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<blockquote data-quote="turbo" data-source="post: 2806645" data-attributes="member: 35072">We're hearing this, because people are confused about what role-playing games can be.They can't ever be big.&nbsp; They just can't.&nbsp; RPGs are just too bizarre.&nbsp; Consider the development of actual pencil-and-paper role-playing games against how long both dice and story-telling have been around.&nbsp; Why did it take so long?&nbsp; Because they're a strange, unintuitive, difficult thing to do.Role-playing games are not at all like telling stories or throwing dice; they are unique in gaming.&nbsp; And the audience for them is and always will be small.&nbsp; We're talking about a very particular subset of well-educated, middle-class people bored in a certain way that endears them to RPGs.There shouldn't be any problem with that, but the second generation of role-players has screwed things up.&nbsp; They're bringing expectations and practices of professionalism that run counter to the nature of what RPGs are--with the results you see.You've got, for example, a guy like Dancey half-jokingly suggesting that WoW owes D&amp;D money, while a guy like Mearls half-seriously muses over how great it would be if a number of his competitors got out of the business, but still continued to provide him with ideas that he could sell.You can almost see the sweat on their upper lips.&nbsp; They're bringing professional pressures and their concomitant anxieties to an enterprise that can never bear them.Yes; all kinds of video games and sci-fi and movies and what have you have been influenced by RPGs.&nbsp; So what?&nbsp; How does that entail that RPGs should enjoy the success of, say, video games?&nbsp; Or that RPGs should adhere to the same business model as toys?No; the business of RPGs takes place in a rarefied market.&nbsp; It will always produce great ideas and other industries, real industries, will always make better economic use of them.&nbsp; It's a vanguard market; it's experimental; and it will never be the kind of thing that Warren Buffet would take notice of.It takes an odd person to want to invest the time RPGs require to reap the fun RPGs deliver.&nbsp; There won't ever be enough odd people to prop up the skies of this business.&nbsp; It has to be satisfied with an entirely different kind of growth.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="turbo, post: 2806645, member: 35072"] We're hearing this, because people are confused about what role-playing games can be. They can't ever be big. They just can't. RPGs are just too bizarre. Consider the development of actual pencil-and-paper role-playing games against how long both dice and story-telling have been around. Why did it take so long? Because they're a strange, unintuitive, difficult thing to do. Role-playing games are not at all like telling stories or throwing dice; they are unique in gaming. And the audience for them is and always will be small. We're talking about a very particular subset of well-educated, middle-class people bored in a certain way that endears them to RPGs. There shouldn't be any problem with that, but the second generation of role-players has screwed things up. They're bringing expectations and practices of professionalism that run counter to the nature of what RPGs are--with the results you see. You've got, for example, a guy like Dancey half-jokingly suggesting that WoW owes D&D money, while a guy like Mearls half-seriously muses over how great it would be if a number of his competitors got out of the business, but still continued to provide him with ideas that he could sell. You can almost see the sweat on their upper lips. They're bringing professional pressures and their concomitant anxieties to an enterprise that can never bear them. Yes; all kinds of video games and sci-fi and movies and what have you have been influenced by RPGs. So what? How does that entail that RPGs should enjoy the success of, say, video games? Or that RPGs should adhere to the same business model as toys? No; the business of RPGs takes place in a rarefied market. It will always produce great ideas and other industries, real industries, will always make better economic use of them. It's a vanguard market; it's experimental; and it will never be the kind of thing that Warren Buffet would take notice of. It takes an odd person to want to invest the time RPGs require to reap the fun RPGs deliver. There won't ever be enough odd people to prop up the skies of this business. It has to be satisfied with an entirely different kind of growth. [/QUOTE]

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