Quote from: Grognard GM on January 31, 2023, 02:01:21 PM
I vote naked chicks wrestling in pudding for the 30's, let's make it happen!

I don't see how WE can make that happen short of gender reassignment surgery.

Anyhow, I would like to see the return of the cheap, floppy game book and supplements.  I don't think it'll happen but there you go.

As far as the POD store solution.  The industry is actively resistant to it.  But there are decent glue binding sleeve systems.  It would also go hand in hand with 3d printing services.

But the big one that would break things wide open would be for Hasbro to establish D&D as a religion and thus get it tax exempt status and charitable donation deductions for gaming purchases.  As great as all thst sounds, the best part would be declaring game night a religous holiday so everyone in the group could get off from work.

Quote from: Effete on January 31, 2023, 07:47:08 AM

Quote from: jhkim on January 30, 2023, 10:53:35 PM
Within the past 15 years of TTRPG design, I think noticeable developments include:

• 5th edition was hugely successful, with streamlined play including advantage/disadvantage replacing small mods; and bonus dice instead of fixed bonuses
• Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) was a huge trend within indie games, with playbooks and player-only rolls

These existed long before either 5e or PbtA. Those systems only popularized the concepts.

Apologies. Yes, I agree that they popularized the concepts. And also, they proved that those concepts were popular with players.

Quote from: Effete on January 31, 2023, 07:47:08 AM
That said, there's no shortage of players who still want crunchy, convoluted mechanics (for some reason I can never understand). Streamlining and simplifying gameplay won't be the "next great leap" in the hobby as long as there's a significant subset of player who wants crunch.

Playability isn't the same thing as simplicity. Board games like Agricola or Wingspan can be quite complex, but they are still designed very differently from 1980s complex board games like Avalon Hill's Titan or Squad Leader. It's the difference of complexity that's among the components on the table, versus flipping back and forth to different pages in a big rulebook.

5E and PbtA still have a lot of crunch - and Blades in the Dark has higher crunch than standard PbtA, but the crunch is more organized around physical components. Take the example of a bonus die. Rather than granting a +2 to a roll, a 5E bard gives +1d4, which is easily represented at the table by the bard player having a handful of d4s and handing them out to players who get the bonus.

RPGs have different play dynamics than board games, so I don't think this will make the same difference - but it is something I think about.

Quote from: Grognard GM on January 31, 2023, 02:01:21 PM
I vote naked chicks wrestling in pudding for the 30's, let's make it happen!

You do understand that these days it would mean dudes in drag, right? Well, you said nude so it'd be even worse.

🤮

Regarding wire bound for print on demand books, I actually prefer that format.  I love lay flat reference books and note books.  But, a heavy card stock or plastic cover would be nice to keep all together and protect it.  You could also go with one of those page protectors so you could slip in a custom printed cover and maybe some card stock to stiffen it.  I don't need an art book, I want a economical and useful rules book.

Quote from: FingerRod on January 31, 2023, 01:41:01 PM

Quote from: Effete on January 31, 2023, 08:52:30 AM
Ahh, missed the "free" part. Thanks!

Anytime brochacho. I do get where you were coming from. We do not need the Call of Duty model anywhere near this industry.

Yeah, I'm still just a stupid hooman.

The thing about Fheredin's suggestion is that it already exists. Plenty of developers offer stripped-down rulesets for free (DnD Basic 5e, Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart (& CPR: Easy Edition), Savage Worlds Test Drive, etc.) that players can try without commitment. As a marketing strategy, it seems to work, so maybe other developers would implement it into their core business model.

Quote from: Thor's Nads on January 31, 2023, 04:32:08 PM

Quote from: Grognard GM on January 31, 2023, 02:01:21 PM
I vote naked chicks wrestling in pudding for the 30's, let's make it happen!

You do understand that these days it would mean dudes in drag, right? Well, you said nude so it'd be even worse.

🤮

Obviously it would require a big cultural swing in the late 20's, leading to a glorious 30's involving chocolate wrestling, no eclairs welcome.

Quote from: Effete on January 31, 2023, 05:10:09 PM

Quote from: FingerRod on January 31, 2023, 01:41:01 PM

Quote from: Effete on January 31, 2023, 08:52:30 AM
Ahh, missed the "free" part. Thanks!

Anytime brochacho. I do get where you were coming from. We do not need the Call of Duty model anywhere near this industry.

Yeah, I'm still just a stupid hooman.

The thing about Fheredin's suggestion is that it already exists. Plenty of developers offer stripped-down rulesets for free (DnD Basic 5e, Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart (& CPR: Easy Edition), Savage Worlds Test Drive, etc.) that players can try without commitment. As a marketing strategy, it seems to work, so maybe other developers would implement it into their core business model.

Many systems do offer free sample core rule pamphlets so you can get acquainted with the system without buying or borrowing the whole rulebook. However, this is usually in addition to a core rulebook you can do pretty much everything from. What I'm suggesting is that developers should offer slightly larger free samples (big enough that you can tell what the system stands for and that experienced homebrewers could run the system, too small for anyone to feel fully comfortable with it), and discontinue the monolithic core rulebook.

