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<blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 5418335" data-attributes="member: 80487">Anyhow, the immediate thing is that many people not only don't feel a need for 1000+ pp. of rules, but if they are aware of the phenomenon they may dislike it or find it wanting.The longer-term possibility to which I alluded is that our current fetish for Official Rules -- upon which the big business end of RPGs has been built -- may turn out to be an exceptional phase. The &quot;hobbyist&quot; culture prior to the fad may better exemplify the norm to which &quot;the market&quot; shall return.I don't mean a state in which nobody is a hard core follower of the D&amp;D branded product line, but one in which that's a niche market. Just as there are few under-20s today acquainted with Avalon Hill type games, so a &quot;critical mass&quot; of kids for whom D&amp;D figures as a hobby among their peers may no&nbsp; longer (or soon not) be there.I'm not sure that is likely, but it occurs to me as a possibility.Note that RPGs rose to prominence during the great era of commercial wargames, especially of boardgames. Board wargames still appear, and historical miniatures games go on, but with nothing like the volume or visibility there was prior to sometime in the 1990s.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ariosto, post: 5418335, member: 80487"] Anyhow, the immediate thing is that many people not only don't feel a need for 1000+ pp. of rules, but if they are aware of the phenomenon they may [I]dis[/I]like it or find it wanting. The longer-term possibility to which I alluded is that our current fetish for Official Rules -- upon which the big business end of RPGs has been built -- may turn out to be an exceptional phase. The "hobbyist" culture prior to the fad may better exemplify the norm to which "the market" shall return. I don't mean a state in which nobody is a hard core follower of the D&D branded product line, but one in which that's a niche market. Just as there are few under-20s today acquainted with Avalon Hill type games, so a "critical mass" of kids for whom D&D figures as a hobby among their peers may no longer (or soon not) be there. I'm not sure that is likely, but it occurs to me as a possibility. Note that RPGs rose to prominence during the great era of commercial wargames, especially of boardgames. Board wargames still appear, and historical miniatures games go on, but with nothing like the volume or visibility there was prior to sometime in the 1990s. [/QUOTE]

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