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Ryan Dancey speaks - the Most Successful Year for Fantasy RPGaming ever. However...
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<blockquote data-quote="Byrons_Ghost" data-source="post: 2802989" data-attributes="member: 7396"><p>This is basically how I see things. Comparing TRPGs to MMORPGs is pretty much pointless. And not just because each differs in play style. I think there's no question that video games are mainstream, while TRPGs are a niche hobby. The mainstream product is always going to win out in the numbers game, even if it does something similar to the niche hobby. Expecting D&D to be able to compete with World of Warcraft is like asking why GTA has more players than Dogtown (a fine game, to be sure).</p><p></p><p>My theory is that there isn't as much crossover of TRPG and MMORPG players as people think. Of the massive numbers of people playing WoW (excluding multiple accounts, gold farmers, etc) I'm betting that the vast majority of them have no interest in playing D&D and probably never will. Computers and video games are ingrained into our culture at pretty much every level, so it's only natural that they're going to have several magnitudes more of players. Again, TRPGs are a niche hobby.</p><p></p><p>Being a niche hobby doesn't have to be a problem, though, as long as the members recognize what it is and keep realistic expectations. TRPGs won't be able to compete with MMORPGs by doing the same thing they do. Instead, they'll have to focus on things that MMORPGs can't (yet) provide- customized experiences, face-to-face social aspects, immersiveness and immediacy of play. </p><p></p><p>The RPG industry will probably become less "big business", this is true. Like Barsoom said, this is also occuring with books, music, and pretty much any creative form which once relied upon a specialized distribution process. Computers and the internet have made production and distribution attainable to everyone. Even more importantly, they've increased the reasons for doing so. Before, a small indie band who managed to get their record produced by a company could look forward to either small localized distribution, or widespread distribution to a general public that didn't what to hear what they were doing. But now that the band can market it themselves on the net, they can carve out a niche for themselves. There's bound to be someone out there who likes what they're doing, and that provides more feedback than they would've gotten otherwise. They're probably not making as much money, true. But it's unlikely that they would've made much the other way, either.</p><p></p><p>Anyhow, a lot of this goes into Web 2.0 stuff and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_tail" target="_blank">Long Tail</a> theories and other things which aren't important right now. The point is, TRPGs never even had a chance of getting the kinds of money and numbers that MMORPGs do, so they're going to have to accept the fact that they market to a smaller, more specialized group and develop accordingly.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Byrons_Ghost, post: 2802989, member: 7396"] This is basically how I see things. Comparing TRPGs to MMORPGs is pretty much pointless. And not just because each differs in play style. I think there's no question that video games are mainstream, while TRPGs are a niche hobby. The mainstream product is always going to win out in the numbers game, even if it does something similar to the niche hobby. Expecting D&D to be able to compete with World of Warcraft is like asking why GTA has more players than Dogtown (a fine game, to be sure). My theory is that there isn't as much crossover of TRPG and MMORPG players as people think. Of the massive numbers of people playing WoW (excluding multiple accounts, gold farmers, etc) I'm betting that the vast majority of them have no interest in playing D&D and probably never will. Computers and video games are ingrained into our culture at pretty much every level, so it's only natural that they're going to have several magnitudes more of players. Again, TRPGs are a niche hobby. Being a niche hobby doesn't have to be a problem, though, as long as the members recognize what it is and keep realistic expectations. TRPGs won't be able to compete with MMORPGs by doing the same thing they do. Instead, they'll have to focus on things that MMORPGs can't (yet) provide- customized experiences, face-to-face social aspects, immersiveness and immediacy of play. The RPG industry will probably become less "big business", this is true. Like Barsoom said, this is also occuring with books, music, and pretty much any creative form which once relied upon a specialized distribution process. Computers and the internet have made production and distribution attainable to everyone. Even more importantly, they've increased the reasons for doing so. Before, a small indie band who managed to get their record produced by a company could look forward to either small localized distribution, or widespread distribution to a general public that didn't what to hear what they were doing. But now that the band can market it themselves on the net, they can carve out a niche for themselves. There's bound to be someone out there who likes what they're doing, and that provides more feedback than they would've gotten otherwise. They're probably not making as much money, true. But it's unlikely that they would've made much the other way, either. Anyhow, a lot of this goes into Web 2.0 stuff and [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_tail]Long Tail[/URL] theories and other things which aren't important right now. The point is, TRPGs never even had a chance of getting the kinds of money and numbers that MMORPGs do, so they're going to have to accept the fact that they market to a smaller, more specialized group and develop accordingly. [/QUOTE]
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