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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Starfox" data-source="post: 4983722" data-attributes="member: 2303">A big part of the problem for new games today is the growth of the market. Hobby RPGs are a victim of the success of the hobby. In 1976, there was one RPG on the market. When I began in 1979, there was maybe ten, three of which were major. Up 'till about 1985, it was possible to be aware of a majority of the games in the marketplace, or at least it felt like that in remote Sweden. Today? Thousands, and a staggering amount of new ones each year if you count the PDF market.This is compounded by the ease of physical production. No matter how crappy the game, its easy to bang together a reasonably-looking PDF and start distribution. Every homebrew can become a published game in short order. The percentage of games that appeals to each customer is very small, and what appeals to me might not appeal to you. There is only so much peer review can do, which makes it hard for a good game to penetrate by word of mouth alone. Above all it takes time, and time can ruin any business. All this leads to professionalization. Only companies with a solid budget can create and market a product that gets penetration. And games are now products, not individual works of art. There is nothing special about this, it happens in most markets. Look at the MMO market, where Everquest once reigned supreme there are now one market leader and a huge flora of wannabees, almost exactly like pen-and-paper role playing games.  If you want to call this Renaissance and post-modern, go ahead, but the terms seem quite out of context to me. I would talk of an emerging market and a mature market instead.</blockquote>

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