The past of tabletop games has been rocky. D&D was a ramshackle set of rules of stolen lore before it was what attracted so many minds in the early days. It was subject to scandal, financial upheaval, and corporate failure. The games that followed in its wake were scattered and obscure, and it was not until the internet age that tabletop games could spread from player to player.
Then came the present. High profile media featured D&D, now owned by a more successful corporate interest. New interest in D&D and tabletop games at large become broad, and tabletop games are no longer a niche interest.
What, then, is the future?
Let's answer this in two parts: what will games look like, and what will games in culture look like?
Games, I suspect, will be more varied. D&D will still be a major force in gaming culture, and many first time gamers will still flock to it. But other systems will become more popular, and I think that the number of games released will rise compared to previous years. I would even wager that that trend has already begun and that we will see even more of it in the coming years.
I base this on the historical trend in part (more and more games have come out as a general trend as time goes on) but also the fact that tabletop games are now entertainment. People watch celebrity GMs play, and when those GMs play in systems that the viewers don't know, the viewers want to play in those "new" systems. And as that trend becomes more popular, it will become easier for other GMs to make the same choice. Less dominant games stand a very real chance of catching on in the current climate.
I would also say that the games that come out in the future will be more specific in terms of setting and playstyle. I recently encountered a tabletop game where you play as a lake in a valley or something to that degree; that's a very different type of game than D&D. More and more games will pick niche settings or very distinct game structures.
This is due in part to the fact that broad games are already made (make a fantasy RPG tabletop game and see how far you get before Wizards of the Coast sues you), but also that creators tend to want to make unique things. Game designers want to put out materials that are new and do things that haven't been done before.
So I predict a future in which gaming becomes more complex and more complete. Perhaps it's hopefulness, but it's what I imagine.
As far as gaming's role in culture, I think things will be harder to pin down, but I do so big changes. I think that tabletop gaming will not suddenly be seen by the masses as "cool" overnight. I don't see it happening in my lifetime. What I predict will happen is that tabletop games will become just a thing that "nerdy people" do like card collecting games or video games. It's important to remember that one "nerdy" thing becoming accepted does not change the others--video games did not make cosplay cool, for instance.
More importantly, questions of being cool are often matters of being approved of, which is a fickle and frankly immature thing to worry about. Tabletop games are fun; that is what matters.
But in terms of culture, tabletop game entertainment will continue to gain momentum and will ultimately become considered fairly mainstream. I foresee fantasy and sci fi becoming more popular as side effects of interest in common tabletop game fare. And ultimately, tabletop games will be depicted in popular culture with greater frequency. All of these will result from tabletop gaming being more in the public conversation.
This too is a hopeful future. But I'm confident it will come to pass, even if only for a time.
What I can know for sure is that tabletop games are in my future. That is the promise we can all make to ourselves. Happy gaming, everyone.
That's all for now. Coming soon: a pirate D&D one-shot, how to modify D&D for a western setting, and a detective D&D one-shot. Until next time, happy gaming!
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