What Do You Think is the Future of RPGs?

[dmccoy1693]

Trends in the RPG industry have come and gone. We've seen metaplots go and OGL games come. We've seen indie RPGs grow and major RPG companies shrink. So, I ask you, where do you think the future of RPGs will be? Share your thoughts.

 

[DragonLancer]

I hate to say it, but I think RPG's are going to go the way of a boardgame/wargame.

 

[The_Gneech]

I think RPGs will always be around in some form or another, but in the same way that model trains and slot cars are still around ... for most people, it'll be something they dabble with a bit when they're young, and everybody will have a lovable-but-eccentric grandpa/uncle/neighbor up the road who has a really cool collection that's really exciting when you're a kid but just sorta makes you go "Wow, what weirdness is THIS guy into?" when you're an adult.

The glory days of the tabletop RPG, I'm afraid, ended c. 1990 ... but they'll always be around in one form or another.

-The Gneech, lovable-but-eccentric uncle of three and grand-uncle of one

 

[MrFilthyIke]

I voted "Monopoly with Flopsy and Mr. Stiffly"

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Despite the OP's angst toward MMORPGs, that's one important plank of the future. They will get more sophisticated and offer a more finely tuned experience for individuals, both through more pervasive instancing (most MMORPGs already have the ability to let people go into a dungeon all by themselves, as opposed to the dungeon-as-mall-at-Christmastime that early UO and EQ1 pioneered) and through more products like NWN and Second Life that allow user-created content.

At the same time, games like Pokemon Jr. will become more prominent as the industry (rightly) pursues new blood.

Games with a more adult focus, like World of Darkness and lots of the indie games, won't be going anywhere.

OGL games, now that the genie is out of the bottle, are unlikely to go away, especially as "the world's most popular roleplaying game" is going to remain compatible with OGL, if only to keep gamers from freaking out because 4E is 100 percent incompatible with 3E.

Hardcore RPGs like HERO are probably going to get squeezed pretty badly, though.

 

[Kaladhan]

I think that World of Warcraft is already the future of role-playing games (which I don't think is really that great of a thing). So I would vote for video games to replace tabletop gaming. It will still exist, but it's going to be very trivialized.

 

[Hjorimir]

MMORPGs (e.g. WoW) may brand themselves as RPGs, but any game where acting out in character is met with scorn by the majority of its players is not a RPG as far as I'm concerned.

I really think of MMORPGs as Adventure games.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

I think RPGs will go in the direction of young people who are unsullied by cynicism and angst about future releases and just play the game. That option is not represented by the poll, however, so i voted monopoly.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

MMORPGs (e.g. WoW) may brand themselves as RPGs, but any game where acting out in character is met with scorn by the majority of its players is not a RPG as far as I'm concerned.

I really think of MMORPGs as Adventure games.

I agree but we have another thread about that.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Yeah, I am sad to say that I think the days of paper and book rpgs are on the downswing. On the plus side, I suspect that it is something that will always have some appeal but as a viable way for the industry to make money? I am not so sure.