…Buck Rogers...
I don't think there was anyone working on roleplaying games at the time of D&D so I don't think it was a case of D&D pipping anyone to the post.
I do believe that the concept of tabletop roleplaying games was born from the early D&D games and without D&D I really don't think RPGs would have taken off.
So you play D&D and complain it feels like D&D...Perhaps that is my perception of it
It just doesnt feel like a new game. I feel like ive played it before
As it is with every other edition of D&D.At least one thing will be good, any content they create for it should be translatable to other editions
And your wrong.I don't think there was anyone working on roleplaying games at the time of D&D so I don't think it was a case of D&D pipping anyone to the post.
A - It probably would have taken 2-4 more years...I just dont think the "pfft, someone else would have come up with it if Gygax didn't" just doesn't hold water because
a) It would have likely taken much much longer
b) It would not have evolved into the same beast it is now
I will say that Gygax seems like he was uniquely qualified to take such a new and abstract idea as a 'heroic fantasy game' and codify rules for it that could be easily picked up and played. I think roleplaying games would have been unlikely to see the early commercial success that they did without him or someone like him.
One of my pet theories is that the myth of the lone inventor is just that, a myth. The number of times in history when people who could not possibly be aware of each other invented the same thing within a year or two of each other is staggering. Invention and innovation do seem to be things that can be 'in the air'.
I've read that before. Unfortunately, Intellectual Ventures has basically turned into one of the world's biggest patent trolls. I'm not a Myhrvold fan.i think this article is relevant.
You know... it's entirely possible that without GenCon and the many other organizations Gygax was involved in (or outright created himself) D&D may never have caught on in the way it did.Gygax's singular talents were all invested in community, in collaboration and consensus-building. He created structures like wargaming clubs and conventions (you know, like Gen Con) and used them to get ideas in front of people, get people playing in similar styles, to drive innovation. He created this huge community apparatus, and when the time for D&D came along, he packaged the game in a form he had trained that community to understand and then unleashed it through the outlets he created or influenced. That is one of the main lessons of the first chapter of PatW, that this is who Gygax was and why he was important.
Interesting, 1st edition was around for 10 years (1975 to 1985), 2nd edition lasted around 11 years, then 3.0 lasted 2 years, 3.5 4 years and 4.0 lasted around 2 years.
Gygax wanted to keep the hobby strong and stable but with new editions coming out every 2 to 3 years from WoTC, that might not be the case.