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<blockquote data-quote="Wofano Wotanto" data-source="post: 9612986" data-attributes="member: 7044704">I've said this before in some older thread I'm not going to hunt up now, but a &quot;supers first&quot; timeline where the actual publisher was Marvel or DC would have been a fascinating alt-universe.&nbsp; Imagine a scenario where someone in the bullpen came up with some simple rules as a creative writing tool, got his fellow creators in on the idea, and things reached the point where management decided to try printing the equivalent to OD&amp;D in a comic book format and it took off.&nbsp; You could have almost endless room for single-issue rules supplements and one shot adventures, with longer story arcs as miniseries, and even campaigns as ongoing series with the odd crossovers between them - and of course there's room for other genres to get their own games as comic reading trends come and go (eg kung fu, horror, more pure scifi and fantasy, etc.).&nbsp; And you can pull comic readers into roleplaying (and roleplayers into comics) by doing books that are part comic, part game.&nbsp; Just the change in marketing and release format would have had a huge impact on the industry as it evolved, although at some point I'd expect a shift toward larger, sturdier printing formats like magazine and trade paperbacks collecting old &quot;floppy&quot; format rules.&nbsp; Boxed sets might be a very long time coming, and perhaps become a hallmark of &quot;indie&quot; publishers who aren't part of the comics industry at all.Of course, you might also trigger another witch hunt like the one that Wertham shilled for, and you might have trouble dealing with the CCA (still meaningful in the 970s) unless you kept you games output segregated as &quot;for adults&quot; so that's a potential issue.&nbsp; Don't need the Satanic Panic happening a decade early, it was hard enough to survive already.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wofano Wotanto, post: 9612986, member: 7044704"] I've said this before in some older thread I'm not going to hunt up now, but a "supers first" timeline where the actual publisher was Marvel or DC would have been a fascinating alt-universe. Imagine a scenario where someone in the bullpen came up with some simple rules as a creative writing tool, got his fellow creators in on the idea, and things reached the point where management decided to try printing the equivalent to OD&D in a comic book format and it took off. You could have almost endless room for single-issue rules supplements and one shot adventures, with longer story arcs as miniseries, and even campaigns as ongoing series with the odd crossovers between them - and of course there's room for other genres to get their own games as comic reading trends come and go (eg kung fu, horror, more pure scifi and fantasy, etc.). And you can pull comic readers into roleplaying (and roleplayers into comics) by doing books that are part comic, part game. Just the change in marketing and release format would have had a huge impact on the industry as it evolved, although at some point I'd expect a shift toward larger, sturdier printing formats like magazine and trade paperbacks collecting old "floppy" format rules. Boxed sets might be a very long time coming, and perhaps become a hallmark of "indie" publishers who aren't part of the comics industry at all. Of course, you might also trigger another witch hunt like the one that Wertham shilled for, and you might have trouble dealing with the CCA (still meaningful in the 970s) unless you kept you games output segregated as "for adults" so that's a potential issue. Don't need the Satanic Panic happening a decade early, it was hard enough to survive already. [/QUOTE]

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