193: Internet Killed the Tabletop Star

[Allen Varney]

Internet Killed the Tabletop Star

The same force that brought the tabletop roleplaying industry near the brink of death may now be the key to its survival. Allen Varney analyzes the fraught relationship between the internet and the paper-and-dice RPG.

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[maddog015]

Don't forget the play-by-post websites.

http://rpol.net and http://playbyweb.com

 

[Khada]

i loved warhammer 40k, aparently the games workshop stores are a little bare now that warhammer online has come out... i wouldnt know tho... i havnt been since... :|

(i wish 40k wasnt such a ***** to get into.. u gota buy $500+ worth of gear, spend FOREVER painting stuff just so you can play proper games... i mean.. its freaken great but cmon lol)

 

[Lunar Shadow]

i loved warhammer 40k, aparently the games workshop stores are a little bare now that warhammer online has come out... i wouldnt know tho... i havnt been since... :|

(i wish 40k wasnt such a ***** to get into.. u gota buy $500+ worth of gear, spend FOREVER painting stuff just so you can play proper games... i mean.. its freaken great but cmon lol)

But the painting is part of the fun......
Also, if you have a friend who is nit really strict on models depicting eactly what they are you can use bits of paper or card board, in fact las t time I went to my local hobby shop some guys had some 2d paper cutouts of the models. YOu can do that kinda stuff while you graduallly build your army with new models.

 

[sneak_copter]

A good article.

Can't really say much about Tabletop gaming, having only ever played Magic: The Gathering, which I was beat CONSTANTLY at.

 

[Brotherofwill]

i loved warhammer 40k, aparently the games workshop stores are a little bare now that warhammer online has come out... i wouldnt know tho... i havnt been since... :|

(i wish 40k wasnt such a ***** to get into.. u gota buy $500+ worth of gear, spend FOREVER painting stuff just so you can play proper games... i mean.. its freaken great but cmon lol)

But the painting is part of the fun......
Also, if you have a friend who is nit really strict on models depicting eactly what they are you can use bits of paper or card board, in fact las t time I went to my local hobby shop some guys had some 2d paper cutouts of the models. YOu can do that kinda stuff while you graduallly build your army with new models.

Actually I thought the painting was the best part. I've never in my life played any tabletop game but I've bought little units from 40K, normal Warhammer, LOTR and many more just to paint them. It really increases your dexterity and gives you a little trophy to put somewhere for your hard work.

 

[JMeganSnow]

Warhammer 40K isn't a RPG, it's a war game. I've played tabletop RPG's for years, it's a lot of fun, but now I play online via chat rooms. It'd be nice to have a good resource for doing a battle mat, though, most of the ones I've used were either obnoxiously hard to use, slow, or too damn simplistic.

 

[Helmsman]

Warhammer 40K isn't a RPG, it's a war game. I've played tabletop RPG's for years, it's a lot of fun, but now I play online via chat rooms. It'd be nice to have a good resource for doing a battle mat, though, most of the ones I've used were either obnoxiously hard to use, slow, or too damn simplistic.

Warhammer has a fantasy RPG offering called Warhammer Fantasy Role Play that is a true blue RPG and actually a very solid system. And 40k has a game called Inquisitor which I've not explored but it is also fully RPG'ized. I'd dare say that both have more actual role-playing elements them than D&D has.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Roleplayers are not dead, they've just rolled up new characters.

Witness the Companion mod [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh9qwRJHx1I] for Vampire: Bloodlines that was only completed this month, which not only fixes a lot of Bethesda's bugs but adds whole new gameplay.

Then there's Neverwinter Nights, Balder's Gate (Still), the new D&D that focuses on MMO gameplay.

Even I've still got a weekly RP meet, at the moment we're doing The Dresden Files. Now there's something Tabletop RPG's can do that Computer games will never accomplish.

 

[JMeganSnow]

Warhammer 40K isn't a RPG, it's a war game. I've played tabletop RPG's for years, it's a lot of fun, but now I play online via chat rooms. It'd be nice to have a good resource for doing a battle mat, though, most of the ones I've used were either obnoxiously hard to use, slow, or too damn simplistic.

Warhammer has a fantasy RPG offering called Warhammer Fantasy Role Play that is a true blue RPG and actually a very solid system. And 40k has a game called Inquisitor which I've not explored but it is also fully RPG'ized. I'd dare say that both have more actual role-playing elements them than D&D has.

Yes, I am aware. However, neither of those are Warhammer 40K, and you don't have to buy an army or paint hundreds of miniatures to play them. Half this thread is talking about war-games, which are not "tabletop RPG's".

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

While it's sad to see so many fewer tabletop venues and distributors, the games are still alive. And as long as we can endure the shocks from our nostalgia bracelets, they're not going to die any time soon.

By the way, Allen, thanks for Paranoia. The Computer is pleased with your loyalty.

