Wierd Pete's lament in KODT #116 - is it true???

[Ycore Rixle]

Well, yeah, Everquest, if not UO before it, is the first really successful MMORPG. And you could go back before that if you wanted to lower the bar on what "really successful" means.

But neither EQ nor WoW nor any other CRPG has yet killed RPGs. Will they ever? I don't think so.

But Weird Pete's subsequent question (or is it Stevil's? going on my memory of the strip here) is interesting too: are CRPG's the natural next step in the evolution of RPGs? That is, will CRPG's not kill RPG's but replace them? I don't think so. Unless computers became sentient. And in that case, I would say that the computer and you are playing an old-fashioned RPG, face-to-face(screen). The computer, not the game, would have evolved.

I also wonder sometimes what art forms have died out completely. Radio didn't die when TV came out. Drama didn't die when movies came out. Poetry didn't die (much ) when recorded music came out.

 

[Mark Plemmons]

I also wonder sometimes what art forms have died out completely. Radio didn't die when TV came out.

Although the old-time radio shows (dramas, comedies, etc) essentially did die when TV arrived on the scene. Not completely died, but I'd say 98%+ disappeared in the US, at least. Less so in the UK.

Not that I'm comparing the old radio shows to tabletop gaming.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Huh. :\

WoW has many faults, but the game, especially at the lower levels, has a LOT of quests with a LOT of variety. The human storyline starting in Northshire Abbey and running through the Deadmines (and later on picking back up and leading to the first great dragon in MMORPGs) is especially story-driven.

I also think the tauren and dwarf starting storylines are extremely compelling, and the undead storyline does a good job of showing what an evil society would be like from the inside, IMO.

It's certainly possible to play the game and not do any quests, but I'm not sure why anyone would.

Undead are NOT evil! Nekwah the undead mage challanges that assertion!

 

[Snapdragyn]

I also wonder sometimes what art forms have died out completely.

Silent films (along with many careers) when the 'talkies' came along.

 

[Jolly_Blackburn]

Hey all. Somebody steered me toward this thread.

Nice to see Weird Pete being quoted.

As pointed out KODT (and Pete) are a parody of gaming and the people who play (and make) them. As such I take my ideas I find them -- day to day experiences/life.

Personally I don't think table top RPGs are dying. Sales are shrinking -- true. But they'll never go away. As someone else pointed out sales/popularity of RPGS have always ebbed and flowed.

I inserted Pete's lament after having lunch with a peer a few months ago who was feeding me percentages on the number of game stores that actually closed last year (a factor cited by AEG when they downsized recently) as well as 'his' figures on declining RPG sales.

His numbers were startling. But then again they were just numbers. I have no idea how accurate they were.

But it IS something that's been on the mind of a LOT of publishers. Especially with all the news of companies folding or about to do so (we're fine at the moment btw. knock wood).

So while I don't personally think RPGs are dying off there has been considerable buzz about their demise 'in the biz' so Pete is simply reflecting some of that doom and gloom.

Meanwhile the characters in the strip still play each week and life goes on.

BTW that particular strip was simply setting the stage for an upcoming story arc where the characters in KODT get caught up (obsessed) with a WOW-like game.

Pete's passing comments were just that.

Hope that explains things a bit.

Jolly Blackburn
Vice President Kenzer and Company
Editor, Knights of the Dinner Table

 

[Reynard]

BTW that particular strip was simply setting the stage for an upcoming story arc where the characters in KODT get caught up (obsessed) with a WOW-like game.

When's that happening? -- 'cause I have been away from KoDT for a while but such a storyline would bring me back, I think.

 

[Jolly_Blackburn]

When's that happening? -- 'cause I have been away from KoDT for a while but such a storyline would bring me back, I think.

Sometime in the next 3 to 6 issues I'm guessing.

Although hints/conversations (and a few one-panel strips) leading to the build-up of the story arc have been appearing the last few issues.

 

[Reynard]

Sometime in the next 3 to 6 issues I'm guessing.

Although hints/conversations (and a few one-panel strips) leading to the build-up of the story arc have been appearing the last few issues.

I was thinking of dropping Marvel's "Civil War" stuff anyway, so I have room in my weekly pull budget.

Sold!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Undead are NOT evil! Nekwah the undead mage challanges that assertion!

My bad. I'm overreacting when it's revealed, early on, that the undead master plan is:
[sblock="the sekrit undead master plan"]Engineer a new plague that will wipe out the Scourge and all life on Azeroth, including the rest of the Horde[/sblock]

 

[teitan]

Well, as a retailer I can say that yes, initially WoW, almost completely by itself, was hurting tabletop RPG sales... big time. The sky did seem to be falling and many a retailer went out of business because of the popularity of video games like WoW and the consoles. However, over the last year sales have started to bottom out, reach a low level point and started to go up again on some core materials as retailers have learned to balance. The problem is that it is hard to try new games etc. without getting totally burnt because the interest isn't there like it used to be. There was a time when a new game from White Wolf would have sold. Arcana Evolved didn't do well for us though when it was initially released as Arcana Unearthed it sold pretty well. Midnight 2e flopped in our store. Now only recognizable products seem to be selling liek D&D, WoD, Shadowrun, M&M, and the Buffy/Angel games. This is anecdotal at best for my store but similar comments have been made in the ICV2 Retailer Guide to Games and Game Trade Magazine... The future is looking brighter for the big guns, but it isn't a good time to start a new RPG company.