Is the RPG hobby dying? [RPG Blog Carnival]

[DragonLancer]

I'm not refering to the ages of players, just that these days with online gaming being so much easier (and by online gaming I refer to MMORPG's and XBox's...etc) that there is a probable decline in new blood picking up a tabletop roleplaying game.

 

[ggroy]

In other words, it's not that the average age of gamers is going up, it's just that the high end of the bell curve has a lot more people in it.

Is it even still a bell curve today?

For that matter, was it even a bell curve to being with?

 

[Hussar]

I'm not refering to the ages of players, just that these days with online gaming being so much easier (and by online gaming I refer to MMORPG's and XBox's...etc) that there is a probable decline in new blood picking up a tabletop roleplaying game.

But, again, we haven't really seen that. What we have seen is either a fairly stable population, or perhaps even a bit of growth in the gaming population over the past ten or fifteen years. 3e brought in a lot of new players, but, even then, the numbers have not apparently dropped significantly.

Those new players have to be coming from somewhere. And I don't think there's been a huge shift in the age of new players. They're still high school and college age apparently.

Granted this is all speculative. But, if there was a decline in new blood starting gaming, why has the gaming population continued to grow? It's not like MMO's are new. Everquest has been around for what, ten years now? WOW's been out since late '04, it's coming up on six years.

This is more than long enough to see a decline in gamer population.

I wonder if people come into the hobby by way of MMO's. I could see players being disillusioned with the limitations of MMO's and hearing through the community about the TTRPG things.

I would think that enough time has passed since MMO's came out that we could say that it hasn't had an enormous impact on the numbers of gamers.

 

[thedungeondelver]

• How would you like to see the hobby grow?

I'd like to see more brick and mortar shops dedicated to tabletop gaming, brick and mortar shops that embrace the fact that while they cannot compete with a guy working out of his garage, offering 30% discounts on books, they can offer so much more - a clean, well-lit, friendly gaming environment, for example. There are very few places like that any more, and I'd like to see the hobby grow in that direction.

• How can the community or publishers help grow the hobby?

We need more independent publications - and I don't just mean niche fanzines - out there in people's hands. More stuff that hearkens back to THE SPACE GAMER and what WHITE DWARF used to be.

• What are you doing to advance the hobby?

I have plans, but they're niche at best. A 'zine, a gameday/con, taking my massive dwarven forge OD&D/AD&D extravaganza on the road (to local hobby shops).

• What is hindering the growth of the hobby?

Corporate infighting, the idea that THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! It needs to stop. We should all hang together or we will all surely hang separately.

• Is technology a key component of growing the hobby?

This is too vague a question. "Technology" is a lot of things. The dice, paper, and pencils themselves are "technology". If the question means "iPads and DDI mandatory at the table" then GOOD GOD NO. There are things that can be done to streamline and unify; THE DRAGON and THE SPACE GAMER both featured type-in computer programs nearly thirty years ago. There's room for technology. The key is to not rely on it to the point that you're racing to the bottom (see "pitfalls" below)

• Is the hobby fine the way it is?

Probably; or at the very worst it's not as bad as some would suggest. There's a danger of having a Cassandra Complex about the whole thing but everything is cyclical. Everything. Books, movies, all hobbies. RPGs are still an order of magnitude bigger than they were in say 1977. It's easy to forget that when you see the mountain of dross created by the d20 licensing system, and witness the number of game shops closed (in no small part by that very mountain) between 2000 and now.

• What are some pitfalls in trying to grow the hobby?

Becoming convinced that you must compete with computer games or computer experiences to be successful. That you must ignore the "greying market" and only try to grab the attention of (and I apologize for the get-off-my-lawn seeming term, but there we are) kids to be successful. Remember, D&D was an adult-aimed hobby game. Really, until BASIC D&D (not Holmes' D&D!) hit, can we even consider that D&D was aimed at anyone but adults, the AVALON HILL game players, the sandbox wargamers...

Trying to convince someone to play a pen and paper RPG versus buying a new video card, STARCRAFT II or wasting a day on TWITTER by trying to make your pen and paper game like, or interface with, those things is a death spiral, in aviation terms. When an inexperienced pilot enters IFR conditions, and begins to heel over, they ignore their instruments and go with what they "feel". They see the altitude drop, so they pull back on the stick. G-forces push them back in the seat, convincing them that they are going up against gravity rather than being subjected to ever increasing centrifugal forces. They ignore all of their instruments, except the altimeter, which is winding down. They pull harder on the stick, feel more Gee, and the altimeter winds down faster still. They ignore their instruments, and pull harder on the stick until at last they hit the ground or the water.

