Are Table Top RPGs Dying?

[Morrus]

I think the gaming market has hit a renaissance since the launch of Kickstarter. There are so many great ideas that have been floating around for dacades, but due to lack of funds, never got to see the light of day. When I attend conventions, I often see monolithic blocks of game tables dedicated to Pathfinder or D&D, but more and more I see pickup games of indie RPGs going on in various corners. Just like the internet brought variety to the music scene (instead of big record labels having a choke-hold on what you are exposed to) I think the internet has had the same effect on RPGs. Incresaingly players know more and more about alternative sources of gaming.

It's easier now than ever before for a basement operation to make it out of the underground scene. With print on demand (POD), there is no longer a need to succumb to archaic print runs and supply chains. And from a designer's standpoint, its a veritable pleasure to pick up more games in digital format (more than I can possibly play, and no need for real life bookshelf space), but instead just for the pleasure of reading a great design or creative idea.

The PDF rennaissance (and the associated OGL boom of the early 2000s) seems to me to be just as big, if not bigger. Basically, it's a growing trend (not just in gaming - people have YouTube TV channels, podcasts, all sorts of things) of removing the middle-men and creating/marketing/selling direct. 3D printing's gonna get big soon, too - that'll affect the minis and boardgaming industry massively when all you have to sell is a blueprint. Who knows what else is coming? I think Kickstarter is one thing in a line of things.

 

[avalkauskas]

Agreed, and I just found out about G+ Hangouts! Very cool with all the new apps that have come out for this... wonder if I can hack runes into the app!

 

[Umbran]

With cheap, ubiquitous Raise Dead spells, who cares if it is dying? We just take the body back to town and pay a cleric for a resurrection!

 

[vonhist]

Hmm, definatley not dying. Maybe bitten by a Zombie and coming back in a slightly different form.

 

[ggroy]

Most things never really completely die in a literal sense.

For example, disco music still exists today, even if it's a complete shadow of its former self.

 

[Reynard]

I just spent the last 4 days at TotalCon in Mansfield, MA and I can tell you that no, TTRPGs are not dying. It was a packed event with great gaming for all.

 

[Quickleaf]

Though most of my gaming is done with friends, I am a member of the Honolulu RPG meetup and judging by the frequency of games on that meetup alone, tabletop roleplaying is not dying in Hawaii.

 

[pastshelfdate]

Grumpy did a great job of citing the similar survival of live theater in the age of movie theaters, and movie theaters in the age of TV. And maybe broadcast TV will survive the internet. How much of this has to do with the charms of the old and the limitations of the new. I've heard enough about online PVP that I don't ever want to try it. On the other hand, I've watched on LiveStream as people I've met online get together in the Star Wars universe, or to fight zombie hordes. That looks fun, and the headset chat gets me the jokes which are the main thing about gaming sessions for me.

I hope I can always do in-person, face-to-face role-playing, at least once each week. I'd miss the expressions, the potluck snack assemblies, the side game of pass-the-cats. I also hope sometime to have the time, money and hardware to play online, as part of a team of friends. I have friends across my state and farther with whom I'd like to game. That's my main interest, anyway: getting together with people with whom I'm comfortable.

 

[Stormonu]

I don't think TTRPGs are dead, but I do think that those who try to produce rules-heavy systems have an uphill battle - computers can handle complex interactions a lot more handily than most people can comfortably do. If you do want a "complex" RPG, I think it would be very wise to let the computer do the heavy lifting in the background, like that of the character generator for 4E and other tools like Hero Lab. But once the computer has done it's thing and the results hit the table, its going to need to be very light and quick on its feet to survive. Having to recalculate or consult some table, chart or text back in a book is going to kill an RPG in this day and age (it would work in the 70's, but not now).

Back on the subject at hand, I think the RPG market - and its brother, the board game market - are doing quite well. I don't think RPGs are on a downward spiral at all. I think people are seeing the results of the 3E balloon having busted and RPGs are starting to diversify again, instead of being under one monolithic system. Instead of everyone using one system, now folks are spread out over five or more major systems and dozens of minor ones.

 

[FireLance]

No, table top RPGs are not dying.

However, just to be on the safe side, I propose that we send a group of gamers to a small, faraway part of the gaming world to compile an Encyclopedia of Tabletop RPG Knowledge.

(We should also set up a secret second group of gamers at the other end of the gaming world to watch out for donkeyhorses.)