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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bert the Ogre" data-source="post: 3278789" data-attributes="member: 47816">As I logged onto the ENWorld website, I was greeted by a doom and gloom snippet from Ryan Dancey's blog, and it got me to thinking. Yes, I know, dangerous territory, so I'll pause for a brief moment while everyone shrugs into a set of body armor.Everybody ready? OK.What IS the "Next Big Thing" in our hobby? Any clues? It seems that D&D and tabletop RPGs are about to die every ten years or so, only to be saved by something from outside. The last time D&D almost died, it was saved WoTC and their new ideas from their Collectable Card Game, and the huge pile o' cash that came with it.As I peruse the shelves of my FLGS, I see that much of what has been done in 1st Ed and 2nd Ed. is being done again in 3.x Ed. I'm reading and preping for a "Savage Tides" adventure path, and see that that particular adventure is dipping deeply into 1st. Ed, and the nostalgia of players and DMs who come from that era, as well as younger players with visions of being Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom. But one adventure path isn't enough to "save the day."Dragon Dice almost doomed TSR, Magic: The Gathering pretty much saved it. World of Warcraft seems to be the BIGGEST THING EVER in our hobby (and oddly enough, I haven't even loaded up my free fifteen day trial), and MMORG crossovers and RTS games seems to be the new growth market for tabletop games. Will those games be enough to draw in players and pump new life into the game the way "Nerd Poker" was able to?So, any ideas? Anything you've seen out there that might be "The Next Big Thing?" Minis that can do more than fight like advanced chess pieces? Games that attract the fairer sex to the table? Or someone with a big ol' wad of cash, and new ideas? Hasbro SEEMS to have stayed out of the way, a rare thing in the world of corporate ownership, lettng the game designers and writers actually write and design games, while Hasbro cuts checks to finance the projects. And on a similar note, since 4th Ed. is going to happen anyways, are there any ideas you'd like to see incorporated? Start with the very VERY basics of D&D, the 6 stat blocks, a fistful of dice, and go from there. EVERYTHING else is optional. Feats/No Feats. Skills/No Skills. Saving Throws based on ??? Kits? GURPS style Advantages/Disadvantages/Quirks? New ways of "powering" magic users? Iconic classes and characters, or something totally new? And should there be a 4th Ed. OGL? Was "Open Source" a success, or a drain on company coffers?I hope I've been able to stimulate some ideas, without creating a flame board. I've played this game since the Eric Holmes boxed set, but never to the obsessive/compulsive level some people have. I don't love or hate any edition, and don't consider making money to be "evil." I DO think that some things need to be killed and restarted, with The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live and D&D all fair game. A Pheonix dies and rises anew from it's ashes. So has D&D. Thoughts?</blockquote>

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