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Author Topic: Where has D&D gone?  (Read 22354 times)

Black Vulmea

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Where has D&D gone?
« Reply #195 on: March 15, 2017, 08:02:52 PM »
Quote from: Spinachcat;951550
I am unsure if the hobbyist publishers or the hobby will thrive if the game companies go under.

Seeing how my kids consume media, I think digital storefronts and print-on-demand are the stake in the heart of 'Big Gaming' - given how many extant game companies publish fucking coffee table books as roleplaying games, they're headed the route of the boutique publisher of 'exclusive volumes.'
"Of course five generic Kobolds in a plain room is going to be dull. Making it potentially not dull is kinda the GM's job." - #Ladybird, theRPGsite

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Tristram Evans

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« Reply #196 on: March 15, 2017, 08:11:22 PM »
Quote from: Spinachcat;951550
I am unsure if the hobbyist publishers or the hobby will thrive if the game companies go under.


Contrarily, I think it could potentially be the best thing to happen to the hobby.

Tristram Evans

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« Reply #197 on: March 15, 2017, 08:13:25 PM »
Quote from: Black Vulmea;951777
roleplaying games, they're headed the route of the boutique publisher of 'exclusive volumes.'

I'd be cool with that

Endless Flight

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« Reply #198 on: March 15, 2017, 08:18:23 PM »
There will always be somebody to fill in the vacuum if that were to happen.

DavetheLost

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« Reply #199 on: March 15, 2017, 08:40:01 PM »
Quote from: Black Vulmea;951777
Seeing how my kids consume media, I think digital storefronts and print-on-demand are the stake in the heart of 'Big Gaming' - given how many extant game companies publish fucking coffee table books as roleplaying games, they're headed the route of the boutique publisher of 'exclusive volumes.'

Nailed it.  The nice thing is I can buy the cool, interesting, off-beat game I am interested in as a pdf, or back it on KS, for a fraction of what a print version would cost me and then upgrade to print if I want to and when and if I actually get to play it.

There are even a few games I have ponied up the cash for the deluxe hardcover because they are gorgeous.  There are others that I will probably never buy in paper, and certainly would not have bought if that had been the only option.

And unless you count Cubicle 7 as "Big Gaming" I can't remember the last time I actually bought a book from a big gaming company.

Voros
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« Reply #200 on: March 16, 2017, 12:15:25 AM »
RPGs have never been a particularly great way to make money and the internet has proably not helped with the marginal profit margins. But I wouldn't write off harcopies yet, many young people develop a taste for the physical since they're raised in a digital environment. Look at the current boom in board games.

Black Vulmea

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« Reply #201 on: March 16, 2017, 12:26:41 AM »
Quote from: Voros;951835
Look at the current boom in board games.
It's clear a lot of roleplaying game publishers looked at that boom, and filled up their games with tons of crap - tokens, cards, beads, whateverthefuckever - to make the experience of [strike]playing[/strike] owning them more like board games.

Added to the still-extant trend of game lines released like collectible card games - fuck you, FFG - and the boutique movement hit its stride.

Overlooked in this [strike]trend[/strike] race toward overpriced, overwritten monstrosities is, at the end of the day, no one needs any of that Bandini Mountain of bullshit to play a roleplaying game.
« Last Edit: March 16, 2017, 03:05:26 AM by Black Vulmea »
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Gronan of Simmerya

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« Reply #202 on: March 16, 2017, 12:32:52 AM »
Quote from: Black Vulmea;951838
It's clear a lot of roleplaying game publishers looked at that boom, and filled up their games with tons of crap - tokens, cards, beads, whateverthefuckever - to make the experience of [strike]playing[/strike] owning them more like board games.

Added to the still-extant trend of game lines released like collectible card games - fuck you, FFG - the boutique movement hit its stride.

Overlooked in this [strike]trend[/strike] toward overpriced, overwritten monstrosities is, at the end of the day, no one needs any of that Bandini Mountain of bullshit to play a roleplaying game.

FFG broke my heart with X-wing.  The basic game is quick, playable, and fun, and the admittedly expensive components were well engineered to make it easy to play; it reminds me of many aircraft minis games circa mid 1970s but the components drastically streamlined the record keeping.

