Did Bad make D&D Good?

[Scribble]

Which has, in some ways, backfired. That kind of freak show of "professionals" can't really happen again; D&D is too mainstream now.

And that's kind of what I'm saying. I think D&D being the king, is in some way related to this.

I mean people talk about the gaming "market" not just being skewed, but wildly so, and I think this is because for the majority of the non-gamers D&D IS roleplaying. (Pen and Paper.) It has nothing to do with the rules, but rather D&D just being a part of our culture in general.

Without that same name recognition, I don't think any other game will be able to touch it. And can that same name recognition happen now?

I think that's why we're seein it happen in other formats (WoW) but not in its own medium of P&P games.

Which also makes me wonder, that while it might have been good for D&D's sales, and keeps being good for D&D's position... Was it overall bad for the gaming "market?"

Does that whole D&D = Gaming in the public eye inadvertantly foster the idea of if it ain't D&D it's crap? Would it have been better overall if say there had been a slower growth of gaming, with more games on relatively equal "footing?"

I'm not arguing it does, just wondering...

Another question I have is does this mean that D&D's position is artificial, and if it IS pulling in people because of the cultural recognition thing, is it destined to drop back down in line with the rest of the games out there? (As the people who would have been pulled in because of the "mythology" of D&D instead get pulled away by more current sources with the same "ooh it's baaaadness... like WoW?) Will it ultimately just have to compete for people who like P&P gaming?

It's already been accepted as a part of standard culture, and while it is marginalized into the whole "nerd" thing, the fact is that whole "nerd" thing isn't the horrifying stigma it used to be. Hell, I was talking to one of my old professors at the 2 year I used to go to and we had a good laugh over finding that some of the members of the football team had blamed WoW for their slipping grades.

A little off topic, but I don't think the whole "nerd" thing was ever quite as drastic as movies and TV made it out to be... I DO think the nerds and geeks and stuff gained a little more because peopel involved with making TV and movies and such realized that probably the majority of the world out there associates more with being a nerd then with being the most popular kid...

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Off topic: ProfessorCirno I admire your (what I find to be) unique viewpoint on humor. I was wondering what you thought of the above.

Watched it very often and even had a few lines in my constantly ever changing signature for a few days

I didn't WANT to be one of those Joss Whedon fanboys but, well, him continuously making good stuff isn't helping that

Also, I never would've imagined Neil Patrick Harris as being able to sing until I saw it. Oh yes, and I'm a sucker for the red costume at the end. Especially the evil doctor gloves.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

And that's kind of what I'm saying. I think D&D being the king, is in some way related to this.

I mean people talk about the gaming "market" not just being skewed, but wildly so, and I think this is because for the majority of the non-gamers D&D IS roleplaying. (Pen and Paper.) It has nothing to do with the rules, but rather D&D just being a part of our culture in general.

Without that same name recognition, I don't think any other game will be able to touch it. And can that same name recognition happen now?

I think that's why we're seein it happen in other formats (WoW) but not in its own medium of P&P games.

Which also makes me wonder, that while it might have been good for D&D's sales, and keeps being good for D&D's position... Was it overall bad for the gaming "market?"

Does that whole D&D = Gaming in the public eye inadvertantly foster the idea of if it ain't D&D it's crap? Would it have been better overall if say there had been a slower growth of gaming, with more games on relatively equal "footing?"

I'm not arguing it does, just wondering...

Another question I have is does this mean that D&D's position is artificial, and if it IS pulling in people because of the cultural recognition thing, is it destined to drop back down in line with the rest of the games out there? (As the people who would have been pulled in because of the "mythology" of D&D instead get pulled away by more current sources with the same "ooh it's baaaadness... like WoW?) Will it ultimately just have to compete for people who like P&P gaming?

Brand name does mean a lot, but I think D&D did some things to really help cement it in that #1 position. The OGL was a big one - There were tons of games that came out that ALL, in some way or another, referenced back to D&D. And D&D really took off where a lot of other games didn't, for when it first started. One of the things to remember is that popularity builds itself up - D&D was one of the first games, so it got popular. D&D was popular, so more attention was paid to it, making it MORE popular. As it got more popular, more attention was paid to it...you get the idea. An example of that comes from the video games - I have no doubt that the old Baldur's Gate series got quite a few people interested in trying this whole "Pen and paper" thing out. Or the horrifyingly frustrating Shadows Over Mystra arcade machine (Anyone else remember that?) that always started up with "Welcome to the D&D world!

The WoW thing is an interesting one to mention, because Blizzard had no clue it was going to be as wildly popular as it became. The numbers WoW pulled out went beyond having never been seen before - they had never been IMAGINED before.

A little off topic, but I don't think the whole "nerd" thing was ever quite as drastic as movies and TV made it out to be... I DO think the nerds and geeks and stuff gained a little more because peopel involved with making TV and movies and such realized that probably the majority of the world out there associates more with being a nerd then with being the most popular kid...

Depends where you lived. I've traveled quite a bit, and in many of the more rural areas, the "nerd" stigma could be incredibly strong - and still is, sadly enough.

 

[Orius]

You play the game, not game plays you.

Unless of course you're in Soviet Russia.... *rimshot*