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Message: <blockquote data-quote="bramadan" data-source="post: 4135898" data-attributes="member: 1064">I was never a great fan of OGL so I guess this thread is not really for me but, I do feel like I need to warn against the "sky is falling" sort of feeling that is often attendant to this sort of discussions.Fantasy gaming (and other sorts of role playing) are not going anywhere no matter what happens to OGL and - frankly - no matter what happens to WotC and DnD. Gygax came up with his brilliant idea and noone can un-invent it any more then people could un-invent a safety razor if Gillette went out of business. People talk about mid 1990ies as "dark ages" and yet in the mid '90ies we all gamed as much as now (perhaps more as we were younger) and there was tons of excellent games to choose from. Only thing that can "kill" PnP RPGs is if someone comes with better sort of entertainment that appeals to the same social, mathematical and creative impulses. And even when such inventions come about the overall gaming hobby only benefits in the long run. In early '80ies DnD was getting a bit stale with its insistence on the dungeon delving and lack of out-doors, social and military rules. People worried if the RPGs will become forever locked in a tiny niche and wither on a vine. As it turns out from that worry we got Glorantha/Runequest, Traveller and HarnIn late '80ies TSR moved DnD much more into mainstream and made it more kid-friendly and bland. People (me included) screamed about corporate sellout and end of RPGS - we ended up getting bunch of edgier games such as WFRP and Vampire-The Masquerade that influenced the genre and brought gaming to many of the folks who would not have gone for something as geeky as "vanilla" DnDIn 90ies Magic came and everyone was talking about the "end of RPGS" even of "end of gaming as we know it" it turned out it was quite the contrary, Game stores got a shot in the arm, general player base increased and it became easier to find players for the RPGs. Also, mathematicians started being more involved with game design (a Good Thing if you ask me).Then came WotC buyout of the TSR and another wave of "sky is falling" predicaments. We ended up with a servicable new edition of DnD. Then came german board games and I heard people decry even those as the end-of-gaming phenomenon and finally WoW which got folks to pull out all those finely preserved arguments from mid 80ies how computer games will finish off the hobby once and for all. As it turns out there are at least two WoW players that I know who will be trying their first PnP RPG come June and who would not have touched it with a ten foot pole before getting their feet wet online.So, to finish off, OGL or no OGL, sky is not falling. Gaming will survive and thrive as long as there are intelligent sociable folks with some creativity and imagination kicking around. Companies and games can come and go but that - as it were - is their problem. As long as there is market someone will cater to it, particularly in this age of long tails and niche marketing.</blockquote>

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