Then they shitted it up with all the bullshit cards to modify the craft, and the game no longer became about tactics, it became about deck building on your TIE fighter.
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Llew ap Hywel

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« Reply #203 on: March 16, 2017, 03:40:04 AM »
Quote from: CRKrueger;951747
Maglev.


Lightning rail :D
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S'mon

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« Reply #204 on: March 16, 2017, 05:25:48 AM »
Quote from: CRKrueger;950788
You think the WotC sales of D&D books vs. modules really matter to Hasbro?  Compared to Magic sales?  Compared to video game licensing?

The entire RPG industry is small potatoes compared to books, comics, movies, video games, etc.  


RPGs are certainly up there with most parts of the modern non-RPG book industry, & definitely with comics. None of these compare to movies & video games.

Voros
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« Reply #205 on: March 16, 2017, 05:40:11 AM »
Quote from: Black Vulmea;951838
It's clear a lot of roleplaying game publishers looked at that boom, and filled up their games with tons of crap - tokens, cards, beads, whateverthefuckever - to make the experience of [strike]playing[/strike] owning them more like board games.

Added to the still-extant trend of game lines released like collectible card games - fuck you, FFG - and the boutique movement hit its stride.

Overlooked in this [strike]trend[/strike] race toward overpriced, overwritten monstrosities is, at the end of the day, no one needs any of that Bandini Mountain of bullshit to play a roleplaying game.

Any examples beyond Star Wars dice?  I haven't noticed this at all.

Overwriting doesn't seem like much of an issue in 5e to me, or most other modern RPGs, where the emphasis on simple rules, quick chargen and getting a game to the table means that the books are way more concise than most of the games from the 80s or 90s.

san dee jota

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« Reply #206 on: March 16, 2017, 09:22:10 AM »
Quote from: Voros;951867
Any examples beyond Star Wars dice?  I haven't noticed this at all.

WFRP3ed tried it.  Changeling the Dreaming tried it.  There have been other games, but nobody has ever had major success with it.  

Star Wars gets away with it solely because of the license.

Now, there are companies selling things like class-specific spell cards, Drama Decks, etc. etc. etc.  But those are all such optional bits of bling, that I can only mention them for the sake of completion.  Like a collector would think.  :D

Quote from: Voros;951867
Overwriting doesn't seem like much of an issue in 5e to me, or most other modern RPGs, where the emphasis on simple rules, quick chargen and getting a game to the table means that the books are way more concise than most of the games from the 80s or 90s.

Yeah.  I mean, there comes a point where I think people are bitching more because there's stuff out there they want and can't justify buying than anything else.  "People are buying stuff I don't like" just seems like a weird thing to get upset over.

RunningLaser

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« Reply #207 on: March 16, 2017, 09:24:46 AM »
Quote from: Black Vulmea;951838
It's clear a lot of roleplaying game publishers looked at that boom, and filled up their games with tons of crap - tokens, cards, beads, whateverthefuckever - to make the experience of [strike]playing[/strike] owning them more like board games.

Added to the still-extant trend of game lines released like collectible card games - fuck you, FFG - and the boutique movement hit its stride.

Overlooked in this [strike]trend[/strike] race toward overpriced, overwritten monstrosities is, at the end of the day, no one needs any of that Bandini Mountain of bullshit to play a roleplaying game.

Yeah, there's some games where I don't think they are so much meant to be played, as displayed, you know?

Llew ap Hywel

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« Reply #208 on: March 16, 2017, 10:03:41 AM »
Quote from: RunningLaser;951888
Yeah, there's some games where I don't think they are so much meant to be played, as displayed, you know?

This I agree with. There was a game on Kickstarter my friend pointed out by Monte Cook. Seemed ridiculously prop oriented.
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S'mon

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« Reply #209 on: March 16, 2017, 10:43:01 AM »
Quote from: bryce0lynch;951461
I have a theory on openness and new people. My wife ran the fourth largest gaming meetup in the country for 13 years. My theory is based on that experience.

New people show up. They meet other cool new people to game with and then go form their own groups and we don't see them much anymore, except for cons or LARGE public parties. Except, for a few. Those people so odious that no one can stand to game with. They continue to hang around the public games, meetup after meetup, and you get to "enjoy" them over and over again.


LOL. Yeah, there is some truth in that.