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Message: <blockquote data-quote="harmyn" data-source="post: 2758760" data-attributes="member: 13511">As for worst game period ever, that is a matter of opinion, not fact and you do acknowledge it as such. To refute your opinion I give you White Wolf games (innovative and popular), Shadowrun's expansion, d6 Star Wars massive expansion, and a boom of books from SJ Games making for an amazingly huge reference library for gaming if you wanted to pony up the cash. Many lesser companies were about and have come and went much like current companies do. Only AD&D was beginning to hit into difficult times (and then only in the later 90's did it become a BIG problem). The internet was as saturated and gaming wasn't as in-your-face online as it is now, and so we do see it more now than before. Think of it like statistics on violence, teen pregnancy, and crime. Their lower now than decades ago, but everyone is more freaked out and worried now. Gotta love the media.The above statement is not meant to argue that sales were better then than now, just that the games market was different back then.As to the original post's topicSteve Jackson would NOT have bought D&D/AD&D of that I am sure. You must remember that they are typically a company of between 18 and 25 full time employees in their games offices (mostly editors) who work a great deal with reliabe freelance writers (often on a recurring basis) to produce their books. Only at the height of a bankruptcy liquidation would they have had the liquid assets available for such a move. And given their own financial woes they had a time a wee bit later (bad accountant at the turn of the decade) it would have been very hard on them.White Wolf might have bought them, but I don't know about that either. They were going through their own corporate shakedowns at the time.I do believe that gaming would be very different. I think that for better or worse Palladium would have streamlined some of their rules a bit and expanded their sales base. Possibly even a complete relaunch of Rifts or something wholely new.West End Games would have still gone belly-up and they would probably be somewhere near where they are now, but the game would be greatly expanded because its a flexible system and wouldn't be in the d20 shadow.7th Seas/Legends of the Five Rings would probably still be around.I doubt there would be any single massive giant like the d20 brand is now. And all the really great talents in game design would have probably developed something else. Maybe even rpg's licensed from console/computer games as a reversing trend? Just imagine the following --- Fallout, World of Warcraft, Ultima, and Sims all as licensed rpg's (the last as something from the ghost of Avalon Hill no doubt).</blockquote>

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