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(TFT) the future of paper and pencil games
Interesting post, David.
Here are my two cents worth on the issues you raised.
From: "David Michael Grouchy II" <david_michael_grouchy_ii@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: tft@brainiac.com
To: tft@brainiac.com
Subject: (TFT) Rant: part IV
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 07:02:06 -0600
The key points...
a) FRPGs felt like eating forbidden fruit, but now it is passe. It is
the norm. Everyone has heard of D&D now. The days when it was rare to
find some one who has even _heard_ of role playing are now passed.
True. Most kids, especially boys, have played computer games that are FRPGs
b) Computers games may be a poor substitute for actually sitting around
a kitchen table and listening to each other, but the big MMORPGs are making
buckets of money.
I don't know what "MMORPG" means, but I see your basic point. And, I would
tend to agree. I've talked with some younger people who like to play
computer games. Out of curiosity, a couple of them tried paper and pencil
FRPGs (usually D&D). They found them to be quaint in game design
(pre-computer technology) and fun for the social interaction. But, they
uniformly preferred the computer games for the immediacy of the action and
the visuals. So, I doubt there will be much interest in paper and pencil
games by most gamers, simply because the computer medium is better at
visuals and immediacy (i.e., no waiting on dice rolls). Nevertheless, I
think there is room for paper and pencil games . . .
c) Do we even know who our market is, and if we listen to that market
will they really ask for TFT.
I think little kids might be induced to play paper and pencil games as a
family activity. Then, most of them will grow into another stage of
socializing and imagination.
As for gamers, a few might become interested in paper and pencil games as a
kind of object of study -- a basic way to make a game without needing to
know computer programming. There might be an appeal there to creativity --
either designing games or for designing fiction. It's sort of a similar
reason why many people prefer sketching or painting even though "better"
images can be made with computer programs. The former techniques, although
technologically primitive, are still effective; and they allow for a lot
more creativity because they require a lot less technological skill. (In
other wolrds, you can just pick up a pen or a pencil and draw . . . without
having to learn how to use and make a computer program.) The same could be
said for paper and pencil games. With them, a person is not locked into
someone else's computer programming, and person doesn't need to learn
computer programming to design scenarios. Instead, by learning a few rules,
a person can immediately design a structure for modeling a fantasy milieu
(again, for games themselves or perhaps for fiction). Again, the numbers of
interested gamers and foction authors would be small, but they would be
there.
Finally, there are the folks like me who remember the paper and pencil games
from our youth; the reason for my (and others'?) interest is primarily
nostalgia.
I don't think there is much of a "market" in terms of business. The gaming
market for FRPGs has clearly been taken over by computer games. But, there
still is some interest. For example, D&D still publishes books; Steve
Jackson's company is still alive and well, and this little email list is
still going, etc. So, the "market" is perhaps not much of a market, but it
is still potentially an interest group. As for TFT, I think it is a
natural choice because of its simplicity and its balance (of playability and
realism).
But, I'm just thinking out loud. Comments?
-- John
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