Please bear in mind that I am by no means an expert in the history of D&D, but I imagine that several people on this forum must be far more knowledgeable than I am.
I know that in 1982 one overwrought conspiracy theory blamed the game itself for one gamer's suicide, and RPGs in general (among which only D&D had broad name recognition in its own right) were villified for several years.
It was in 1989 that I (then 12yr old) first saw D&D for sale in a toy store, and I've often wondered what event triggered the turnaround in public perception to reinvigorate the game and make today's far more richly diverse RPG market possible.
Last night, I was watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix, and I think that the answer smacked me in the face.
Season one, episode 12: "The Big Goodbye" (originally aired January 11 of 1988). In which Captain Picard makes use of the holodeck to play out an adventure game in the role of an in-universe fictional character, the 20th century private detective Dixon Hill.
The Captain of a starship, by all indications a mature and accomplished responsible adult. A good role model; playing an RPG.
And as I was re-watching the episode last night, I was struck by the... hunch that this was the inciting event to D&D's resurgence shortly thereafter.
So, people who know more than I do about the history of D&D; do you know of any reason why this hunch of mine is wrong?
I know that in 1982 one overwrought conspiracy theory blamed the game itself for one gamer's suicide, and RPGs in general (among which only D&D had broad name recognition in its own right) were villified for several years.
It was in 1989 that I (then 12yr old) first saw D&D for sale in a toy store, and I've often wondered what event triggered the turnaround in public perception to reinvigorate the game and make today's far more richly diverse RPG market possible.
Last night, I was watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix, and I think that the answer smacked me in the face.
Season one, episode 12: "The Big Goodbye" (originally aired January 11 of 1988). In which Captain Picard makes use of the holodeck to play out an adventure game in the role of an in-universe fictional character, the 20th century private detective Dixon Hill.
The Captain of a starship, by all indications a mature and accomplished responsible adult. A good role model; playing an RPG.
And as I was re-watching the episode last night, I was struck by the... hunch that this was the inciting event to D&D's resurgence shortly thereafter.
So, people who know more than I do about the history of D&D; do you know of any reason why this hunch of mine is wrong?