This is what the hobby must not do. Don't enter that death spiral of trying to keep altitude by applying pressure on computer games and applications! This hobby came from the table top! Unless the leaders want to just give up and say "We're only making a computer game called D&D (or EXALTED or ATOMIC HIGHWAY or CASTLES & CRUSADES etc. ad infinitum)," don't do it at all.

Stay true to what makes the games great: adventure participation, facetime, friendship, imagination.

Abandon those things and you've lost the plot, and then the hobby is doomed.

 

[nedjer]

Question is, if companies are determined to go down one route (e.g. make themselves as like MMORPGs as possible), where does that leave most TRPG players? Simply playing MMORPGs?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Question is, if companies are determined to go down one route (e.g. make themselves as like MMORPGs as possible), where does that leave most TRPG players? Simply playing MMORPGs?

What companies? I know this accusation was leveled at WoTC but who else?

Anyway I do not buy it. However, I would like to make a point.
We do not know the current state of the hobby, not really we do not have access to the data. Like the Blind men of Hindustan we only know the bits we touch.
In the wider world there are some interesting social phenomena in action right now and I, for one is not sure of all the ramifications but I think they will have a profound effect on how people work and play. I am refereing to social media, widespread use of moblie phones, smart phones and cheap computing.

I do not think that the numbers playing rpg face to face on tables will grow by much. I think that VTT use could increase the numbers if the VTTs are easy enough to use and it would help of modules were published in formats that allowed them to be "installed" in to a VTT by running a simple script.
But that will not grow the hobby by much.

I think that the boardgames (Ravenloft etc) are a good idea and also WoTC should be thinking of leverging the brand IP is some other types of games. An Ebberon RTS or Sharn facebook game. This creates an awareness that there is another kind of game at the back of this and some people will be curious enough to find out more.
If when they look for the RPG behind those games they find tools that allow them to connect with players from the get go that would grow it faster.

 

[deinol]

RPGs are Thriving

Now is a great time to be a gamer. Seriously, there are tons of great games being produced. If you haven't tried something new in the last 6 months, you need to expand your horizons. During the peak of the "Everything must be d20" I used to lament about the lack of alternative games. Back in the late 80's early 90's there were a ton of games to try out there. Now most of them have come back. New ones have arrived.

Here are some games I like that are still in production:
Traveller
Earthdawn
Eclipse Phase
Warhammer (Ok, I'm not sold on 3E yet, but still)
Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader (Totally sold on this!)
Call of Cthulhu
Cthulhutech
Shadowrun
Pathfinder
Mouse Guard
Exalted
Savage Worlds
Gurps
Doctor Who
Dragon Age
Song of Fire and Ice
Mutants and Masterminds (Now with DC Adventures!)

Not to mention more independent games like:
Houses of the Blooded
Dogs in the Vineyard

Those are just the games I know I like off the top of my head. Role-playing is far from dead. The hobby may be diversifying, but there is a lot of great stuff going on. D&D may be in a decline, but overall RPGs are heading up.

 

[nedjer]

What companies? I know this accusation was leveled at WoTC but who else?

Anyway I do not buy it. However, I would like to make a point.
We do not know the current state of the hobby, not really we do not have access to the data. Like the Blind men of Hindustan we only know the bits we touch.
In the wider world there are some interesting social phenomena in action right now and I, for one is not sure of all the ramifications but I think they will have a profound effect on how people work and play. I am refereing to social media, widespread use of moblie phones, smart phones and cheap computing.

I do not think that the numbers playing rpg face to face on tables will grow by much. I think that VTT use could increase the numbers if the VTTs are easy enough to use and it would help of modules were published in formats that allowed them to be "installed" in to a VTT by running a simple script.
But that will not grow the hobby by much.

I think that the boardgames (Ravenloft etc) are a good idea and also WoTC should be thinking of leverging the brand IP is some other types of games. An Ebberon RTS or Sharn facebook game. This creates an awareness that there is another kind of game at the back of this and some people will be curious enough to find out more.
If when they look for the RPG behind those games they find tools that allow them to connect with players from the get go that would grow it faster.

'Slay and shop' may be your accusation but it's only my example - and, perhaps, an observation which could be put to any RPG where gameplay is focused on shopping and slaying. Please exclude me from the whole WotC realpolitik

 

[UngainlyTitan]

'Slay and shop' may be your accusation but it's only my example - and, perhaps, an observation which could be put to any RPG where gameplay is focused on shopping and slaying. Please exclude me from the whole WotC realpolitik

Huh! I simply am lost here, not that I was entirely sure I understood you last post either.

 

[nedjer]

Huh! I simply am lost here, not that I was entirely sure I understood you last post either.

Me too. Happens a lot