History of the Hobby: What were some of the trends?

[mach1.9pants]

The information thus far has been quite captivating. I will definitely be grabbing a copy of Of Dice and Men, does anyone know if there are any other books/blogs/websites that go over the history of the hobby? Would anyone else like to add their input?

And if you want a very n depth look at RPG history, try this one: Playing at the World by Jon Peterson

It is amazing, but more a dry text book style. But so much info.

 

[icemaster109]

I lucked out. Both Of Dice and Men and Playing at the World are available at my local library. Designers and Dragons though seems like a great in depth study of overall trends as they progress through time (which is very interesting to me), but I guess I'll have to wait for those to be released.

 

[TarionzCousin]

We were once nerds and uncool, but now we are nerds and we are cool. We are very cool.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Dark grey text on a black background...

 

[Sword of Spirit]

We were once nerds and uncool, but now we are nerds and we are cool. We are very cool.

It hasn't come nearly as far as I'd hope it will in that area.

My experiences:

1. Describe a role-playing game without ever mentioning the term "role-playing game" or "Dungeons & Dragons."
Get Typical Response: Oh, that sounds kind of cool.

2. Say that you enjoy "role-playing games," but don't mention D&D.
Get Typical Response A: What's that? [Describe as per #1] Oh, that sounds kind of cool.
Or Get Typical Response B: You mean like Dungeons & Dragons? [Yes] Go to response to #3.

3. Say that you like "Dungeons & Dragons."
Get Typical Response: Ah...okay. [Followed by nervous social shunning.]

This is based on the average person not immersed in geek culture. For those who are, you're unlikely to get a shunning response, and most likely just a disinterest response.

I'd like to see a level of acceptance similar to saying that you enjoy hiking or watching sports, or any other sort of "neutral to positive response" interest.

As it is, I still haven't come out of the dice closet.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Well, there was the start of the hobby and a surrounding culture, which is now "old school".

There was an evolution/change of direction to something else, "new school".

And then there was a derailment wherein both were abandoned, "no school".

So we have now a group of people who want things to be the way they used to be and try to keep the tradition going, a group of people who want a certain type of progress, and then some others that leave everyone else scratching their heads.

So it's kind of split now.