Ruin Explorer
Legend
I hope not. I enjoy being the DM the most. It is not D&D without a DM for me.
As I said, I'm sure they'll still have some kind of basically tabletop version of D&D for us oldies - with digital assistance and so on, and that'll still have a DM. I just doubt the "main" version will by then.
I'm betting on Exandria. If any campaign setting surpasses FR for the title of "most popular generic fantasy setting", it's gonna be Exandria.
Yeah I couldn't rule that out, but I think even with the popularity of Critical Role, Exandria would need get additional traction, like popular computer games, TV shows, and so on, and maintain that for a while before it could actually overtake the FR. They're getting an animated series, which is certainly a first step there. If it's very successful and long-ish running that could be part of such a transition.
I don't think "organic D&D" will go away, as there will always be a nostalgia component* and it may be that many will simply prefer interacting with real people, rolling real dice, and playing in the realms of real imagination (over virtual simulation). I mean, the rise of D&D's popularity in recent years certainly attests to that.
(*and even as Gen Xers age out, there will be Millenials and Zoomers who feel nostalgia for a time that they barely, if at all, experienced; remember that Stranger Things was created by two brothers who were born the year their show is set in)
I think there's a risk of confusing nostalgia for the '80s and people having nostalgia for when they played or the like. Stranger Things is one thing, but I suspect the Millenials and Zoomers and so on will actually, in 2041, if they're playing D&D "nostalgically" will not be "trying to get back to the '80s", but rather to the '90s, '00s, and even '10s. I mean, I have very little nostalgia, if any, for '80s D&D, but definitely some for '90s D&D, and I see similar here a lot - it seems to be much more common that people wish for '90s settings, for example, to return than '80s ones (for now). I mean, I'm actually slightly surprised we haven't started getting 3.XE nostalgia stuff yet.
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