all of these woketards don't understand is that they are still cisgendered white males. AKA the "Devil" in the eyes of the woke cult. There's not gold at the end of that alphabet rainbow.

All the woke talk from big corpos is window dressing. The top brass only sees one color: green. They think going woke is whats in and what makes money because they are told so by the people that want to push this propaganda everywhere.

Then, when it doesn't work, they create a reason why it wasn't because it was woke it was because of some other factor, like for example, the white male trolls that somehow made the woke product fail.

Oh but when it comes to the countries that do not have the woke ideology as a fancy twitter filter to raise their brownie points, then all of that goes out the window. No rainbow flags on the Sony Spiderman game in certain regions, because there is no money in that anyways.

Good riddance, Michael. You made your choice and you backed up the wrong horse. Hopefully, he learns from this mistake and his next project is designed and sold to the actual audience, that is, the one that actually buys the books.

But, I have found that the true believers never learn.

Problem is the big and even mid corps are being pressured into pushing the woke agenda by various groups with far more power than they should have and far less common sense than they should have. Add in marketing across the board pushing this and it is a disaster of wold spanning proportions this iteration.

The 1990 wave did not do even a tenth the damage this 2010 wave has and god only knows what the 2030 wave will be like. But it will somehow be worse.