NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="evilbob" data-source="post: 6254595" data-attributes="member: 9789">People think 4E was the great schism - that it alone was responsible for the fractious nature of gaming today.  I think it's more like the match that started a fire, but everything else was already in place.Don't forget that in 2000, few people (relatively) were playing D&D, or really anything.  3.0 did something amazing:  it completely revitalized not just the brand, but tabletop gaming.  And for 5-8 years, it dominated the space because it did such a good job of creating a game that fit the pent-up desire of so many.But over the course of those 5-8 years, people weren't just playing D&D.  Even back then, D&D was inspiring new artists and writers to create their own games.  When 4E hit in 2008, the reason so many people jumped ship was because by then we had tons and tons of options!  Every day we get more, and it's great because there are so many different styles and ways to play!And the other biggest factor is the internet.  In 2000, the internet was still pretty young.  By 2003 pirating was all the rage, and by 2008 the internet was everywhere.  It wasn't just that there were 50+ alternatives to D&D in 2008, but that you actually heard about them even if they didn't have a strong traditional marketing presence.  So not only were there alternatives, but everyone was talking about them and you could actually hear about them because everyone was sharing information everywhere.People talk about 2000 as a Golden Age of gaming like the 1920s were a Golden Age of technology advancement, or the 50s were the Golden Age of comics.  Yeah:  there's something cool about being able to talk shop with any geek you met about the same stories and the same games.  It was a shared experience, and that sort of thing really is precious.  But guess what?  It was also restrictive and anti-competitive, and a lot of the crap got elevated when it shouldn't have.  Now things are more fractured, but that gives us more options!  And not just more options, but better ones, with better support, better collaboration, and better gaming all around.  That's just the nature of popular products and experiences:  success creates imitation, but also refining and improvement.Our role-playing experiences are more varied but also better today than they were 14 years ago.  There are positives and negatives to change, but change happens, regardless.  So rather than ask how we can put the toothpaste back in the tube, let's embrace how much better things are now and see what the future will bring us!</blockquote>

Verification