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Message: <blockquote data-quote="an_idol_mind" data-source="post: 3914501" data-attributes="member: 43749">It would definitely be a bad thing for the industry, but I'm not convinced it would be a death knell. The gaming shops in my area already sell a lot of comics, board games, and miniatures, so while I think the RPG shelf would shrink, I doubt it would disappear. The market would shrink, but I don't know that it would be permanent. A company with good production values, such as Kenzer, White Wolf, or Green Ronin, could create an RPG or adapt an existing one to introduce the concept of role-playing to newcomers. While D&D is an excellent gateway, I don't think it's the only possible gateway.The main thing is that I think a demand for RPGs will very likely remain. Whether it becomes a computer-based hobby or transforms into a board game or whatever, people will still want to role play. I don't think role-playing games exist because of D&D. I think that D&D exists because the demand for RPGs was there, and happened to be untapped at the time. Our hobby might be small compared to others, but I don't think it's so small that its future rests entirely on the shoulders of D&D.(As an aside, I think the closest thing we've seen to this situation is when TSR's printers shut down and there was no D&D for about six months or so -- does anyone have some sales numbers or other information that could demonstrate how the industry coped during those dark days?)</blockquote>