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<blockquote data-quote="gizmo33" data-source="post: 3473499" data-attributes="member: 30001">IMO the irony/paradox in what you wrote is that it seems that the nature of an RPG creates the barrier to entry.&nbsp; I didn't start out playing DnD by designing a campaign full of political intrigue.&nbsp; We started out by killing kobolds and talking about those battles with our friends on the school bus.&nbsp; That's what sold it to other kids.&nbsp; From what I recall being a kid, building a character, getting loot and killing stuff was DnD.&nbsp; As time went on, combat got a little boring (and 30 years of fantasy cliches) and people evolved into different things - but we lost players, gained players, and developed a style among ourselves.&nbsp; It's still not easy for me to sit down with a random group of strangers playing DnD and find what they're doing to be interesting.In fact, decades later I'd still say that the strengths of DnD that you mention are (political intrigue and all that) still difficult to pull off.&nbsp; There's no guarrantee that my idea of what's interesting would be the same as yours anyway, even when I do manage to pull it off during a game.Then there's a question as to what WotC or any other company can really contribute to a game with such a large requirement on the imagination of the participants.&nbsp; But I guess that's the 64-million-dollar question.I personally would like to see an online game engine available that simulated the desktop of an RPG - a battle mat, library of icons to choose, etc.&nbsp; I think sometimes we're tired of having to drive to each other's houses to play DnD.&nbsp; I'm sure these things already exist - WotC could develop one with tons of cool features and make it free.The other thing they could do is develop better products, with better talent, and make them cheaper.&nbsp; But they're probably doing the best they can. I think it was Gygax that put forth the analogy of RPGs, and MMORPGs to movies, television, and community theater.&nbsp; I don't think theater can ever compete with movies in terms of raw dollars.&nbsp; Can you imagine if a theater company owned the rights to Spiderman?&nbsp; IMO that's the situation WotC is in right now with the IP of DnD vs it's format and the technical limitations of the game form.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="gizmo33, post: 3473499, member: 30001"] IMO the irony/paradox in what you wrote is that it seems that the nature of an RPG creates the barrier to entry. I didn't start out playing DnD by designing a campaign full of political intrigue. We started out by killing kobolds and talking about those battles with our friends on the school bus. That's what sold it to other kids. From what I recall being a kid, building a character, getting loot and killing stuff was DnD. As time went on, combat got a little boring (and 30 years of fantasy cliches) and people evolved into different things - but we lost players, gained players, and developed a style among ourselves. It's still not easy for me to sit down with a random group of strangers playing DnD and find what they're doing to be interesting. In fact, decades later I'd still say that the strengths of DnD that you mention are (political intrigue and all that) still difficult to pull off. There's no guarrantee that my idea of what's interesting would be the same as yours anyway, even when I do manage to pull it off during a game. Then there's a question as to what WotC or any other company can really contribute to a game with such a large requirement on the imagination of the participants. But I guess that's the 64-million-dollar question. I personally would like to see an online game engine available that simulated the desktop of an RPG - a battle mat, library of icons to choose, etc. I think sometimes we're tired of having to drive to each other's houses to play DnD. I'm sure these things already exist - WotC could develop one with tons of cool features and make it free. The other thing they could do is develop better products, with better talent, and make them cheaper. But they're probably doing the best they can. I think it was Gygax that put forth the analogy of RPGs, and MMORPGs to movies, television, and community theater. I don't think theater can ever compete with movies in terms of raw dollars. Can you imagine if a theater company owned the rights to Spiderman? IMO that's the situation WotC is in right now with the IP of DnD vs it's format and the technical limitations of the game form. [/QUOTE]

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