With dragon magazine letters section TSR was able to quickly address issues of game that were annoying and frustraiting. But the Magazine was monthly. The fact is the game as it is now is unrelated to that game at the early game table. Everything that the game now is was created or suggested by fans of the game as a Communal Intellectual Property. So when the game combined with the global accessibility offered by the internet, it realy escalated. Editions were out of date by the time you bought them at the book store. Errata filled with corrections were printed in the editorial of Dragon Magazine.
The game is changing to become something new. Its not going to be the same as what came before it, and perhaps thats a failing of the profit fueled engine. It would have been better to progress the settings, because selling new rule books affects everyone who bought the previous ones. And alienates many of the gaming community.
There is a shift to centralized online gaming that will likely alienate the have nots. In the end this may be the Privatization of Sesame Street for a viewing audience of elites all over again...
Friends using their imaginations, around a kitchen table are a far cry from gaming tables. Just remember, in the play by mail origins you could do precisely what you can still do: gather a group and with nothing more than the character on a character sheet, fight off against each others character in a tournament where the Dungeon Master doesnt need a DMG, just character creation rules and the ability to tell a story.
Give the new game a try. If it isnt the experience you are looking for play using the older sets and form a gaming group that isnt online.
No comments:
Post a Comment