At the same time, I think that Kickstarter makes it easier for new projects to get off the ground, so its increasing the number of RPGs out there.
Web pages. PDF publishing. The OGL/d20STL. RPGNow. Print-on-demand. It's not increasing the number of RPGs - it's maintaining the 15-yr old status quo of new technology granting acccess to the RPG industry. It's keeping the rate constant. In 5 years there will be something else big.
Anyone who thinks that this is an unprecendented lowering in the barrier of entry to RPG publshing is deluding themselves. This is normal; this is what happens, and has happened repeatedly over the last decade or two. In five years people will be sayng some new thing is increasing the number of RPGs out there, but it won't be. It'll be maintaining the status quo.
It's when we don't have some new thing 'lowering the barrier of entry' that we need to start worrying. At that point, new stuff being produced will start to drop.
Last edited: