I saw a kickstarter today that got the old wheels turning. It was an advertisement for, of all things, a Monty Python roleplaying game. As I was thinking about this (no one expects a Monty Python rpg!) the latest Dune roleplaying game published by Modiphius also passed through my mind...then the official licensed Alien rpg also published by Modiphius...and the Spectre 007 boardgame ALSO published by Modiphius. You see there is a pattern here and it's not just one publishing company. To me, anecdotally, it seems that more and more large properties want to get into gaming as entertainment.
Maybe I'm behind on keying into this trend but specifically the Monty Python game made me wonder, are we in a Golden Age of roleplaying games or games in general? If so how would we know? Could we quantify it?
There is another thread to this. I was watching Adam Loper's Tabletop Minion's youtube titled "Why Isn't Wargaming DEAD?" (July 29, 2022) last night. And Adam proposed that wargaming was flourishing more than it ever had been because of 1) lower barrier for entry for creatives to get their wargame out there to customers, 2) proliferation of STLs for unique and awesome miniatures, and 3) crossover of people coming in from video games and other media to wargames. So this again begs the question, are we in a Golden Age for gaming or at least for specifically wargames?
Also another thread. As I was writing the first sentences of this blog I was on a wargaming aficionado discord and having a typed discussion with a wargaming writer and other members. One of the other members literally stated we were in a 'golden age' of gaming as there was discussion on another topic. Kismet? Serendipity? Or just people reading the writing on the wall.
Now the question is, what is a Golden Age and how can it be measured. I'm just digging into this, but I think good models could be the Golden/Silver/etc. Age of Comics, the Golden Age of science fiction writing, or even the advent of certain technologies/fields like genome sequencing giving rise to the Human Genome project in the decade of the 90s.
That's all for now, but it is a question that is churning in my mind.
"Are we in a Golden Age of roleplaying games"
ReplyDeleteYes. Never before has the barrier to creating and publishing a game been so low.
OGLs and OSRs make it possible that you can use someone else's rules for character creation, combat, world-building, etc. without forcing you to re-create the wheel.
Digital tools enable you to write up your game, set the layout, and print it digitally or on paper thanks to POD services.
The internet also puts you in touch with great artists from all over the world instead of relying on your cousin Freddy who doodles on looseleaf paper when he's bored.
Distribution through the internet via Amazon or DriveThruRPG and its ilk means that you don't have to beg your local hobby store to carry it. Nor do you have to convince some game distributor company to place your game in their catalogue in the hopes that hobby stores around the country will purchase it.
Need money? Go to Kickstarter. Offer rewards and make your pitch.
At this point, all you need is a great idea. :)