A New "anti-D&D" Era

[Reynard]

So, this thread is intended to be about whether we will see another explosion of innovation and experimentation in design and aesthetic like we saw in the 90s, and what that might look like. All speculation, I know,but probably less acrimonious than arguing about -- weirdly -- 4E in yet another unrelated thread.

I know some folks have suggested there may be less innovation rather than more as publishers throw themselves into 5E-alikes. Do I ever hope those folks are wrong! I want to see the next Deadlands or Earthdawn or Ars Magika or Fading Suns -- new ideas with new systems.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

The thing to remember about Candy Land (two words), is that it was specifically designed for young children with limited reading skills. Since the 1950s, for a significant number of Americans, Candy Land is one of the first board games they can remember playing. I don't know if it's really a gateway game, but for a significant chunk of Americans it's among the first board games they remember playing. But since there's no strategy and no decision making, kids outgrow it fairly quickly.

Candy Land teaches you to wait for your turn. A small thing but a really big thing, too.

 

[dirtypool]

The documentary was a love letter to Vampire and they were cherry picking the players they interviewed to tell a particular narrative. All that talk about attracting more women to the hobby, bragging about gaming groups made up of nearly 50% women, and no mention of the rampant sexual harrassment or even assaults? Being independently produced doesn't make it a balanced documentary.

ALL documentaries cherry pick the people they interview to tell a particular narrative. That is how documentary filmmaking works. Your new goalpost about the balance of the documentary is an interesting conversation, perhaps deserving of its own thread. It does not however invalidate the statements made by players about the choice to play Masquerade over D&D.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

I know some folks have suggested there may be less innovation rather than more as publishers throw themselves into 5E-alikes. Do I ever hope those folks are wrong! I want to see the next Deadlands or Earthdawn or Ars Magika or Fading Suns -- new ideas with new systems.

I think there are still a ton of games and systems out there that people haven't tried. To me that'd be the best-case result of a potential D&D backlash—playing stuff that's new to you, instead of looking for something shiny and untested. It takes a lot of time and development to make a brand new system, and two of those you mentioned up there, Deadlands and Earthdawn, had great settings and famously unpopular mechanics (at least until Deadlands moved to Savage Worlds rules).

 

[MGibster]

So, this thread is intended to be about whether we will see another explosion of innovation and experimentation in design and aesthetic like we saw in the 90s, and what that might look like. All speculation, I know,but probably less acrimonious than arguing about -- weirdly -- 4E in yet another unrelated thread.

Honestly, I think the last few years have been pretty good for gaming other than D&D. Modiphius has produced several RPGs over the last few years including Conan, Fallout, and Star Trek, Free League has been knocking it out of the park with their many games, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians was published in 2021 and that's not a game we were likely to have seen in 1991.

 

[MGibster]

ALL documentaries cherry pick the people they interview to tell a particular narrative. That is how documentary filmmaking works. Your new goalpost about the balance of the documentary is an interesting conversation, perhaps deserving of its own thread. It does not however invalidate the statements made by players about the choice to play Masquerade over D&D.

That's like saying all historians cherry pick their sources. Some of them do, but, no, not all of them. The point is that the documentary was a rah rah session for Vampire and the fact that they cherry picked their sources makes it unreliable.

 

[Cadence]

And Candyland is the gateway board game? Ok, I guess for some. I'll give you that there is a large group of people that need someone to hold their hand and teach them boardgames.

What game would you recommend starting 3 year olds on to get them into the hobby?

 

[Reynard]

, and two of those you mentioned up there, Deadlands and Earthdawn, had great settings and famously unpopular mechanics (at least until Deadlands moved to Savage Worlds rules).

Just to be clear, I am asking for that messiness.

 

[dirtypool]

That's like saying all historians cherry pick their sources. Some of them do, but, no, not all of them.

No, it's not like saying that at all. Because documentary filmmakers are not historians.

The point is that the documentary was a rah rah session for Vampire and the fact that they cherry picked their sources makes it unreliable.

So choosing people who are pro Vampire in a documentary about the phenomenon of Vampire results in statements less reliable about why those people chose to play Vampire over D&D than your 32 year old memory of an experience that wasn't the one those people had?

 

[overgeeked]

What game would you recommend starting 3 year olds on to get them into the hobby?

FKR with a single Fudge die (+, blank, -), white board, dry erase markers, and Lego minis. Worked for mine.