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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 5728576" data-attributes="member: 177">No argument about the commitments...But, I'll argue that D&amp;D, and RPGs in general, were already impenetrable to newbies back in the 1970s, and have been ever since.&nbsp; I think the period in which people picked up books and played without veteran guidance was very short, in the very beginning, and since that time the majority of players have been brought in by veterans, not by the books on the shelves.The very concept of pretending to be an elf, and following rules but not being able to &quot;win&quot;, and in fact not even competing with the other players, are cognitive barriers to mass market folks whose basic experience of games is in cards, monopoly, and such.&nbsp; I think only recently, with a generation that's grown up with the concept of computer RPGs, has that situation changed. I don't think the same game needs to be able to support both.&nbsp; &quot;Being all things to all people&quot; is a tall order, and perhaps too high an expectation.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 5728576, member: 177"] No argument about the commitments... But, I'll argue that D&D, and RPGs in general, were already impenetrable to newbies back in the 1970s, and have been ever since. I think the period in which people picked up books and played without veteran guidance was very short, in the very beginning, and since that time the majority of players have been brought in by veterans, not by the books on the shelves. The very concept of pretending to be an elf, and following rules but not being able to "win", and in fact not even competing with the other players, are cognitive barriers to mass market folks whose basic experience of games is in cards, monopoly, and such. I think only recently, with a generation that's grown up with the concept of computer RPGs, has that situation changed. I don't think the same game needs to be able to support both. "Being all things to all people" is a tall order, and perhaps too high an expectation. [/QUOTE]

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