Has jumping the shark jumped the shark?

KaosDevice · Jun 22, 2005

It seems to me that as long as I've been playing silly role play games (and that has been a loooooong while) every few years there is a predicition of the demise of TSR in particular (in all its various incarnations) and the role play game industry in general (from forces inside and out). Is this sort of doomsaying typical or atypical for our hobby would you say? For basis of historical perspective:

The 1980's

Why TSR was going to fail: Buying movie licenses, over extending, bad ediorial choices due to fear of external forces.

Why the game industry was going to fail: The Christian right was going to shut it down in a tide of media frenzy.

Just for basis of comparison. This seems to be something of a cycle I've noticed over the years.

My $.02

BiggusGeekus · Jun 22, 2005

This thread has jumped the shark.

I think there was reason to scream "DOOOOOOOM!!!" in the late 90s. Things were pretty grim. But otherwise I agree.

Desdichado · Jun 22, 2005

Should I so a search to find out how often this has been brought up before?

I agree that doomsaying is a particular sub-hobby within the greater hobby of roleplaying. But then again, when TSR really did go under, it kinda justified the practice, in a manner of speaking. I don't expect to see an end to it anytime soon.

diaglo · Jun 22, 2005

when my subscription of Dungeon and Dragon Magazines didn't show up...

i pondered if in fact D&D had finally bit the big one.

and at the same time... on bulletin boards and newsgroups there was a rumor about someone playing a new version.

stick around. the show ain't over yet.

Catavarie · Jun 22, 2005

KaosDevice said:
Why the game industry was going to fail: The Christian right was going to shut it down in a tide of media frenzy.

Mazes and Monsters? I love that propaganda...err I mean movie

Odhanan · Jun 22, 2005

Is this sort of doomsaying typical or atypical for our hobby would you say?

Absolutely typical. I think this is related to the people likely to be interested in role-playing games, namely engineer geeking types and artists of various brands and types. All these types of people have one thing in common usually: being opinionated and doted of rather large egos. This leads to all sorts of talks about the market, how it works, pinpointing its various flaws and failures and then prophetizing whatever doom will strike us all.

atom crash · Jun 22, 2005

The books that WotC are producing now are chock full of options. Let's face it, we have enough core stuff already. Take the options you like, leave the rest. No one should feel compelled to buy every book they publish.

Here's where someone is going to say, "But if we don't gobble up every book they publish, Hasbro is going to sell off D&D to Mattel or Matchbox or Coke or Kraft or whoever or they're gonna shelf the whole thing because it's no longer turning a profit."

To that I reply, so what?

There's something simple about playing a static game system -- say goodbye to buying 5 new books each month to keep up with everyone's publishing schedule. And nobody's going to publish the Complete Book of Whatever, a book so horrible it makes me want to hate the game I love.

If WotC stopped producing D&D books tomorrow, I have enough gaming books to continue playing for the rest of my life -- 1st Ed. books and modules, 2nd Ed. modules, 3rd Ed. books and modules, years worth of issues of Dungeon and Dragon magazines, the works.

It's not like they're gonna send out the goon squads to repo my books.

On the subject of jumping the shark, there's something about basic human nature that makes everyone want to be the first to predict disaster, so later we can say, "I told you so." Every generation of people since the beginning of recorded history have thought they were living in the end times. Add to that the tendency for the Internet to be used as a medium for complaining and we end up with 3 or so threads just like this one each month.

Woohoo! I added to the white noise that's drowning out the message!

Jürgen Hubert · Jun 22, 2005

For the record, I want to state that I predicted neither the decline of WotC or role-playing in general...

Umbran · Jun 22, 2005

Odhanan said:
Absolutely typical. I think this is related to the people likely to be interested in role-playing games, namely engineer geeking types and artists of various brands and types.

I dunno if it really is unique to the rpg-types. Seems to me that people, in general, like to declare doom of something or other. Sports teams, corporations, TV shows, anything.

Perhaps this behavior is generally typical of fans. Not fans of anything specific. Not gaming fans or scifi fans, or sports fans in particular. Just people who are somewhat fanatic followers of something, in general. A fan is opinionated, by definition. Get a bunch of opinionated people together, and you'll find some of them who aren't looking on the birght side of life, willing to declare the end of that which is holy to them.

KaosDevice · Jun 22, 2005

Umbran said:
. Get a bunch of opinionated people together, and you'll find some of them who aren't looking on the birght side of life, willing to declare the end of that which is holy to them.

Well thank goodness there isn't anyone like that around here.