Most of the time, new editions are about adding a feature or two (advantage mechanics are very popular because they're easy to implement), changing a bit of the layout and artwork, and resell an almost identical product. I understand that small publishers are starving, but I also think that's predatory market practice. I don't think Call of C'thulu should've issued an edition with Penalty Dice and Bonus Dice; people play BRP for the transparent odds of success, so the 5e ripoff mechanics undermined a critical feature of the older editions. But it was a great excuse to call it a new edition.

The problem is the way I suggest, you have to actually risk your core rulebook, which is your breadwinner product, in a gamble to increase the monetizable space your game occupies. A starving publisher is going to really, really not want to do that, and especially not be the first to do that.

Quote from: Ruprecht on January 31, 2023, 08:34:04 AM

Quote from: Fheredin on January 31, 2023, 08:16:28 AM
I think computer tech is going to become less and less attainable over the next 5 years because of the semiconductor export bans on China

Only Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV) tech is banned to China, they are working on banning the older Deep Ultra Violet (DUV) stuff but China still has the equipment they have and can produce cheap slow chips needed for 95% of the electronics out there. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and the a number of sites in the USA (including some being built in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona that will come online in the next year) will ramp up the production of EUV.

The whole chip crisis is a short term what if scenario that only really gets bad if China invades Taiwan and takes Taiwan EUV production out.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm under the impression that China has put it's own chip buildout on hold until they can secure foreign investment.

I am not saying chips will forever disappear, nor is this going to happen tomorrow. (Your average computer sold because of COVID probably has about a year of life left to it). But I do think that we're in for a definite "kathunk" in the markets as the investment capital from the Boomers dries up, the labor pools available for development and manufacture age into retirement and repatriate back to the US because everyone in SE Asia has terminal demographics, and in general, global trade shrinks back to just trade within the Americas.

Is that a recipe for no chips? No. But it is a recipe for stagnating tech (if not a regression generation as the new industrial plant fixes teething problems) and a whole lot of product price inflation. And this is the exact moment WotC wants to go all-digital.

I don't think that's going to go well for them.

Quote from: Grognard GM on January 31, 2023, 02:01:21 PM
I vote naked chicks wrestling in pudding for the 30's, let's make it happen!

As long as it has bosoms I heartily agree.

Also can we have nights that celebrate dietary variety?: sugar-free pudding, gluten-free pudding, vegan jell-o  , and full sugar, starch, animal bone gelatin wresting -- with bacon bit sprinkles! 

Quote from: Fheredin on January 31, 2023, 08:01:51 PM
I am not saying chips will forever disappear, nor is this going to happen tomorrow. (Your average computer sold because of COVID probably has about a year of life left to it). But I do think that we're in for a definite "kathunk" in the markets as the investment capital from the Boomers dries up, the labor pools available for development and manufacture age into retirement and repatriate back to the US because everyone in SE Asia has terminal demographics, and in general, global trade shrinks back to just trade within the Americas.

Is that a recipe for no chips? No. But it is a recipe for stagnating tech (if not a regression generation as the new industrial plant fixes teething problems) and a whole lot of product price inflation. And this is the exact moment WotC wants to go all-digital.

I don't think that's going to go well for them.

I think you put too much weight on Chinese chips. They have not made high end chips since the Trump administration cut them off from the tools required to make high end chips. I suspect the fallout will be along the lines of the death of the internet of everything which would require the slower chips in fridges and toasters and things we never had chips in before.

Quote from: zircher on January 31, 2023, 04:48:10 PM
Regarding wire bound for print on demand books, I actually prefer that format.  I love lay flat reference books and note books.  But, a heavy card stock or plastic cover would be nice to keep all together and protect it.  You could also go with one of those page protectors so you could slip in a custom printed cover and maybe some card stock to stiffen it. I don't need an art book, I want a economical and useful rules book.

In the future perhaps people might print their PDF and wire-bind at home. The machines cost $50-100 on Amazon.

I know this is a dream but I would love to see box sets come back.

Everything in the box ready to go making starting a game easy.

Sell supplements and adventures and add ons to make more money.

A guy can dream.

It's fitting players in the box that gets tricky.

Quote from: GhostNinja on February 01, 2023, 10:37:26 AM
I know this is a dream but I would love to see box sets come back.

Everything in the box ready to go making starting a game easy.

Sell supplements and adventures and add ons to make more money.

A guy can dream.

Free League puts out a lot of box sets. Very high quality.

Quote from: Fheredin on January 31, 2023, 08:16:28 AM
I think computer tech is going to become less and less attainable over the next 5 years because of the semiconductor export bans on China, and the general demographic collapse of Southeast Asia, which will make these devices harder to manufacture. Combine that with our culture of replacing tech devices every few years (no one bothers to maintain their equipment) and you have a serious pinch for electronics.

This is a short term problem at worst, as chip production is shifting back to the U.S.  A quick search showed 11 new fabs being built in the U.S., with 6 due to be completed in the next 2 years.