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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zaruthustran" data-source="post: 446266" data-attributes="member: 1457">Wow. Great post, Mearls. I know the company that made the models: Fun Dimensions. My Dad worked for them at the time. And I, like you, got into D&D really early (1st grade--I'm 26 now).Anyway.I agree with what the others are saying, in that the future of D&D lies in addressing two main problems:1. It's hard to learn. Like someone else said, you can't just have random friends over, say "Hey lets play this fun game called D&D" and get down to it. You've got to read books, make characters, read adventures, etc.2. You buy the core books and you're done. No more $ for Hasbro, no more financial interaction between you and the game's creators.Problem 1: The game Warhammer Quest addressed problem 1. In that game, your character's stats are on a preprinted card. The board is modular, randomized for each adventure. Encounters are determined by tables. It's limitless. And you can teach it to someone in about 5 minutes.Alas, WQ can hardly be called "roleplaying". Sure, there are advanced rules for character advancement, but there are zero non-combat/non healing spells. No thief skills. No NPC interaction besides "Do you attack or not?" It's not roleplaying, and thus the future of D&D can not be along WQ's path.But... D&D could take a cue, maybe by including a basic boxed set with prepainted figs, preprinted characters, and a randomized board. Another thread explored this concept of "D&D Light" in depth.Problem 2: The core book and you're done thing used to be a big problem, because financial interaction was the only interaction possible. Interaction between customer and creator is important because it keeps the customer involved, keeps the customer playing and recruiting other players/customers. Fortunately, today we have the Internet. I think WotC could and should do a much better job online. They need to make interactive play, or visiting the site almost a necesity. The Living campaigns are step in the right direction, but could be better implemented with more interaction with regular players and faster decisions at the upper level. That's where the future lies, in my opinion: ease of use/ease of entry, and improved interaction via the Internet. And, probably, some scheme to get players coming back for more--be that serialized adventures, Living campaigns, better mins, or whatever.-z</blockquote>

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