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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fallstorm" data-source="post: 7759725" data-attributes="member: 55683">Actually I started playing 1989 which was 2E.  That being said.  I am aware other RPGs were out BUT they were not "popular" some people knew about them but when The AD&D PHB was released in 1978 there was not an RPG "market".  IN FACT, for a long time even into the 90's to say RPGs were a market was a misnomer.  D&D for all intents and purposes WAS the market.  To be super technical as a viable market RPGs didn't become that until the D20 boom.Yes. I had Marvel Superheroes (Blue box), Top Secret/S.I., and CoC and a host of others but to say these were popular and well played is not true.  They were not available and most Walden and other bookstores beside D&D and other brands they way you can go into B&N today and see D&D, PF, etc.   This is what prompted Ryan D during the D20 slow down to write an article (I believe on this very website) about how goes D&D so goes the market and to call RPGs a market is being very generous because even into the D20 boom from a marketing standpoint D&D was the market due to the small percentage of overall games TTRPGS occupies and the rpg games besides D&D even less.  Even if D&D as a brand were to fall today which is something I hope never happens RPGs as a market would be hurt but survive.  There have been numerous articles written on both these things but please feel free to tell me basic knowledge about dates of release which everyone knows or can get easily from Wikipedia.  When I made the statement about D&D 1E being the standard at the time and not comparable I assumed I was dealing with people that could reasonably see that RPGs have advanced in complexity since that time and people's taste in terms of options have advanced as well, and that you knew that basically until the last few years TTRPGS in general were a "niche" market even for D&D (which is moving into the mainstream) so by default everything besides (D&D which as the biggest seller in a niche market) makes everything else obscure even if people know about it. Also, for the record in the small town I lived in as a kid a lot of places had RPG shops that were a decent drive away.  So my RPG library (some of which I have well kept from childhood) I had to either wait to drive into the larger metro area to get them OR special order them from a standard bookstore which was always a hassle because of how RPGS were listed.  D&D never had that problem with.  Bookstores even the local indy/used bookstore owned by ex-hippies in the town had SOME D&D titles.All that being said I bet the next title that WOTC releases like Xanathar's etcetera that has some actual crunch to it well sell like hot cakes compared to their fluffy adventures.  Heck, I bet psionics which is a very divisive subject in terms of inclusion into D&D (fantasy games in general really as opposed to sci-fi) well sell very well.   Why? Options.P.S. Just to put some things into perspective as of 2016-17 according to an article:  <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?4258-How-big-s-the-RPG-market" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?4258-How-big-s-the-RPG-market</a>Rpgs make up 2.9 percent of the hobby market. I am willing to bet the VAST majority of that is D&D with Pathfinder coming in a strong second.  Pathfinder is a relatively recent game.  So all these other games you mentioned which yes I and every other RPGer of a certain era knows about were obscure by definition and not as easily accessible as you may think.  Comparing anything besides an intentional OSR game to 1E I in terms of options offered is nonsensical.</blockquote>

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