What if the D&D brand had gone dark?

[dmccoy1693]

IMHO, it would be alot like the end of 2E, the only difference is that Wizards would not waste time, money, and trees printing books. In TSRs last days, they were completely irrelevant. The brand was tired and people were leaving for newer, fresher games. When WotC relaunched 3E, gamers were nostalgic for D&D and came back in droves.

I'm tired of D&D, regardless of the incarnation, and have moved onto newer and fresher games. Maybe I'll come back in a few years after I'm no longer tired of dealing with munchkins, an endless stream of books simply to keep up with the munchkins that I ended up never using, and a game that focuses so much on combat that sells itself as a role playing game simply because I am tired of never having enough players to play a proper game of something else.

 

[CleverNickName]

Absolutely no effect on me whatsoever. Effectively, for me, the D&D brand has gone dark - the kind I like to play has, anyway.

I agree. I still play, but not the new edition.

 

[Dragon Snack]

When they brought it back after 2 years, would all the bells and whistles they promised promoted for the DDI work?

It would have survived and it would have sold great. It would have the D&D logo on it after all...

 

[cildarith]

As far as I'm concerned, it has gone dark...

 

[Invisible Stalker]

As long as I have my original three AD&D core books, Dungeons and Dragons will never go dark for me.

 

[Henry]

My group would probably continue to play 3E, modified in all sorts of different ways by third-party publishers, and for me I'd probably have switched to Castles & Crusades or something like it for games I ran, with lots of 3E options ported in so that the players would be happy.

Alternately, this assumes that there would be no Star Wars, either, since SWSE grew directly out of the playtesting for 4E. Had SWSE still existed, my group would have probably come up with or used some of the fantasy ports to Saga rules that are floating around out there, because we all liked a lot of the changes that Saga had made - even the guys who aren''t big 4E fans in our group.

 

[Korgoth]

It basically has gone dark for me. I picked up some dungeon tiles to check them out, though I'm not a big fan of using minis (though I often play with people who are).

I have all I need with OD&D. Fan publications, both print magazines, retro-clone rule sets and original supplements, have been coming out lately. OD&D fandom is a garage industry... which is exactly what it should be! A single eccentric author can produce a much cooler product for my money (printed at home on a laser printer or using Lulu) than a giant corporation can. This is especially true in the age of the internet, where your distribution model can be a free blogger account and access to a post office.

 

[Greg K]

Alternately, this assumes that there would be no Star Wars, either, since SWSE grew directly out of the playtesting for 4E. Had SWSE still existed, my group would have probably come up with or used some of the fantasy ports to Saga rules that are floating around out there, because we all liked a lot of the changes that Saga had made - even the guys who aren''t big 4E fans in our group.

Well, other than the skill system and per encounter stuff, I like a lot of things about SWSE and think it is a better game than 4e. I still won't play it, but I do think it is a better game.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Castles & Crusades would rule the gaming world!!!


Actually, people who play would continue on with whatever edition they are currently playing. Plus, if it did go dark as you put it, there will always be decades of material available on the internet in PDF format. I don't think I'll ever make it through all the D&D stuff I have on my shelves now, let alone all the stuff I keep buying.

 

[JoeGKushner]