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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Argyle King" data-source="post: 5415889" data-attributes="member: 58416">I'd have to disagree that it took until the 90s for video games to take off.  The 80s introduced the NES console.  It was the best selling console of its time.  A very large portion of my childhood was spent stomping Goombas and getting angry at an annoying laughing dog. On the contrary, I'd actually say that -for me- video games helped me to discover what rpgs were.  My interests being what they were (mythology, Choose-Your-Own Adventure Books, etc,) I already had a fertile ground for the rpg seed to be planted.  However, my first exposure to an actual rpg would be a game known as Dragon Warrior.  Later, I also had the pleasure of playing the original Final Fantasy. Let's forget about me though because I imagine I have/had some unique interests compared to the other members of my age group - both then and now. (then: my 'fantasty' was Grecco-Roman and Norse mythology.  now: I can't stand to play WoW.) I disagree with all of the doomsday prophecies about rpgs.  Elements of roleplaying -in my opinion- are more present now than they were when I started.  Just yesterday I bought the UBuild version of Monopoly.  There are also UBuilds/Lego versions of Sorry, Battleship, and several other games.  In addition, there are games based upon the same concept which seem very similar to rpg scenarios; one has a pyramid; there's one with a minotaur, and a few others. So?  At their heart, many of these games are challenging the imagination of the players.  I also feel that they are fostering the creative spirit needed to DM; building your own dungeon is only a few steps away from crafting your own Monopoly board.  I'd argue that it's even less of a distance away from crafting the labyrinth of a minotaur. The odd thing is you turn over the box, and you find the name Hasbro planted there.  Strange...  Their traditional board games seem to be incorporating more and more elements of rpgs.  Meanwhile, there are folks who argue that D&D *needs* to become less like an rpg to stay relevant among today's market. Obviously, I disagree with that argument.  As I've said many times, what I feel needs to happen is for people to be more open to teaching the hobby.  Likewise, to be a better equipped teacher, I feel that there needs to be a community which is more knowledgable about more rpgs.  I realize that with economic times being what they are it's difficult to afford the buy in to more than one system.  However, I'm also aware that many games have free previews.   Why do I think this is healthy?  It provides a more broad view, and what I think is a better educated position from which to teach the hobby to prospective players.  Even if you hate those other games, having the knowledge that not every rpg produces the same experience is good knowledge to have.   There was a discussion going on somewhere in this growing behemoth of a thread about smart business being to focus on the market which is buying.  I completely agree with that, but that's another reason why I feel it is healthy for the market and the hobby to be aware of more than one game.  Different people want different things; different games provide different experiences...   Not only do I feel this allows for a broader range of people to possibly become interested in pen and paper rpgs by virtue of having a broader range of possible experiences; I also feel it will foster better products from the various companies by virtue of competition.  If suddenly WoTC is losing customers to a different gaming company, they might want to take a look at what that other company is doing and ask why, and 'how can we improve our brand to get them back?'  'Is our vision of what a rpg should be hitting home with p&p gamers?' I will submit that -to some extent- it is smart business to cater the brand toward trends of today.  However, there also needs to be more of an acknowledgement that there are different reasons for why many people enjoy a tabletop game such as D&D, Pathfinder, GURPS, Savage Worlds; etc versus why people enjoy video games such as WoW, Dr. Mario, or Castle Crashers.  The more you start to whittle away the elements which are part of those different reasons, the less incentive I have to turn off my XBox and roll some dice; when I feel as though I have a more rpg-like experience from the Dragon Age video game or Elder Scrolls: Skyrim than what I get from D&D 4E and D&D 4E.E or the Dragon Age tabletop game, there seems to be an issue.</blockquote>

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