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Message: <blockquote data-quote="scourger" data-source="post: 2289510" data-attributes="member: 12328">Here are some views from a relatively high-volume consumer (especially in the past 5 years) and old school gamer (c. 1980).  The d20 system & license definitely revitalized the paper RPG hobby.  I call it a hobby and not an industry because it is a hobby for me as a player & DM (in other words, a consumer).  The D&D brand flourished, and many other companies and products were able to come to the new market for the betterment of the hobby with swords & sorcery as well as other genres.  The problem is that the system gets too big over time.  The three core 3.0 books are 766 combined pages.  I read it all before playing or DMing d20.  That is a lot of information to process, much less master; but is possible.  Adding just one setting sourcebook of comparable size brings the total up to about 1,000 pages.  That borders on too much information.  A campaign setting that adds a dozen (or two or three) more books is too much information, especially when a good portion of it is new rules.  That is why I tend to run a "core" game.  I just use the 3 core books plus one (core) setting book, if any.  I use published adventures exclusively, regardless of the genre or setting.  I am not a computer, and I don't need my tabletop RPG to simulate a computer game.  The system needs to be less complicated, not more complicated.   I also believe that adventures grow the market whereas setting books exploit the market.  The development model of more and more setting books with fewer and fewer adventures will eventually crush a game under its own weight.  I believe that is what is happening with WotC's settings and many other third party d20 settings.  I find OGL games are worse for this kind of marketing.  Perhaps they have a niche within this niche fo the RPG hobby, but it isn't with me or anyone I know.  Conversely, adventures get people playing and keep people playing.  The common justification I read for publishers not printing adventures is that only DMs buy them as opposed to setting books which everyone buys.  I think this is very short-sighted because an uplayed game is a dead game.  I find a poignant example in Shane Hensley.  His Deadlands game exploded on the scene around 1996.  Within about 5 years, it and two spinoff games encompassed about 100 books.  It was a great game, but it's just too much.  Plus, there weren't that many adventures (not that I can find now).  After a less successful stab at the d20 market, he rethought his startegy and came up with Savage Worlds--a game that is designed to be easier to play (and, more importantly, to run) and that accommodates the notion that gamers are older and have less time & effort that they can or want to devote to the hobby.  The core book is 140 pages.  It enables any setting.  Setting books include some additional rules and are an entire plot-point campaign.  These features make me want to buy more books.  If I don't like one setting, I can leave it and pick up another.  And the company hasn't invested in an entire line of books in that particular setting, which frees its assets (time, effort & money) to produce other settings that may appeal to me (and my money, time & effort).  This strategy is wise since one gamer's trash is another gamer's treasure.  Also, people get bored of a game after about 6 months.  It's been my experience that I and others in my game group are finished with game after about six months.  Some are revisited after they "cool off" for a while, but most are just over.  Some should over, but we go back and beat the dead horse to see if it will get up & run again.  A campaign is a lot of work for 6 months play, especially with d20 D&D or a derivative.  But, it's the nature of the hobby for me.  A simple, comprehensive game system with a single, combined setting & adventure book is ideal for the contemproary paper RPG enthusiast.The d20 system could have these features, but not in its current shape.  WotC fragmented the basic rules with d20 Modern, Star Wars, Wheel of Time, Call of Cthulhu, etc.  Even Forgotten Realms presents many new rules and variants that are not really portable even to other D&D games much less other genres.  I've tried combining d20 games.  It doesn't work as well as it could (or should).   A DM really has to gloss over a lot to play most third party d20 or OGL adventures in a core D&D game.  There are some exceptions, but it is usually not worth the effort for me.  In summary, these are the two points that I believe are necessary for the next evolution or revolution in gaming.  First, we need a game that is easier to play but more comprehensive as to genre.  Second, the game should be supported by combined setting and adevnture books that are portable to and within the core system.</blockquote>

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