We need a unified optional game system or this hobby's gonna die

[Emirikol]

Although, companies not producing 4E compatable material are making a smart move by not signing the new licensing stuff, I think this hobby is in the works for some new game systems.

I know there are good ones out there, but nobody seems to be talking about them and there dont' seem to be any heads turning and if there are neither of those things, likely there's not much play of those sytems anymore. I don't think that bodes well for the hobby. We're down to only a few choices:
1. 4e
2. 3e with dwindling "membership"
3. Other game systems that don't have much interest or players out there
4. Quit this crap and become a xenophobic, basement, headset computer gamer.

Just surveying the discussions here and at other groups, I worry that even if a smattering of new companies come up and produce another 18 new game systems, that therein lies the problem. You either have THE ONE (D&D) or micro-brew games.

What the "OTHER" game companies need to do is GET TOGETHER AND COME UP WITH A DIFFERENT SYSTEM. I'm not talking about rehashing 3e. WHy can't GR, Necro, and the others get together and develop THE OPTION TO D&D and start putting out their own stuff? ONE SYSTEM (besides D&D), multiple companies. No licensing gimmicks.
Any other option just leaves us with dwindling player bases. BTW, there isn't even a category for NON-D&D games here at enworld.

Thoughts?

jh







..

 

[Mallus]

What the "OTHER" game companies need to do is GET TOGETHER AND COME UP WITH A DIFFERENT SYSTEM.

Ants can only defeat a lion after the lion is dead.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

What I'd like to see is these companies cease to become 3pps. I'd like to see them put their creativity and resources towards their own house systems rather than riding on the coattails of WotC.

 

[Treebore]

We have always had plenty of other systems. We just need the die hard "D&D only" crowd to look around and spread their RPG wings for the first time ever.

For some reason 80%+ of D&D gamers are happy with just D&D.

 

[GlassJaw]

I know there are good ones out there, but nobody seems to be talking about them

EN World is not the only RPG message board out there, and it's focus is fairly narrow at that (very d20-centric). The RPG hobby is fine, and there are probably more choices now than there have ever been.

Spend a few minutes at RPG.net if you need some ideas.

 

[SavageRobby]

I think thats a great idea (and for my money it would be Savage Worlds, which is already a kick-ass system), but there is one serious, serious problem: no matter how good the system, it wouldn't be named Dungeons & Dragons.


And yes, I think its that simple. Like it or not, D&D is THE product in this space. To most of the non-game world, they equate D&D and RPGs, and they'd be stunned to hear that there are hundreds of different RPGs, and that people actually play them.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Yep, there are hundreds, thousands, however many systems out there, and a number of them have a very strong following.

World of Darkness, Call of Cthulhu, HERO, GURPS. . . and that's just a few of the extremely well known ones, with a lot of history behind them.

Then new systems come out every month, probably. And yeah, some of them will stick. Plus all the classics I've missed in that short list above.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

We have always had plenty of other systems. We just need the die hard "D&D only" crowd to look around and spread their RPG wings for the first time ever.

For some reason 80%+ of D&D gamers are happy with just D&D.

Maybe because, despite gamer elitist claims to the contrary, D&D is actually a fun game to play that satisfies the gaming needs of its users.

That would be my reason anyway. And nobody has the right to tell me that I NEED to spread my RPG "wings." I've been there, done that. D&D is the only game that has had the staying power to hold its spot as my game of choice.

 

[Hand of Evil]

While I agree the hobby needs new game systems, what it needs is new players! How can the hobby go up against the visuals of online gaming?

 

[AntiStateQuixote]

We have always had plenty of other systems. We just need the die hard "D&D only" crowd to look around and spread their RPG wings for the first time ever.

For some reason 80%+ of D&D gamers are happy with just D&D.

How exactly does the fact that my game group chooses to play D&D only hurt anyone?

I've played other games over the years, but I always come back to D&D. I have played nothing with anything approaching the consistency or time investment that I put into D&D. (Hm, ok, not entirely true . . . I did spend WAY too much time playing VLARP for many years).

Like most people I have limited "entertainment" time available. If there is a game system that suits my needs why should I spend my precious time looking for something else that might be as fun, but might not. I know what I'm getting when I play D&D and it's good enough to be worth my time and effort.

If "growing the hobby" is so important, then people interested in doing this should make efforts to find new players for new games, not try to pull people that already participate in "the hobby" into these new games. Each individual player has limited time and monetary resources. Taking someone out of D&D and putting them into a different game doesn't "grow the hobby" . . . it transfers someone's resources from one game they like (or not, as the case may be) to another.