What if Dungeons & Dragons Had Never Become a Commercial Success?

[Gavinfoxx]

Well... D&D evolved from Miniatures Wargames. I think the idea of 'a wargame where you only play one guy, and there are lots of people playing one guy too' would have happened eventually, but the sorts of games that would end up being roleplaying games would have changed. The tropes and language and storytelling methods would change...

 

[Stormonu]

Conversely, RPGs and D&D suffer from non-standardization of rules. There's not 1 set of RPG rules. There's thousands of them. Its actually a wonder the hobby has survived, given how much fractioning goes on.

Look at various card games with your "standard" 54 card deck; there's hundreds of variant rules and forms of playing the games (Bridge, Poker, Baccarat, Blackjack, Go Fish, War, etc.) and its survived very well. Figure in that some card games are played with tarot decks (78, 52 or 40 cards) and the various European card decks show that variants on a basic theme can survive fractionalization quite well.

 

[Summer-Knight925]

"So a bard walks into a bar"

if D&D never became popular my life would be meaningless.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I would definitely have different friends.

Heck, depending on the definition & timeline on D&D becoming a commercial success, I might not even be a gamer.

Quote:
Originally Posted by scourger
Ironically, there are no D&D (or even gaming) clubs.

Not true.

Not only did I personally found one at my (Catholic) HS, I've been a member of several college clubs over the years.

They're rare, no question, but they do exist.

 

[Mr. Greengoat]

I think the definitions of commercial interaction between the players and a business can encompass a lot of things. For example:
What if in an alternate universe, RPGS were only played in "dens" or establishments or franchises that controlled the rules and all materials and experiences related to a game. This would be a high level of commercial interaction.

My ideal non-commercial RPG playing alternate universe looks like this:
I think I like my golf analogy where the rules would be standardized by a non-profit body and all the creative business could exist in clubs, tchotchkes, courses to play on, training, clubs etc. Those being campaigns, accessories, adventures, etc. but nothing that futzes with the baseline rules. You can always change the rules in you home game or home organization and if those rules changes become popular, than another group will spring up as a standards-keeper as needed. Rules would always be free to use, the rest would be where the business lies.

Anyway that is my fantasy version of commie D&D. I think we are pretty close to that anyway, where any "pro" game designer/business-person in the industry really doesn't profit that much. I think they could be compensated more if more resources went into organization of the hobby and not competition between a zillion products that are barely different.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Some other non-parallels:
Chess was never accused of being devil worship.

Lucifer has been accused of being a chess master though.

 

[scourger]

...I personally found one at my (Catholic) HS, I've been a member of several college clubs over the years.

They're rare, no question, but they do exist.

No, I meant clubs in my home city with a clubhouse like the local bridge club has. I've heard of such in other cities, I've just never found one. There are local groups, but a club is more distinct to me.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Got ya!

 

[Mark CMG]

if D&D never became popular my life would be meaningless.

Odd. I've had at least one person tell me that D&D is why my life is meaningless. I didn't date her for long.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Failed her Diplomacy check, I see.