D&D 4th edition rules and what we can learn from them...

[Dredj]

I find it interesting that the more D20 products are being put out, there's this major urge for gamers to go back to the beginning of D&D. Chaos and Catacombs is another sign of this.

I'm noticing more and more game companies are advertising how simple their games are in comparison to other games (mostly D&D) while allowing for the same flavor of rpging, while also allowing for much more flexible character creation rules. Since there's such a push for 'back to the basics' simplicity and 'create THE character YOU want to play' style of gameplay, I have to agree that 4.0 may very well be going in the wrong direction. But it could also be that I notice the types of games mentioned above, more, as they are the kind I'm most interested in.

Like an employee at my FLGS said, the 4.0 rules seem to be derived from how people like to play at conventions. Which could mean that the focus is too narrow. Plus, he was of the opinion that all gaming is going to strategy gaming, anyway, so that's the reason they are stocking so few rpgs anymore. But that could be more of a local thing, than anything.

[badcat]

Probably local. My local gamestore sells a pretty eclectic bunch of rpgs. Some more than others, but he manages to keep a pretty good selection.
And he has cleared about six feet of shelf space for 4e.

[rust]

Originally Posted by Dredj

Plus, he was of the opinion that all gaming is going to strategy gaming, anyway, so that's the reason they are stocking so few rpgs anymore.

There is sometimes a kind of "self-fulfilling prophecy" at work.

We once had two shops here, and the owner of one of them (originally a true
RPG shop) was convinced that the age of roleplaying games was over, and
that people now wanted to buy tabletops, miniatures and trading card games.

He acted accordingly, reduced the number of RPGs available, and as a result
those people who wanted to buy RPGs soon all went to the other shop (origi-
nally a fantasy and science fiction bookshop), whose owner told me that he
was convinced that the number of people buying RPGs was growing steadily,
and who therefore expanded his stock of RPGs very quickly.

Today we still have those two shops, one selling no more RPGs because the
people are no longer buying RPGs, one selling lots of RPGs because more and
more people want to buy RPGs.

And both shop owners simply refuse to believe my explanation of what had
happened, because their experiences prove that this cannot be true - one
remains convinced that RPGs do not sell anymore, the other remains convin-
ced that the number of RPG players is growing rapidly...