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<blockquote data-quote="Wombat" data-source="post: 2448845" data-attributes="member: 8447">I think there are some points to be added to the &quot;first&quot; category.D&amp;D was the first and the only, as has been stated.&nbsp; As such, most (but not all) early games essentially copied D&amp;D -- classes, levels, experience points, hit points.&nbsp; In many ways this was like the card games that came out in the wake of Magic: the Gathering that all had the roughly same mechanics.&nbsp; This meant that the other games were playing catch-up to an established game, one that had already captured the popular imagination.Now here is where I veer off a bit, but still I think it is important:&nbsp; Timing Roughly 30 years ago two other phenomenon became popular -- Renaissance Faires and the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).&nbsp; That's a big convergence of interest in very similar ideas.&nbsp; Equally, if you went into bookstores you were suddenly finding that sci-fi/fantasy sections were no longer tucked back in some embarassed corner of the store, but prominently identified.&nbsp; In other words, D&amp;D was riding the crest of a wave in general popularity of fantasy, swords, and re-enactment.&nbsp; And, like it or not, those steam tunnels keep coming back to us, news of death, hints of satanism and mystery, all somehow swirling (wrongly, but still there) around a new type of game.&nbsp; TV movies and bad &quot;true crime&quot; novels do a lot to seer the name of Dungeons &amp; Dragons into the popular imagination.D&amp;D was the first out of the gate and got it's name stamped indelibly in the minds of people who do not game as being the equivalent of &quot;all role-playing games&quot;.&nbsp; Now none of this is to say anything against D&amp;D -- I play the game and I like it.&nbsp; Still, I think this non-gaming factors are very important to keep in mind when you think about the staying power of D&amp;D.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wombat, post: 2448845, member: 8447"] I think there are some points to be added to the "first" category. D&D was the first and the only, as has been stated. As such, most (but not all) early games essentially copied D&D -- classes, levels, experience points, hit points. In many ways this was like the card games that came out in the wake of [I]Magic: the Gathering[/I] that all had the roughly same mechanics. This meant that the other games were playing catch-up to an established game, one that had already captured the popular imagination. Now here is where I veer off a bit, but still I think it is important: [B]Timing[/B] Roughly 30 years ago two other phenomenon became popular -- Renaissance Faires and the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). That's a [I]big[/I] convergence of interest in very similar ideas. Equally, if you went into bookstores you were suddenly finding that sci-fi/fantasy sections were no longer tucked back in some embarassed corner of the store, but prominently identified. In other words, D&D was riding the crest of a wave in general popularity of fantasy, swords, and re-enactment. And, like it or not, those steam tunnels keep coming back to us, news of death, hints of satanism and mystery, all somehow swirling (wrongly, but still there) around a new type of game. TV movies and bad "true crime" novels do a lot to seer the name of [I]Dungeons & Dragons[/I] into the popular imagination. D&D was the first out of the gate and got it's name stamped indelibly in the minds of people who do [I]not[/I] game as being the equivalent of "all role-playing games". Now none of this is to say [I]anything[/I] against D&D -- I play the game and I like it. Still, I think this non-gaming factors are very important to keep in mind when you think about the staying power of D&D. [/QUOTE]

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