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
Why are the biggest games Fantasy games?
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="JustinAlexander" data-source="post: 6033445" data-attributes="member: 6700092"><p>First, I don't think you discount the "fantasy is popular because D&D is popular" thing. If you eliminate D&D/Pathfinder from the historical bestseller lists, you find that those lists tend to be filled with a constant fluctuation of different genres. This suggests that there is no stronger bias towards fantasy than any other escapist genre.</p><p></p><p>Second, why do escapist genres -- science fiction, fantasy, etc. -- tend to dominate RPGs? Some of it is just a matter of mutual geek interests. Some of it is that escapism suits RPGs well. Some of it is the fact that they create permissive creative environments in which "anything is possible".</p><p></p><p>Third, why does D&D continue to dominate? Well, a large part of that is probably a persistence of market dominance and the power of network externalities in driving RPG brands. But I'll also toss out the hypothesis that classical fantasy is, in fact, advantageous for introducing new players and GMs to roleplaying games.</p><p></p><p>I say this for a couple of reasons:</p><p></p><p>1. Low-level fantasy limits transportation and communication. This limits the scope of what a new player or GM needs to be "on top of" for a given session. Compare that to a game of <em>Vampire: The Masquerade</em> where the GM has to grapple with an entire internet of information being ubiquitously available to the PCs. Or to <em>Eclipse Phase</em> where players can spontaneously decide to transport their consciousness across the entire solar system if the whim takes them.</p><p></p><p>2. Historical settings achieve a similar limitation of scope, but bring a different stricture in the sense of "historical accuracy". Fantasy doesn't have that problem: GMs and players are free to make up pretty much anything they want and it'll fly just fine.</p><p></p><p>So classical fantasy -- compared to historical, contemporary, or sci-fi games -- has an inherently limited scope which makes it easier for new players to grasp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JustinAlexander, post: 6033445, member: 6700092"] First, I don't think you discount the "fantasy is popular because D&D is popular" thing. If you eliminate D&D/Pathfinder from the historical bestseller lists, you find that those lists tend to be filled with a constant fluctuation of different genres. This suggests that there is no stronger bias towards fantasy than any other escapist genre. Second, why do escapist genres -- science fiction, fantasy, etc. -- tend to dominate RPGs? Some of it is just a matter of mutual geek interests. Some of it is that escapism suits RPGs well. Some of it is the fact that they create permissive creative environments in which "anything is possible". Third, why does D&D continue to dominate? Well, a large part of that is probably a persistence of market dominance and the power of network externalities in driving RPG brands. But I'll also toss out the hypothesis that classical fantasy is, in fact, advantageous for introducing new players and GMs to roleplaying games. I say this for a couple of reasons: 1. Low-level fantasy limits transportation and communication. This limits the scope of what a new player or GM needs to be "on top of" for a given session. Compare that to a game of [i]Vampire: The Masquerade[/i] where the GM has to grapple with an entire internet of information being ubiquitously available to the PCs. Or to [i]Eclipse Phase[/i] where players can spontaneously decide to transport their consciousness across the entire solar system if the whim takes them. 2. Historical settings achieve a similar limitation of scope, but bring a different stricture in the sense of "historical accuracy". Fantasy doesn't have that problem: GMs and players are free to make up pretty much anything they want and it'll fly just fine. So classical fantasy -- compared to historical, contemporary, or sci-fi games -- has an inherently limited scope which makes it easier for new players to grasp. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Why are the biggest games Fantasy games?
Top