Is there a future for physical gaming pieces?

[Jhaelen]

With so many people going digital, either purely online or even on a local tabletop touchscreen, is there a future for physical game pieces? Dungeons, terrain, minis, maps, etc.

People are only going digital because they lack the option to meet 'in the flesh', it's a crutch. And using an iPad to display your character sheet and look up rules is about all it's good for. It's definitely no substitute for minis & maps.

As soon as Microsoft's Surface screen hits the market, physical toys are becoming a niche within a niche.

Well, it also has to become affordable first. Right now AR/VR goggles are better developed and less expensive, and thus more likely to become the next step on the road to 'better gaming'.

 

[delericho]

With so many people going digital, either purely online or even on a local tabletop touchscreen, is there a future for physical game pieces? Dungeons, terrain, minis, maps, etc.

Yes, absolutely.

But those physical toys may not come from a game store - there may be a shift towards home-printed power cards, 3D-printed minis and terrain, or something of that ilk. So businesses may want to look into selling the source files for home printing rather than (or as well as) the actual components themselves.

Or there might not be such a shift after all.

 

[Werebat]

People are only going digital because they lack the option to meet 'in the flesh', it's a crutch. And using an iPad to display your character sheet and look up rules is about all it's good for. It's definitely no substitute for minis & maps.

Yes -- I really like using my iPhone to run mood music (although Apple went and royally screwed up iTunes in That Update a while back), and when I switch over to 5e I will really miss being able to use the Pathfinder the rules concordance I have on my iPad (hope WotC puts one out SOON). I'm not saying that technology has no place at the table.

But playing a tabletop RPG via the internet is like drinking a diet soda.

We have one guy who lives out of state and regularly plays via Google face chat or whatever it's called. He says it's about 70% as good as being there physically. If more than one person "dials in" to the game (because someone is sick, etc), it deteriorates rapidly. The main problem we see is that the digital conduit can't distinguish between "important" and "background" noise, so the people who "dial in" find it very hard to focus -- the same problem that people with hearing aids tend to have. To make things easier for the people who "dial in", the rest of us have to put a damper on the "side conversations" and other excess noise, especially during the turns of the people who "dial in". If you're having a conversation at the end of the table while the DM is trying to communicate with the dialup guy, it's like you're right up in the face of both of them constantly interrupting them.

It works, technically, but it's better for everyone when people can just show up physically.

 

[Werebat]

Yes, absolutely.

But those physical toys may not come from a game store - there may be a shift towards home-printed power cards, 3D-printed minis and terrain, or something of that ilk. So businesses may want to look into selling the source files for home printing rather than (or as well as) the actual components themselves.

Or there might not be such a shift after all.

I had never thought of that, but that's really interesting. Files for gaming minis seem like a perfect product to sell for 3D printers.

 

[TheRooster13]

...those physical toys may not come from a game store - there may be a shift towards home-printed power cards, 3D-printed minis and terrain, or something of that ilk. So businesses may want to look into selling the source files for home printing rather than (or as well as) the actual components themselves.

It really depends on the type of 3D printer. I happen to have two FDM machines and neither one has good enough resolution to do a mini justice. Sure it could give a reasonable approximation, but the layers are visible and I'd still have to paint it.

Maybe if someone invents a high resolution full-color 3D printer that makes strong pieces...

 

[delericho]

It really depends on the type of 3D printer...

Two things:

- we're still in the earliest days of 3D printing technology. It's only going to get better.

- I expect we'll find that quality is over-rated. 'Cheap' will be better. The turning point for this technology will probably come when we can print a bunch of orcs, use them for one session, throw them away... and then just print a bunch more next time we need some.

Of course, fulfilling the second point there will be a consequence of fulfilling the first.

 

[TheRooster13]

You heard it here first... Someone will invent a 3D "painting machine" that can print or paint in high resolution on any surface. That will allow people to take any old figurine and give it a high-resolution paint job. A really good paint job will be able to compensate for a lot of deficiencies in a model.

Either way, it's going to be a few years before consumer-level 3D printing gets to the point where it becomes the standard for minis. I'd guess at least ten years.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

You heard it here first... Someone will invent a 3D "painting machine" that can print or paint in high resolution on any surface. That will allow people to take any old figurine and give it a high-resolution paint job. A really good paint job will be able to compensate for a lot of deficiencies in a model.

A good friend of mine acutally has a set of miniatures (some 10 inches high) of his family in color. The only failure is that the construction (a combination of 3d cameras and printing device) can't print undercuts, yet. The coloring looks pretty impressive, though.

So, no: I've heard (and seen!) it before.

 

[TheRooster13]

A good friend of mine acutally has a set of miniatures (some 10 inches high) of his family in color. The only failure is that the construction (a combination of 3d cameras and printing device) can't print undercuts, yet. The coloring looks pretty impressive, though.

So, no: I've heard (and seen!) it before.

Oh I know there are 3D printers that can print in color. I think one is made by 3D Systems and it uses some sort of powder as a medium and an inkjet head for the bonding agent and the color. But that's not what I'm talking about, and those models are very brittle. I'm talking about a painting system that can color any existing object. For example, an unpainted mini.

 

[Umbran]

The turning point for this technology will probably come when we can print a bunch of orcs, use them for one session, throw them away... and then just print a bunch more next time we need some.

I think, for other reasons, adding more stuff to our refuse stream in a very broad way is a stunningly bad idea. If you aren't throwing those orcs into the *recycle* bin, we are going to have a problem.