I think there are some pretty big changes afoot. The next year or two will see a broad redefinition of what RPGs are and how they connect with technology -- but the digital tabletop is a naive way of looking at it.
There is a big paradox that annoys people who think about RPGs: Roleplaying is probably *the* recreational activity of the 21st century, but that doesn't seem to translate well into direct sales for tabletop RPGs. But the rise of the MMORPG coupled with the development of fan communities devoted to creating worlds within rich IPs is something of a revolution in recreation.
Conversely, we already know what happens when people try to make RPGs more like computer games because we've seen many false starts. They just go and play computer games, which, bereft of RPG baggage, suit the medium better than RPGs do. But what computer games can't do well is provide social network style integration across different kinds of interaction. Computer games are too goal-oriented.
Of course, social networks have trouble with user navigability and they have a high dropout factor. To see that, all you have to do is look at the wasteland of dead blogs, myspace pages and meetup groups. Rich content is an excellent way to compensate for barriers to entry and to retain membership.
But even without undertaking a digital initiative of any kind, companies can benefit from making their games network-friendly. The last few years have not been great, but I think there are good things -- *different things* but good things -- on the horizon. Part of this will be a move toward asserting the core values and narratives (or "core stories") of individual games. This should be a no-brainer, since we can already see that anime series, fantasy novels and comic books are strong enough to spark DIY freeform roleplaying groups. Physical products are important for this, because without them, content is too fluid. People would have much less interest in talking about Harry Potter if each novel came in a dozen radically different, contradictory editions. Physical product is also portable and creates commitment out of the online social mode.
Unfortunately, it requires a fundamental shift in thinking that seems to contradict the last 8+ years of tabletop RPG development. It means moving away from a community of options to one with very assertive core narratives -- settings where everyone is aware of the major plotlines and where elements are designed to encourage people into joining specific interest groups. The "community of options" will never go away, nor should it, but it will take a back seat to developing elements that players can hold in common and that will serve as the basis for broad discussion, speculation and participation.
I'll put it this way: If somebody comes out with D&D Facebook/Myspace and hardly anybody has a meaningful shared experience, then the enterprise is wasted. But if a substantial number of people know an adventure path or a game world and can talk about it, they have a living network.
Some companies will ignore this, and their fate will be determined by how they are able to retain the interest of an existing fanbase. Some companies will give misfire in execution, because they won't develop to necessary combination of "pushing" content for common networking and "pulling" user generated content that draws broad interest. Too much push, and you have the problems associated with things like RPG metaplots and comic book continuities. Too much pull, and you lose broad interest, and everybody is just Telling You About Their Characters.
Furthermore, smart people will come to the realization that they are not part of a small industry; they're a subset of a gigantic meta-industry and cultural trend that threatens to swallow them whole unless they can find something distinct to offer. Roleplaying is *huge* right now. It's about time the games we come here to talk about took advantage of that.
There is a big paradox that annoys people who think about RPGs: Roleplaying is probably *the* recreational activity of the 21st century, but that doesn't seem to translate well into direct sales for tabletop RPGs. But the rise of the MMORPG coupled with the development of fan communities devoted to creating worlds within rich IPs is something of a revolution in recreation.
Conversely, we already know what happens when people try to make RPGs more like computer games because we've seen many false starts. They just go and play computer games, which, bereft of RPG baggage, suit the medium better than RPGs do. But what computer games can't do well is provide social network style integration across different kinds of interaction. Computer games are too goal-oriented.
Of course, social networks have trouble with user navigability and they have a high dropout factor. To see that, all you have to do is look at the wasteland of dead blogs, myspace pages and meetup groups. Rich content is an excellent way to compensate for barriers to entry and to retain membership.
But even without undertaking a digital initiative of any kind, companies can benefit from making their games network-friendly. The last few years have not been great, but I think there are good things -- *different things* but good things -- on the horizon. Part of this will be a move toward asserting the core values and narratives (or "core stories") of individual games. This should be a no-brainer, since we can already see that anime series, fantasy novels and comic books are strong enough to spark DIY freeform roleplaying groups. Physical products are important for this, because without them, content is too fluid. People would have much less interest in talking about Harry Potter if each novel came in a dozen radically different, contradictory editions. Physical product is also portable and creates commitment out of the online social mode.
Unfortunately, it requires a fundamental shift in thinking that seems to contradict the last 8+ years of tabletop RPG development. It means moving away from a community of options to one with very assertive core narratives -- settings where everyone is aware of the major plotlines and where elements are designed to encourage people into joining specific interest groups. The "community of options" will never go away, nor should it, but it will take a back seat to developing elements that players can hold in common and that will serve as the basis for broad discussion, speculation and participation.
I'll put it this way: If somebody comes out with D&D Facebook/Myspace and hardly anybody has a meaningful shared experience, then the enterprise is wasted. But if a substantial number of people know an adventure path or a game world and can talk about it, they have a living network.
Some companies will ignore this, and their fate will be determined by how they are able to retain the interest of an existing fanbase. Some companies will give misfire in execution, because they won't develop to necessary combination of "pushing" content for common networking and "pulling" user generated content that draws broad interest. Too much push, and you have the problems associated with things like RPG metaplots and comic book continuities. Too much pull, and you lose broad interest, and everybody is just Telling You About Their Characters.
Furthermore, smart people will come to the realization that they are not part of a small industry; they're a subset of a gigantic meta-industry and cultural trend that threatens to swallow them whole unless they can find something distinct to offer. Roleplaying is *huge* right now. It's about time the games we come here to talk about took advantage of that.
