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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 9784062" data-attributes="member: 7023840">I largely agree with Greylord- unless you're going to do this is in a completely subjective way (the golden age for me was when I had the most time and played the most games, therefore...) it's best to model it after the Comic Books model.With that in mind-Golden Age 1979-84From the Egbert Explosion to the ET Collapse (heh... little Atari reference for ya). In other words, the explosion of D&D into mass popularity (and fad status) that followed the media coverage of James Dallas Egbert III that lead to the mainstreaming of D&D (and other RPGs) in the fall of 1979, all the way through the over-expansion and pulling back in 1984 at TSR (which .... happened to mirror the similar over-expansion and collapse of the Atari 2600 and related video game consoles... maybe there's an essay in that somewhere). Silver Age 2000-07The release of 3e, the release of the OGL, the "return" of D&D as well as the incredible rise of people who were disaffected and started branching out to create new & different ways to game- either by seeking a return to the past (the creation of the OSR / retroclone movement) or mapping out different ways to game (the Forge and numerous new ways to indie game). The starting point of the silver age is easy- 2000 (release of 3e and the OGL). The ending point is ... harder. Is it ... 2003 (the release of 3.5e)? Naw.2004? Castles & Crusades .... naw. Not OSR enough. 2006? When certain quotes appeared on the Forge? Mmm... closer. We also have OSRIC released on that date as well as BFRPG. Also also? Dread!2007? The announcement of 4e (which lead to PF, etc.)? Maybe.2010? Apocalypse World (PbTA)? Seems a little late and would bleed into the Bronze Age. I'll peg it at 2007. We already have a lot of the underlying intellectual foment in terms of open licenses, new types of games, and OSR that will continue to be developed, and the 4e announcement (along with no open license) effectively gives it rocket fuel- but sticks a stake in the D&D part of it, effectively bifurcating the market ... for now. Bronze Age 2016-23(?)Finally, there is the bronze age. I thought about this a lot. I can't put it at the release of the PHB. But in 2016, we have the release of the OGL. The first season of Stranger Things aired on Netflix. Critical Role was beginning to gain momentum (although it wasn't what we think of it yet). 5e was back to being ... A THING. And we saw the publication of really popular materials for 5e- Curse of Strahd, VGTM. In addition, the indie market was beginning to hit on all cylinders- you had Blades in the Dark had early access availability in 2016 (with physical product in 2017) and storytelling games like Ten Candles were also becoming more mainstream.So I'm going with 2016, although that's an inexact science.Picking an end date? A lot harder. Some might argue we are still in the Bronze Age. I ... I am not so sure. It feels different. Less ... ebullient. Almost like there was a crescendo during the COVID time that took a little while to recede, and yet ... it did. I am putting it in 2023, with the announcement of 5.5e. Since then, it feels like there have just been interminable battles that mostly involve gamers ripping each other apart, arguments over licenses and "Which Corporation is Corporating Worse Than Other Corporations*" .... not to mention sharp battlelines between people who think 5.5e is just "more of the same" and those who view 5.5e as "fundamentally breaking 5e." While we had a number of amazing iterations and revolutions in the gaming space occur in the indie gaming sphere (both earlier, and during the bronze age), it seems that there just isn't much ... truly new in the last two years, and people are arguing about implementation and artwork and the incorporation of retread rules into mass-market products. IMO, YMMV.  *Parasocial relationships are a helluva drug.</blockquote>

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