I think game will go the route of the MMO, but not as we know it.  More like the way they were intending the DDi Virtual Game Table will be.  Millions (thosands) of players around the world will be able to log into a virtual environmnet and go in one of two directions: tabletop mode or adventurer mode.  In tabletop mode, you find a game, either by filling in a spot in someone else's table or you go to a prescheduled table to game with friends.  In the adventurer mode, you play a game similar to WoW, but much less refined, with official game content, as well as user-created content.  Eh, I've thought about this for a while.  

Within five years, I hope 4e fails.  I think the spirit of the game, which had turned the corner with 3e is all the way down the street and out of sight in 4e.  I hope either Wizards, or another company that buys the rights to D&D, restores it to its former glory.

GenCon 2013 will be there, but I cannot envision what it would be like, especially if 4e is still hobbling along.

Invincible Overlord wrote:
And after trying to pull the plug, thinking that the AIDM gets its power from solar energy, the humans will blot out the sun and live underground.

Then they will wait for the day that the chosen one will return, and restore balance to the world...

BUT, will he take the blue pill, or the red pill?

Wow - I think you have more games stores in your local area than there are in the whole of the UK!

(Ok, this is an exageration, but not as much of one as you might think!!)

Tharizdun wrote:I visited the UK when I was a teen in the 80s and it seemed like there was a game store on every block. We took the trains all over the place and there were stores wherever we went. Shame...

yep - Oh how I miss the 80's (and my youth in general   )

What my "friend" does is he will take special orders on the RPG's and miniatures stuff. Especially the big miniatures things like those big Star Wars minis. As soon as the stuff hits the store, the cases are opened and all those things are moved out. A person that goes to the store would never even know he bought anything like that. The trouble with putting that on the shelves is that you already have a lot of minis and whatnot (Wizkids stuff) and tons of stuff that never sold from before. Why replace it with new stuff that wont sell. After that 1st few days when the people who are looking for a certain item passes then the stuff doesn't sell. The window is really small because of Ebay dealers. Most stores will attempt to do the RPG stuff but then it just doesn't make sense to invest in something that sells less than CCG stuff. Board games move but that's another matter.
FLGS Rpg sellers are also competing with B&N, Borders... There is just no way you can make enough $$$ to compete with big stores and Ebay, NK, TT. You can mark the prices down but you wont sell any more to justify doing so. It's really just a loss. So, you get all the cards you can from the distributors and on the side you find some online vendors (these guys can usually be found at the Cons) and work out a deal with them. You make a few extra bucks and move all your RPG stuff Minis... and don't worry about the hassle. Rent is just too much (in the West at least). There's room for specialty sellers but how many rare RPG dealers can there be? Stores and dealers are cannibalizing one another so badly right now... You need a massive amount of $$$ to get into the game. You need to be able to buy 1000's of boxes of MTG, Warcraft type of games in order to really make any money. You will make money but then what do you do if a game goes under or you get a set that sucks or something? Then you need to be able to ride out the storm.. You also wind up flooding the market with stuff and usually you see stuff selling for a loss. This really hurts the FLGS. I think that RPG's and everything will survive (I hope so) but what were going to see is the end of the FLGS. Comics got it bad as well. Maybe some type of hybrid stores will come out of everything. That's my 3 cents

/on tangent...

I liked the second D&D movie (Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God ).

Granted, it wasn't the epic-shattering movie like Lord of the Rings, but it did go back to it's basics IMHO (an actual balanced adventuring party). Although the references to the old modules were simply nods to old-timers like us, it was a nice touch to the movie.

/off tangent...

Just skimmed through that blog. Does that imply that D&D is formally becoming a computer game?

JohnGaunt wrote:The blog posting is a comment upon the current state of D&D and MMORPGs like World of Warcraft (or City of Heroes or . . . )

The trend in D&D is to be more and more MMORPG-like.  The next logical step is forgoing the pen-and-paper and become a WoW clone.  This, of course, completely loses what pen-and-paper RPGs are.  But would players notice?

I guess then it will draw in the current generation of MMORPG players - but I imagine few of them have really experienced pen and paper RPGs.

The fun lies in the interaction between players and DM, the jokes, the limitless scenarios ... something MMORPGs lack completely.

Depressing really. I guess many of the more traditional gamers will turn to the small companies putting out old style D&D supplements. But the next generation of D&D5E players may never know what it was originally about. All are being turned into automatons.

I have just started playing D&D with my children. They play computer games - but remarkably they absolutely loved the traditional D&D (U1 Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh). After our first session, they couldn't stop talking about it for days. Way healthier I thought than the limiting computer games they are used to.

Perhaps we should have an Acaeum stall at some of the big computer game expos with sign above 'Imagination without limit'

+1
better than products of your imagination as implies need to have one first before enjoying rather than develop as go along