Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Curmudgeon's Corner: So, what's the deal with Critical Role?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7848980" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>[USER=6776259]@Haffrung[/USER] : I can see that concern and I admit that it is a potential issue, but there is something about your tale that I don't think you are really considering and that's the difference between 1983 and 2019.</p><p></p><p>If you look at the games of that period, Car Wars, Battletech, Star Fleet Battles, and yes D&D, there was an attraction to them then that is no longer present in 2019. In 1983 the sort of video game that a person had access to was really simple. Anything more complex than something like Donkey Kong wasn't really possible, and personal computing was out of the reach of the average person. I think it is really eye opening to go back and play games from the Atari 2600. What people were doing with PnP was in part intended to fill a niche that couldn't be filled in any other way. The games people were implementing with rule sets were really pen and paper video games. If you go back and look at some of those advertisements for play by mail strategy games, they were trying to make a video game using their brain as the CPU and the rules as the software. I doubt many or any of them every really made it. There was a hunger for a form of entertainment that nothing in the environment could fill. Heck, we still have a few grognards on the boards who will tell you that an infinite pen and paper video game, a sort of glorified Nethack, is what D&D is really supposed to be and that all this modern stuff isn't really an RPG.</p><p></p><p>And the problem is that here in 2019 you will never recapture that age again, because its far too easy to play Diablo or Mass Effect or Kingdom Come or really any number of video games and get the thing that people in 1981 or 1983 were getting from D&D (or Car Wars or Battletech) that couldn't be gotten anywhere else. </p><p></p><p>Being able to make a dungeon is still and important skill, and encounter and scenario design is an art form that will never go away. But my suspicion is that if you aren't really bringing to the table something that video games can't deliver, then your game is going to be a passing fad. You'll play for a dozen times or something, and be done. The only way to hook this new generation will be with experiences that they aren't getting elsewhere, whether it's the social interaction, or the story, or whatever it is that a video game can't deliver. </p><p></p><p>I agree that the hobby lives and dies by the GMs. So if the problem is stepping up and delivering the Matt Mercer experience is too hard a hurdle for a young DM, we need to start finding ways to package that experience and redistribute it so that it's easier to get up and running. I had thought Paizo's adventure paths were doing that, but having experienced one now I realize, "Nope. Not even close."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7848980, member: 4937"] [USER=6776259]@Haffrung[/USER] : I can see that concern and I admit that it is a potential issue, but there is something about your tale that I don't think you are really considering and that's the difference between 1983 and 2019. If you look at the games of that period, Car Wars, Battletech, Star Fleet Battles, and yes D&D, there was an attraction to them then that is no longer present in 2019. In 1983 the sort of video game that a person had access to was really simple. Anything more complex than something like Donkey Kong wasn't really possible, and personal computing was out of the reach of the average person. I think it is really eye opening to go back and play games from the Atari 2600. What people were doing with PnP was in part intended to fill a niche that couldn't be filled in any other way. The games people were implementing with rule sets were really pen and paper video games. If you go back and look at some of those advertisements for play by mail strategy games, they were trying to make a video game using their brain as the CPU and the rules as the software. I doubt many or any of them every really made it. There was a hunger for a form of entertainment that nothing in the environment could fill. Heck, we still have a few grognards on the boards who will tell you that an infinite pen and paper video game, a sort of glorified Nethack, is what D&D is really supposed to be and that all this modern stuff isn't really an RPG. And the problem is that here in 2019 you will never recapture that age again, because its far too easy to play Diablo or Mass Effect or Kingdom Come or really any number of video games and get the thing that people in 1981 or 1983 were getting from D&D (or Car Wars or Battletech) that couldn't be gotten anywhere else. Being able to make a dungeon is still and important skill, and encounter and scenario design is an art form that will never go away. But my suspicion is that if you aren't really bringing to the table something that video games can't deliver, then your game is going to be a passing fad. You'll play for a dozen times or something, and be done. The only way to hook this new generation will be with experiences that they aren't getting elsewhere, whether it's the social interaction, or the story, or whatever it is that a video game can't deliver. I agree that the hobby lives and dies by the GMs. So if the problem is stepping up and delivering the Matt Mercer experience is too hard a hurdle for a young DM, we need to start finding ways to package that experience and redistribute it so that it's easier to get up and running. I had thought Paizo's adventure paths were doing that, but having experienced one now I realize, "Nope. Not even close." [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Curmudgeon's Corner: So, what's the deal with Critical Role?
Top