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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ace" data-source="post: 2386194" data-attributes="member: 944">Games really are a short term thing anyway. Like any hobby it has fads and they come andgo --   WEG Star Wars one day -- RIFTS another. Few systems are evergreen and fewer still are played after 5 or so years. Unless your game is D&D odds are each year past the first 3 less groups play it -- yes there is probably at least one group playing Melanda and a few folks still play Dragon Quest or Powers and Perils but the "fad" has past -- heck even D&D is subject to the fad. OD&D is still played exclusivly by some as is 2e and 1e and the like Now as for your 5 year mark, the Buffy RPG and Cinematic Unisystem is quite well supported. It is more than 3 years old thus far and has 5 supplements (1 is a screen and 1 is a journal) and with 2 more  in playtest/approvals -- There is a spin off game (Angel) with 1 supplement (a GM Screen) with supplements for that in approvals/playtest as well . Arguably Army of Darkness  (which uses the same system) could be counted as support since crossovers are discussed in the rules. There is also Ghosts of Albion in playest which has good crossover posisblity. Oh yeah there are 2 issues so far of a supplement/magazine with more support and an adventure in Game Trader --  Thats a lot of support. How sustained this will be is up in the air but I suspect once Eden produces more non liscensed content (ala Beyond Human) it will have a decent life cycle. I am quite sure that it will make the five year limit easy   Risus which is ultra rules lite is sizable web community as well -- Risus is too small to print since the rules can fit on a 5" by 8" card None of these games meet or exceed D&D in sales but in since gaming started only White Wolf's storyteller has come close of ANY game. Even rules heavy stuff (GURPS and Rolemaster) don't come close D&D/D20 is the brand for most gamers. The bulk of the rest are into WOD, often the LARP version  The thing is gaming is not one single consolidated hobby ala Hackmaster in the KODT verse. It is several sub hobbies who often play together -- Some games group (mine) dislike tactical wargaming and are perfectly happy with GM arbitration as long as it enhances fun.  Rules lite is fine for themOthers want Narrative systems ala Risus, Wushu or Story Engine. These are the rarest group but they do exist Many gamers are unhappy with that much roleplaying or storytelling  and want a minis driven game and rules for most situations. D&D is a better fit for them The thing is it can be hard to get enough gamers to play any games together, much less oddball systems  IME gamers often play D&D as the least objectionable choice -- One or more gamers always seem to hate the pet game of another gamer and won't play it period. Since a compromise needs to be reached  D&D is the default choice. It is familiar and OK to most people. An analogy -- You and 5 friends want to go out to eat. One wants Thai, one wants Mexican, 3 want American and 1 wants Chinese. Since some of the people won't eat Thai, Mexican or Chinese the group ends up at Burger King. Only part of the group really wanted burgers but no one refused them either. I think that game publishers and writers (including myself) overestimate the amount of satisfaction that people get from D&D -- I would bet in many groups there are at least one or two players who would prefer another system or style at least part of the time . The difficulty in getting a group together can make it hard to make that happen so they suck it up and play D&D. At least thats better than not playing As for the market-- This is my opinion gaming is a fan hobby with room for 2 (maybe 3 if the numbers of gamers grows) main companies with real employees, a few part time  print companies  and lots of lots cost of entry PDF companies, a few  of which will make a living for the ownerThis is a healthy vibrant market and provides ample support for all types of gamers. Now we as gamers need to get people away from Evercrack and LARPing and to the table but beyond that its a pretty good setup JMO I don't think the market will change much in the next few years -- D&D on top, WW in second everyone else bringing up the rear -- its been that way for more than 10 years or more I would love to get a million more players for alternate systems but given the limits of the hobby the current set up is pretty sweet</blockquote>

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