I love table top gaming (and I assume roleplaying here), ever since my friends introduce me to it with game of White Wolf’s Werewolf: the Apocalypse, back somewhere in the 90s (I think). I’ve tried LARPs and I’ve even tried roleplaying online, but table top, with friends or even at a convention has always been more engaging for me.
It’s like playing the Wii. You can play games by yourself, but if you play with your friends it’s truly memorable.
Anyway, I came across this article via @fredhicks on twitter: The Designer Monologues » Blog Archive » Tabletopocalypse Now.
It’s not a matter of debate though. Anyone who has paid attention over the past two decades has seen the undeniable shrinking. There are far fewer dedicated speciality stores any more (current estimates place total numbers in the US at somewhere in the low-to-mid 2000s, according to ICV2, Diamond/Alliance distributors, and others). Fewer stores means fewer orders, as well as fewer social centers for the tabletop gaming community. Sales numbers are massively down from the 90s, much less the numbers seen during the ‘d20 explosion’ of the early 2000s.
I’ve seen clubs close (or merge with computer game clubs) and shelves in shops shrink. Yet Gaelcon starts this evening here in Ireland, it’s the biggest gaming con in Ireland. I haven’t gone in a few years (mostly due to awkward scheduling, and sadly it’s the same this year), but the excitement among Irish gamers is pretty evident if you go by twitter. I think table top gaming will take a long time to die, but it’s being on that path for a long time already.
That certainly has been the trend. It’s still possible it’ll level out at some point.
You don’t think it’ll just die out, eventually, when us old hard nuts die off? I’m not really aware of new fresh blood in the hobby and the lure of computer games, with ready-made worlds, flashy visuals and interactive character gen and so on, provide a very powerful alternative. Particularly for a generation that expects to just buy ready-made instead of doing a little work (I sound like an old man in that last sentence!).
I think that tabletop role-playing doesn’t get much marketing in the mainstream like video games do. Same for comics. RPGs and comics get advertised in the trade magazines and no where else. This is a bad thing and needs to be corrected.
We need to show people what’s better about tabletop as opposed to video gaming. I’m already trying to do this and will likely step it up when I’m promoting my games.
Benefits:
1. You get to interact with people. Friendships have been birthed from people just getting together to sling dice. Parents that are worried about a child’s social life would find them a welcome alternative to being on the computer or console all the time.
2. You can do things that no video game designer will ever think of. A designer will require you to do certain things in a game to move on, but a player might have different ideas, and do something better. A good GM will let them try it (and with games like FATE, a declaration and a Fate Point can even open new “levels” for players to explore).
3. The gaming experience can be tailored to who’s playing, so the same game will play differently for adults and children, and to the player’s tastes. Can’t say that about video games.
I’m sure this is the tip of the iceburg. Video games are fun (especially Kinect - hee hee hee), but tabletop has some advantages over them.
Me, I’m tired of people saying that TTRPG’s are going away and that they can’t compete with flashy graphics, etc, etc, etc, and nobody wants to do anything about it. Pardon my language, but I say that’s bullshit, and with the oversaturation of video games and MMORPG’s, I personally think that the time is right to reassert tabletop games as a viable form of play.
Sorry for the rant, but I hope you like it.
I used to think the “Video Games Are Stealing Our Players” stuff was crazy…but I have lost a few players to MMOs, unfortunately.
I will wind up being part of the cause of the death of RPGs, because - aside from my son - I don’t recruit new players, instead just playing with smaller and smaller groups…but I’ve never used the FLGS as a socializing point for the hobby, merely my purchase point.