RPGs Then and Now

[freeport_pirate]

I frequently see discussions in which people argue about whether MMOs, and specifically World of Warcraft, are causing a decline in the number of roleplayers. This argument, I think, is too narrow in focus. To understand what's going on now I think it's necessary to take a step back and review a bit of history

Comments

[dhw]

One thing is to look at things that the computer does well, and don't aim for that part of the market.

Kill things, take their stuff, so you can kill bigger things and get better stuff (the age old Dungeon crawl model), computer games shine at this. Add in the much lower downtime, the realtime behavior (so you don't have to wait to move), the generally greater tactical complexity, and the ability to play when you want and without shlepping to someone's house, and, well, the computer has a distinct advantage.

For me, where tabletop roleplay shines is when the rewards are story based. Unfolding events (and playing a major part in them), and that sort of thing. And this, interestingly, is where the free-form roleplay people effectively are. This is one of the reasons I was so impressed by Dogs in the Vineyard -- it is a game in which you determine which stakes are worth dying for, and why. It means that conflicts only occur when they are interesting to the players, and that adds a lovely story based tilt to the mechanics. That does not

[mhacdebhandia]

My uninformed guess is that this explains why Wizards of the Coast is tying their roleplaying game and collectible miniatures brands together with products like Fantastic Locations, Dungeon Tiles, and the Basic Game sets with included miniatures.

Not only is their collectible miniatures game a strong source of revenue (as far as I can tell), but it also offers a tactile element to tabletop roleplaying games which CRPGs and MMORPGs cannot yet provide. I like the shiny graphics in World of Warcraft as much as the next gamer, but there's also a real appeal to a laid-out dungeon map with miniatures set up for a big battle, too.

[freeport_pirate]

Oh, indeed. WotC should be very thankful that Wizkids invented the collectible minis category. The minis are likely bringing in much more revenue than the RPG right now.