Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
(More) ruminations on the future of D&D
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ace" data-source="post: 6365764" data-attributes="member: 944"><p>I'm not entirely sure there is a huge digital divide issue keeping people from gaming, at least in my experience e. Our entire group has laptops, smart phones, tablets and similar tech and they get little use. Oh one player tends to prefer a die roller when she isn't engaged with the game. Big deal. </p><p></p><p>And this isn't a software issue, there are plenty of spreadsheets, char gen programs, indexed PDF's all that available, Its just we play pretty much the same way someone in 1975 or 1982 or 1993 would have played because its part of the fun, heck I even heard my E-Book audio Book enthusiast fellow gamer say right out print books were just better for gaming. I actually though the oldest cruftiest grognard there slightly disagreed which was a shock to me. Your group may differ but a lack of E-Tools is probably never the reason someone isn't interested </p><p></p><p>And a virtual tabletop or Microsoft surface, one tech we don't have however cool would not bring more fun to the group either, In essence what makes TTRPG's fun is people and hanging out and playing with minis and rolling dice and all that . Analog stuff, meat space stuff. Computers make some things easier but they don't increase the fun factor to a huge degree and the game can be played nicely without them. </p><p></p><p>Now I certainly possible to shift the hobby in a more "modern" direction but the risk is changing the hobbies fundamentals and in so doing you have to know whether the people your bring in will exceed the people you lose. I doubt the gains will be worth it frankly but I might be wrong</p><p></p><p>Also re: entry tax, its true enough there are rules taxes but an expectation of a basic degree of interest and capability to handle simple math and reading is reasonable. If you can't handle say 6th grade math and 8th grade (US) vocabulary and aren't a kid a nerd hobby doesn't need to accommodate you, you need remedial education before you play. </p><p></p><p>And while Tony Vargas isn't entirely wrong having played since Holmes I can say that today's system rewarding games are nothing new, rules heavy was the watchword by the middle 80's and even vaunted AD&D 1e was very rules intensive. Its not exactly the same as say "character optimization" in Pathfinder or 3x but the roots are old. I think though 5e is moving in the right direction </p><p></p><p>Still as I see it saying the hobby is too hard to enter especially as gamers IME are often quite accommodating smacks of a desperation dumbing down and we aren't anywhere near that short players. Its not that hard and even math intensive games like Rolemaster say require basic addition and subtraction, nothing special. Most of the time, someone will help teach the basic skills gladly and in truth anyone who can build a WoW character can build a Pathfinder one too. The skill base is quite similar. </p><p></p><p> if people lack the attention span to read the rules online or off and put some effort into them after a session or three the probably lack the attention span to actually play them game for a 4 hour session or to play a campaign and while a steady diet of story games or pick up games can be fun its a different hobby entirely. Heck I'd argue the basic knowledge entry taxis a good thing, it gives people a sense of community kind of gaming boot camp and of accomplishment as well. One of Us. </p><p></p><p>Also as to the assertion that it threw up walls, I don't think so. TTRPG's are a inherently self limiting hobby combining as one wag put it "double entry bookkeeping, improv theater, and wargaming" oh and the DM needs to be into creative writing too. Not many people out there like that and of the ones who might have given it a go one boring summer, the kind that the hobby doesn't click for but need something to do, they don't need D&D in 2014 We could get more of then to give it a whirl but they aren't going to support the hobby and what is being done now with Basic DD&D (and the PFSRD and more) free is I think the best approach. 1st hit is free and if it clicks, welcome aboard. We really can't do more.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ace, post: 6365764, member: 944"] I'm not entirely sure there is a huge digital divide issue keeping people from gaming, at least in my experience e. Our entire group has laptops, smart phones, tablets and similar tech and they get little use. Oh one player tends to prefer a die roller when she isn't engaged with the game. Big deal. And this isn't a software issue, there are plenty of spreadsheets, char gen programs, indexed PDF's all that available, Its just we play pretty much the same way someone in 1975 or 1982 or 1993 would have played because its part of the fun, heck I even heard my E-Book audio Book enthusiast fellow gamer say right out print books were just better for gaming. I actually though the oldest cruftiest grognard there slightly disagreed which was a shock to me. Your group may differ but a lack of E-Tools is probably never the reason someone isn't interested And a virtual tabletop or Microsoft surface, one tech we don't have however cool would not bring more fun to the group either, In essence what makes TTRPG's fun is people and hanging out and playing with minis and rolling dice and all that . Analog stuff, meat space stuff. Computers make some things easier but they don't increase the fun factor to a huge degree and the game can be played nicely without them. Now I certainly possible to shift the hobby in a more "modern" direction but the risk is changing the hobbies fundamentals and in so doing you have to know whether the people your bring in will exceed the people you lose. I doubt the gains will be worth it frankly but I might be wrong Also re: entry tax, its true enough there are rules taxes but an expectation of a basic degree of interest and capability to handle simple math and reading is reasonable. If you can't handle say 6th grade math and 8th grade (US) vocabulary and aren't a kid a nerd hobby doesn't need to accommodate you, you need remedial education before you play. And while Tony Vargas isn't entirely wrong having played since Holmes I can say that today's system rewarding games are nothing new, rules heavy was the watchword by the middle 80's and even vaunted AD&D 1e was very rules intensive. Its not exactly the same as say "character optimization" in Pathfinder or 3x but the roots are old. I think though 5e is moving in the right direction Still as I see it saying the hobby is too hard to enter especially as gamers IME are often quite accommodating smacks of a desperation dumbing down and we aren't anywhere near that short players. Its not that hard and even math intensive games like Rolemaster say require basic addition and subtraction, nothing special. Most of the time, someone will help teach the basic skills gladly and in truth anyone who can build a WoW character can build a Pathfinder one too. The skill base is quite similar. if people lack the attention span to read the rules online or off and put some effort into them after a session or three the probably lack the attention span to actually play them game for a 4 hour session or to play a campaign and while a steady diet of story games or pick up games can be fun its a different hobby entirely. Heck I'd argue the basic knowledge entry taxis a good thing, it gives people a sense of community kind of gaming boot camp and of accomplishment as well. One of Us. Also as to the assertion that it threw up walls, I don't think so. TTRPG's are a inherently self limiting hobby combining as one wag put it "double entry bookkeeping, improv theater, and wargaming" oh and the DM needs to be into creative writing too. Not many people out there like that and of the ones who might have given it a go one boring summer, the kind that the hobby doesn't click for but need something to do, they don't need D&D in 2014 We could get more of then to give it a whirl but they aren't going to support the hobby and what is being done now with Basic DD&D (and the PFSRD and more) free is I think the best approach. 1st hit is free and if it clicks, welcome aboard. We really can't do more. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
(More) ruminations on the future of D&D
Top