 

[KDR_11k]

Just a question: Why, when people talk about playing games without a computer/embedded system, do they always talk only about tabletops and pen&paper games? What happened to boardgames? People tend to know the most obscure tabletops and P&Ps but they seem to think that board games begin with Snakes and Ladders and end with Monopoly. I would suggest reading this list [http://www.boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame]. You may recognize some but I'd wager that you've never heard of most of them. Starting out with Agricola probably wouldn't end well (the manual is crap) but you could safely go with Puerto Rico. Tabletops, P&Ps and CCGs often require tons of material to be bought, most board games can be bought in one piece and that's all you need, some get expansion packs but those are more like PC game expansions, improvements if you want them but not the bulk of the material you really need.

 

[whindmarch]

I'm not sure what people you're referring to, KDR_11k, but my experience as a professional pen-and-paper RPG designer was that people in both the video game business and in the general public spoke of (and recognized!) board games like Puerto Rico and Settlers of Catan more than tabletop RPGs. The resurgence of board games through American party games like Apples To Apples and Euro-style hits like Ticket To Ride has gotten press in newspapers for the last 5-8 years, at least.

So, for what it's worth, I've heard of those games you listed, and my experiences with general assumptions seem to have been quite different from yours. Who knows why.

 

[drisky]

My gaming store sells all the things refereed to so far and the store is relatively successful. their are a lot of devoted gamers that go to their so it seems that even though their are very few retailers, its still a strong niche market.

As for tabletops, they've always had trouble do to the negative image of how nerdy it is. Even a lot of miniature and card game players are afraid to tried in that territory. But really MMO's are far from having the freedom that tabletops have, and even those other role-playing programs cant match that actual face time, if its available.

 

[troilus1]

Great article, Allen. I am a huge lover of traditional tabletop, and, like you, see a lot of value in using the 'net to further that tradition. Though Season 1 of GOLD [http://www.goldtheseries.com] pits tabletop against MMO, I don't think they are mutually exclusive -- a lot of MMO folks also play tabletop (Felicia Day of the Guild is a great example -- she plays a weekly D&D game). And whatever you think of 4e (and the opinions are widely varied), I can already see evidence at my local gaming shop that its simplicity, balance and updated tone are bringing in new, young tabletop role players (tho I haven't yet been converted ;-).

Tabletop has become the smaller cousin to MMO, even though TT came first, and inspired MMO. That's not gonna change. I just hope, through innovation and clever use of the 'net, TT will stick around, and in such a way that publishers large and small can continue to make a living producing great content. That's the thing we don't talk about as much, but it's a very real driver of the direction of the market: if small presses and innovators can make a living, TT RPGs will thrive. If you're constantly losing financially, eventually you will have to close your doors.

Obviously I'm hopeful that won't happen. And the $50 I spent on RPG stuff this weekend puts my money where my mouth is ;-)

 

[Wildrow12]

I still blame the influence of MMOs for the horror and shame that is D&D 4th edition.
*Sigh* Well at least no one has tried to ruin Call of Cthulhu.

 

[vraymond]

Hey, Allen, really good thoughts. Some of this resonates in terms of sociology. In The Social Construction of Reality, Berger and Luckmann comment on this seemingly-endless division into smaller and smaller communities:

"In advanced industrial societies, with their immense economic surplus allowing large numbers of individuals to devote themselves full-time to even the obscurest pursuits, pluralistic competition between sub-universes of meaning of every conceivable sort becomes the normal state of affairs."

(Though I expect that Berger and Luckmann were referring to how jobs and professions affected worldview, rather than games and their worldview.)

 

[BrainFromArous]

Good article, Allen.

BTW, I've been reading your stuff since SPACE GAMER. Remember whe- *BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT* Ok, ok, never mind.

Alas, I can't be as optimistic as you are. The cold fact is, the Internet obviates the face-to-face interaction which is the sine qua non of paper & pencil RPGs.

Nah, 40K isn't an RPG - but honestly, neither is 4th Edition D&D at this point. What USED to be a fantasy-themed RPG with a combat element has become a fantasy-themed tactical combat miniatures game with an RPG element.

Which is what Chainmail was. The circle is complete.

Finally... sorry folks, but RPG.net needs to be killed. With fire.

 

[Ironmaus]

I'm not worried about tabletop for two reasons.

1) The video game tastemakers are not unaware of the impact tabletop gaming has had on their industry. Many of them celebrate it and even partake. Not only does the Penny Arcade Expo feature a tabletop and boardgaming section of the convention but the boys from PA recently posted about using a laptop and webcam to bring a far-away friend in on their D&D game: www.penny-arcade.com/2009/2/2/

2) In much the same way as the webcam from above, new technology will only serve to improve tabletop accessibility. I stand by my prediction that we are on the verge of widespread access to augmented reality and that it will change tabletop gaming for the better. Imagine the game master being able to see things on the board that the others can't. Forget comparing notes and charts, all the stats will be available, projected onto the real space but only for the individual to see.

Tabletop will stay healthy until its revival, believe you me.