* * * Wizards Community Thread * * * -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Thread : Whatever happened to Dungeons and Dragons? Started at 04-26-04 06:50 PM by Algolei Visit at http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=228455 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 1] Author : Algolei Date : 04-26-04 06:50 PM Thread Title : Whatever happened to Dungeons and Dragons? Get 'em! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3655627.stm Whatever happened to Dungeons and Dragons? By Darren Waters BBC News Online In the 1980s millions of teenagers world-wide would battle dragons armed with just dice, paper and pens. D&D became part of youth sub-culture but as the game celebrates its 30th birthday, is anyone still playing? I wonder if Darren ever comes by the boards. The game spread by word of mouth and became a cult in schools and in universities across the globe. It was even a cult at a Wisconsin naval base. "At one time every nuclear submarine had a D&D group," says Arneson. "Cult?" :confused: "It was the first really interactive game. If you play board games there is always an objective or goal. "D&D is the opposite. It's about sitting down and telling stories with your friends." True dat! At the height of its popularity in the 1980s the game became a target for cultural conservatives. The game was wrongly implicated in a missing persons case, a teen suicide and a number of murders. Some schools banned the game, and many parents refused to let their children play. The controversy inspired a 1982 TV film, Mazes and Monsters, starring Tom Hanks. A later cartoon series and a more recent film kept the brand name alive among non-players but were derided by D&D fans. Hey?! Who's deriding my cartoon series!! Oh, wait. I do that. :embarrass Just like Spiderman and Scooby Doo. D&D's popularity began to wane in the early 1990s as the videogame boom began. And then they made 3E.... "D&D never went away," says Liz Schuh, marketing director for Wizards of the Coast. "It was huge in the 1980s and then dropped off the radar screens but it never went away." Damn straight! "I am certainly happy that it has made people happy and brought so many people together. There is a great fellowship among role players." ...unless they play the wrong edition. :D In the age of the iPod, mp3s, DVDs and online videogames, it is perhaps remarkable that a game based purely on pen, paper and dice remains so popular. Bah! Spoken by someone who doesn't try having conversations with their computer! As soon as I can afford a computer that can DM me on its own, I'll consider roleplaying with it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 2] Author : Kanaric Date : 04-27-04 02:46 PM As long as MMORPGS do not have the content, expansiveness, customization, freedom as DnD and other pen and paper games offer it will survive easily. The closest thing is NWN but even that isn't even near what would be needed. Sure there is a DND mmorpg coming but seriously, that is not going to be the game. I wouldn't doubt if a DnD 4th (well with WOTC releaseing a new edition so fast allready it might be 5th or 6th) edition or some other edition long down the road will be more if not near completely computer based. With new sourcebooks being something like "expansion packs". -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 3] Author : pkloop Date : 04-29-04 09:53 PM The person to person expeirience cannot be replicated. Just like cards they have online and computer based Blackjack, poker and such but its not nearly as good as playing with an actual person. Computers, video games et al can never replace that -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 4] Author : chatdemon Date : 04-30-04 05:08 PM "So I kicked em in the head till he was dead" That's one of the more uncommon quotes the bandit guys say in Baldur's Gate. If it comes from somewhere prior to that, beats me :D -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 5] Author : Borrowed Thyme Date : 05-01-04 07:48 AM Right. Interesting article. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 6] Author : Warhead Date : 05-01-04 05:49 PM Originally posted by Kanaric As long as MMORPGS do not have the content, expansiveness, customization, freedom as DnD and other pen and paper games offer it will survive easily. The closest thing is NWN but even that isn't even near what would be needed. Sure there is a DND mmorpg coming but seriously, that is not going to be the game. I love that phrase MMORPG...my four players are all into Dark Age of Camelot, and are forever full of getting up levels or slogging away for days on end to gain some magic item or other, and have the front to refer to the thing as a "Role Playing Game". First Person Strategy Beat 'Em Up is the kindest thing I can think of to call it. Still, if I got my finger out of my arse and wrote the next bit of the D&D (2e naturally) adventure, things might be different... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 7] Author : beavis123 Date : 05-02-04 06:57 AM Thread Title : I agree I don't care for MMORGs. They are like the old arcade games of the 80s that existed just for you to dump quarter after quarter into them. What happenned to D&D? The better question is what happened to the advertising?? D&D would be better off today if they advertised the product. There are over 300 cable channels now. The world has changed since 1982. There are more news channels which show other actual views. I think the Sci-fi, history, or cartoon channels would be a good place to start some minor advertising spots. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 8] Author : Incenjucar Date : 05-02-04 07:16 AM Alas, I wouldn't expect advertising, at least in the US, with all the religious nutcases having so much power still. Maybe if we ever get a moderate or a democrat in office... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 9] Author : beavis123 Date : 05-02-04 08:07 AM Thread Title : i disagree I agree with the religious right out there.....but they don't have the power they think they have or used to have. If they had that much power we wouldn't have legalized abortion, gay television shows, or all the "information" that appears on the internet. Sure they condemned GTA Vice City...I don't think there sales have been hurt. I am a devout catholic and have played these games since 1980-81. Don't run away from the reilgious right. Take them on. That can be free advertising!!! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [Post 10] Author : vejono Date : 05-09-04 10:48 AM Dungeons and Dragons pencil and paper>any pc, console or massive multiplayer RPG. By far. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Downloaded from Wizards Community (http://forums.gleemax.com) at 05-10-08 08:20 AM.