Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Licensed Role-Playing Games: Threat Or Menace?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Deset Gled" data-source="post: 7720549" data-attributes="member: 7808"><p>A couple disjointed thoughts:</p><p></p><p>For most of the history of RPGs, D+D has been the monolith that controls the industry. Since the inception of the TTRPG concept, talking about RPGs has generally been synonymous with talking about D+D. It wasn't until the 4e days that any other company was able to beat them in book sales; even then, the game that beat them (Pathfinder) was based off of D+D v3.5, and most estimates I saw still made D+D the most played game if you summed together all versions of the game. </p><p></p><p>From that standpoint, licensed games have historically been pretty much the only way for non-D+D rules to get any traction. So, whether or not you like licensed games or not, if you like playing any game other that D+D you probably have a license to thank for the fact that your preferred system exists in anything beyond a self published manifesto.</p><p></p><p>Second, it's worth noting that many licensed RPGs have actually been quite influential in changing the licensed material. Star Wars in the classic example of this. If you were a real Star Wars nerd in the age between when the original movies had gone out of style and when the prequel trilogy was released, you know that West End Games was extremely critical in defining the Expanded Universe. Books talked about how a TIE was faster in sublight than an X-Wing, but the RPG is what gave us speeds of 10 vs 8. The sourcebooks told the real story of how the Sarlacc worked and how Boba Fett escaped. Overall, WEG was really the biggest force tying the expanding universe together and working to keep it consistent.</p><p></p><p>I'm certain that RPG licenses have also helped keep other IPs alive through rough times. Firefly, for example, hasn't had a movie since 2005, but still has an active RPG community that helps keep the fandom going. Ghostbusters and Robotech also come to mind. I'm sure there are other cases where RPGs are havens for diehard fans with nowhere else to turn.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Deset Gled, post: 7720549, member: 7808"] A couple disjointed thoughts: For most of the history of RPGs, D+D has been the monolith that controls the industry. Since the inception of the TTRPG concept, talking about RPGs has generally been synonymous with talking about D+D. It wasn't until the 4e days that any other company was able to beat them in book sales; even then, the game that beat them (Pathfinder) was based off of D+D v3.5, and most estimates I saw still made D+D the most played game if you summed together all versions of the game. From that standpoint, licensed games have historically been pretty much the only way for non-D+D rules to get any traction. So, whether or not you like licensed games or not, if you like playing any game other that D+D you probably have a license to thank for the fact that your preferred system exists in anything beyond a self published manifesto. Second, it's worth noting that many licensed RPGs have actually been quite influential in changing the licensed material. Star Wars in the classic example of this. If you were a real Star Wars nerd in the age between when the original movies had gone out of style and when the prequel trilogy was released, you know that West End Games was extremely critical in defining the Expanded Universe. Books talked about how a TIE was faster in sublight than an X-Wing, but the RPG is what gave us speeds of 10 vs 8. The sourcebooks told the real story of how the Sarlacc worked and how Boba Fett escaped. Overall, WEG was really the biggest force tying the expanding universe together and working to keep it consistent. I'm certain that RPG licenses have also helped keep other IPs alive through rough times. Firefly, for example, hasn't had a movie since 2005, but still has an active RPG community that helps keep the fandom going. Ghostbusters and Robotech also come to mind. I'm sure there are other cases where RPGs are havens for diehard fans with nowhere else to turn. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Licensed Role-Playing Games: Threat Or Menace?
Top