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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 5982110" data-attributes="member: 2205">But if you go back to the early 80s, you'll see a different pattern.  You'll have seen a HUGE spike in mainstream recognition, ubiquitousness and whatnot.  You could see RPGs in department stores.  Everyone had heard of D&D.It might be improved in some regions, and growing even from a trough of earlier, but it's still a far cry from what it was during the glory days.I don't know that I believe that the hobby is actively shrinking, though.  I think that those glory days are best explained by being temporarily faddish, and we've now settled into a more stable-sized, mature industry.  A greater problem than shrinking is the graying and aging of the fanbase, I suspect.  Blood Bowl Third edition, with the houserules Jervis Johnson posted on the old bbowl-l listserve is still by far superior to anything that's come out since!  <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/rant.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":rant:" title="Rant    :rant:" data-shortname=":rant:" />Er... yeah.Sorry, but yeah.  At least in North America, you can't even talk about RPGs with non-gamers without mentioning D&D.  To most people, D&D is the hobby.  If you try to describe it, you'll get, "you mean like D&D?"  If you can't relate it to D&D, all you get are blank stares.DnD might not even be the best selling game anymore; certainly there's some evidence to suggest that maybe Pathfinder has passed it up.  D&D might not be the game you play anymore (if it were up to me, Call of Cthulhu would probably be our flagship game.)  But D&D is essentially equivalent to the hobby of playing RPGs to anyone who's not already a gamer.  And to most of those who are.I think that they've got a ways to go before it really is the same in terms of a quality gaming experience as playing face to face.  But it's a promising development.  And heck, one of the best games I ever ran was play-by-post.  I wish I could play face-to-face with those guys all the time!</blockquote>

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