barsoomcore
Unattainable Ideal
Actually, it's been about a week and a half. Or maybe it just seems like it.Sejs said:Man, has it been 15 years already? I seem to recall this exact same kind of banter back in the days of 2nd edition...
Gee, how did I know this was coming? Let me guess, you think there should be an RPG Society or some such thing.BelenUmeria said:...the hobby needs a organization that remains untied to the publishers that is capable of generating longterm interest in the hobby.
You know, I have so much material right now that it would literally take me years to make use of it all. To run an Iron Kingdoms game, an Exalted game, a Call of Cthulhu game, a d20 Modern game, an Iron Lords of Jupiter game, not to mention EPIC Modern or DINO-PIRATES OF NINJA ISLAND (or whatever JPL's next brainwave is), is going to take me years to do.
I still buy stuff, of course (I'm weak), but if every d20 publisher on the planet disappeared tomorrow, my gaming would carry on just fine, thank you.
Especially since, as a d20 publisher myself, I'd presumably be off with all the rest, and we'd have nothing to do but game all day.
But seriously, associating industry profitability with enjoyment of the hobby just isn't logical. The one is unconnected to the other. Selling RPGs is NEVER going to be very profitable. RPGs are hard to explain, appeal to very few people, are expensive to produce, and are difficult to market and sell. Every now and then some innovation will spark a resurgence and there'll be a rush of profitability, and for the top producers there's probably some return on investment, but it's always going to be small, and it's always going to be risky.
But the games will always be around. And all you really need is some imagination, a lot of time and few things to kickstart your head. Heck, I started my Barsoom campaign without ANY products whatsoever. I made up some rules and let fly. I can pretty easily do that again. Gaming will always be available, it'll always be fun, and I'll never have trouble finding players.
Industry != Hobby