Catching up on gaming updates

As discussed at our Yahoo message board, the current economic recession and technological change have caused several observers to ask whether pen-and-paper (or pizza-and-dice) role-playing games (RPGs) are doomed. I hope not.

Despite increasing competition from miniatures/war games, collectible card games, board games, and of course, computer/video games, I've rarely had difficulty finding tabletop gamers. I want our hobby and the publishers that support it continue to thrive, if not at the same levels as during the booms of the early 1980s or late 1990s.

According to some estimates, about 4 million people in the U.S. (and up to 2 million in the rest of the world) regularly play such games, most of them using Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition (D&D4e). I'm looking forward to Paizo's final release of the Pathfinder (or "D&D3.75") fantasy RPG later this summer. The sourcebooks for that alternative to D&D4e have been inspiring so far.

Although it has started to wind down, I hope the D&D4e "Vanished Lands: the Faith-Based Initiative" face-to-face party has pushed ahead with its adventures. The wanderers have helped barbarian tribes and fought witches and monsters. In fact, prospective player Rich D. may be joining the Boston-area group, which currently has about eight members.

We'll see how the purchase of Your Move Games in Somerville, Mass., by Cambridge-based Pandemonium Books & Games affects the local role-playing community. I've also supported the Compleat Strategist in Boston, New York, and Virginia, but its current location near Northeastern University isn't easy for me to get to right now.

Despite some scheduling snafus, the Pathfinder: "Holy Steel" teleconferencing team has done well in ancient Egypt, where it has conducted diplomacy and tried to uncover plots by the cult of Set against Pharaoh Ramses II.

I dropped out of the City of Heroes supergroup around the time of my layoff earlier this summer. Since David I.S. and Dexter V.H. have been too busy for the Lord of the Rings Online, I may end my subscription for that multiplayer game as well. Dex is waiting for Champions Online, and I'm somewhat interested in DC Universe Online.

On the other hand, I've been using Wii Fit every other day for a few months now, and I'm looking forward to the Wii Motion Plus and Wii Sports Resort, and back to pen-and-paper games for a moment, the Doctor Who RPG.