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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ruin Explorer" data-source="post: 8804944" data-attributes="member: 18">I mean, that's a valid question, but let me respond.How many physical RPG books do you think I have bought it in the 5 years?The answer is zero. So it's fair to say I'm not married to the physical. I spent £400 on a very nice flippable Chromebook a few years ago, and have only bought digital RPG products since then. I also quite liked the DDI in 4E, where I didn't have buy books, just sub to the DDI, so I'm absolutely a contributory factor!My main concern personally is that WotC want to lock people into a subscription-based digital ecology. Not because it'll be more expensive - I think it will be for most people, but not by much (a few whales will spend vastly more), but because it's likely to gradually change D&D into basically becoming something that's not a TTRPG, but first a hybrid game, and then eventually basically just an "entertainment product" that doesn't really feature roleplaying in any meaningful way. Simultaneously, the process will likely end RPGs having much of a place in FLGSes and the like (even Amazon will lose a lot of sales), but that money will go to WotC which will confirm that this is the way to go. The thing is, role-playing doesn't make money and can't be monetized except via things like Critical Role. You can't sell things that make someone a better role-player, or enjoy RPing more. So as with RP-related stuff and RP servers on MMOs and so on, I think it's going to be the most increasingly disregarded part of D&D.To be clear, I think physical books will continue for decades, but I think they're likely to be increasingly oriented towards being collectibles, and away from being things intended for use. Also I think this process will be gradual rather than catastrophic.Am I resisting that change? I dunno. But I'm not keen on it, that's for sure. I think it'll mean that people joining "D&D" in 10-15 years will not really be joining an RPG, but just an online entertainment experience, a game I'm sure, but not one that will be like other TTRPGs. And unless some other TTRPG gets real big real fast (which admittedly could happen if WotC balls this up enough, especially if they drop the OGL), I think that'll be the beginning of the end for TTRPGs as we know them - they'll probably essentially stop with Gen Z, just like model trains essentially stopped with, at latest, Gen X.Will there be fun RPG-like things to do? I'm sure there will, probably AI-driven rather than DM-driven though. And honestly? DMing is the most fun hobby I've ever had, by a significant margin. So I kind of don't want it to go away!Also maybe I need to change my avatar to Mystic Meg if I'm going to prognosticate this much?</blockquote>

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