Is this the Golden Age of Roleplaying?

[coyote6]

Wait, if this is the Iron Age, then shouldn't we all have really big guns, knives, swords, claws, and/or other blades, and a lot of pockets and pouches? Perhaps even improbably robust physiques and weird feet? We should also have multiple covers, including die-cut, hologram, and gatefold versions.

 

[diaglo]

i would say the early to mid 80's was the golden age.

this is the post tramautic stress disorder age.

 

[eyebeams]

This is the golden age for roleplaying, but not for tabletop RPGs. More people do some form of formalized roleplaying than ever before, but through non-tabletop media.

 

[Storm Raven]

Today is the golden age of gaming as much as any time period has been. No more, and no less.

 

[Crothian]

Today is the golden age of gaming as much as any time period has been. No more, and no less.

So, if they are all golden ages none of them are? Or is this first grade soccer and everyone gets a trophy?

 

[DaveMage]

It's more a D&D golden age (thanks mainly to the OGL) since virtually all editions have new products coming out for them.

Whatever your D&D flavor - you're covered!

 

[billd91]

I'm going to have to go with the 1980s as the golden age of RPGs. This is the silver age in which things aren't so new, they're more professional, they're pretty advanced in design and structure, and they take themselves more seriously.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Shhhhhhhhhh!!!! no spoilers!

Wait, if this is the Iron Age, then shouldn't we all have really big guns, knives, swords, claws, and/or other blades, and a lot of pockets and pouches? Perhaps even improbably robust physiques and weird feet? We should also have multiple covers, including die-cut, hologram, and gatefold versions.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

It's more a D&D golden age (thanks mainly to the OGL) since virtually all editions have new products coming out for them.

Whatever your D&D flavor - you're covered!

This, mostly. As someone else mentioned, back in the day there were all sorts of 'weird' (for lack of a better word) little games around. The Fantasy Trip, Villians and Vigilantes, Space Opera, &etc., &etc., &etc. Some are still around, in one form or another, while others have fallen by the wayside. And I think that the number of sci-fi games has definitely shrunk.

 

[Storm Raven]

So, if they are all golden ages none of them are? Or is this first grade soccer and everyone gets a trophy?

Since we don't have hard data on any numbers concerning how many gamers played when, or how many products were sold when, and quality of gaming itself is entirely subjective, how do you assert one time period is more golden than another? The only real constant is gamers, and I seriously doubt that gamers as population have changed very much in the last couple decades.

So, now is as good a time as any. The 1980s were as good a time as any.