The future of RPGs

[Scribble]

Hey guys put on your diviner's hats! Just for fun I want to see people's predictions for the industry as a whole in the next say, 3 years.

Do you think there will be little change? New products, but for the same games.

Do you think there will be a "groundbreaking" new game that shakes up the market? (like MTG did, and the d20 system did)

Do you think there will be a new game that doesn't nessessarily shake up the market, but still seems to gain the most popularity?

So bring out your inner Nostrodamus and let's see what you predict.

 

[Greatwyrm]

I'm not sure how successful it will be, but I think interactive metaplots will become more common. You see it already a little. The L5R card game uses tournament results to guide what happens in the storyline around the game. The guy who is allegedly working on Cyberpunk 3e has mentioned similar ideas. It's kinda cool, because it gives players a feeling that even their little dinner table campaign has an effect on what happens in the overall world.

I think pdfs (or something similar) will finally find some legs and be a stronger outlet for distribution.

I think we'll also see a rise in new systems over the next few years. Even though I like d20 for most stuff, I think there's a growing "d20 rejection syndrome" growing in gaming. Right now, I think it's just a matter of people may not like it all that much, but don't want to put fort the time/effort to game in some other system.

 

[Crothian]

I think that overall the gaming quality will improve. There are many games out there with some great books, more so then I ever remember. Groundbreaking will be tough, as time goes on and more things get done groundbreaking is harder to do.

 

[jollyninja]

paladium comes out with a core rule book with all it's updated rules from it's various suppliments called palladium rpg. then begins rereleasing it's setting books in a more coherant layout and realising that 40 more generic o.c.c.'s capable of personalisation (power armor pilot cyber doc's anyone?) would probably be better then 400 slightly tweaked variations. and nobody notices but those who allready play the games. everyone else has allready given up on them.

after alienating all their loyal gamers by not really effectively delivering an apocalypse to close out their storyteller games before moving on. white wolf notices higher sales due to more streamlined system and versatility of their world of darkness game. quality overrides bad policy.

dnd continues to lag from it's hey day because they have few people left capable of producing interesting material and refuse to do anything but rehash old concepts in their core line. as a result of lagging dnd sales, the d20 community continues to shrink until only those who have consistently produced quality and a few rotating ambitious upstarts remain.

that's what i see, guess which games i play.

 

[MerricB]

Do you think there will be a "groundbreaking" new game that shakes up the market? (like MTG did, and the d20 system did)

Yes, and it came out last year: the D&D Miniatures game.

Why do I say that? Well, it's not just due to me being a fan of the game.

According to the survey Wizards did back before 3E came out, players who used miniatures spent a great deal more money on their game.

Now, traditionally, miniatures appealed primarily to the "hardcore" RPG market. They were expensive and took time and effort to paint.

The D&D Miniatures game opens up miniatures to the more casual market. Suddenly, Wizards have access to a revenue stream that is tied to D&D, but isn't reliant on them selling supplements (which don't sell as well or make so great a profit).

Then too, the D&D Miniatures game is far more accessible to people used to board games - it becomes a portal from traditional games to role-playing games. (You can see this strategy in the new D&D Basic game).

Will this detract from the 'traditional' RPG? I don't know. It may.

Of course, I'm biased, and my judgement may be flawed; but I do think this is worth considering.

Cheers!

 

[Nisarg]

Hey guys put on your diviner's hats! Just for fun I want to see people's predictions for the industry as a whole in the next say, 3 years.

Do you think there will be a "groundbreaking" new game that shakes up the market? (like MTG did, and the d20 system did)

(diviner's hat on)

Yes... to everyone's surprise (except Nisarg) this groundbreaking new RPG will feature as its core mechanic the act of stuffing squirrels down your pants for gambling purposes.

Nisarg

 

[BiggusGeekus]

RPGs will be to video games what comic books are to movies.

We're pretty much already there. But I think you'll find more investors looking to game mechanics that have been pre-tested at the very small price of $10,000, which is cigarette money in the video game world.

 

[Hunter Simon]

RPGs will be to video games what comic books are to movies.

Uh, which is what?

(Not trying to be snarky...I'm honestly not sure what comic books are to movies...)

 

[Belen]

No idea. I just want to play DnD on the moon. Everyone would leap like a monk.

 

[dead]

(like MTG did, and the d20 system did)

What's MTG?

I think RPGs will continue to be influenced by popular culture. Where that goes, RPGs will try to emulate it. So . . . at the moment, RPGs are trying to be like movies, manga, goth, steampunk, etc. All things that seem to be invogue in popular culture at the moment.