Death of RPGs

Via http://pawnderings.blogspot.com/ I found this article by an “industry insider” concerning the impending death and transformation of Tabletop Role Playing Games (TPRGs):

http://www.enworld.org/forum/news/315800-4-hours-w-rsd-escapist-bonus-column.html

I read this quickly and the first of twelve pages of comments that followed, and found a throwaway line in the article that the commenters seem to have missed, but to me is the real nut-shot:

“And instead of receiving the benefits of an acquisition engine generating new players every year, young kids got diverted into MMOs at an age earlier than any suitable TRPG offering, likely establishing a play pattern they’ll keep through to adulthood.”

It seems to me that TRPGs, played in-person, will wither as the practice of playing in-person with other people for sustained periods  withers. In my more misanthropic moments, I think that we are raising a generation of kids broken to technology and the physical isolation it enables – a generation socially awkward at best, or one of shut-ins at worst.

Sigh. Bah. Kids these days….

MAJ Mark Campbell

http://youtu.be/VqqbSy_rD-4I knew Major Mark Campbell in the 1980s when he was Sergeant Mark Campbell.
He was my platoon 2IC when I was a platoon commander in the Militia, and one of the most competent people I’ve ever known.
Unlike me, Mark went on to join the Regular Forces.
In 2008 he lost both legs below the knee in Panjwaii, Afghanistan when an IED went off next to his vehicle.
Now, he and many other disabled veterans are getting screwed over by Veterans Affairs Canada, for the sake of saving a few dollars and cutting a few positions in the organization.
I’m glad he is speaking out about it.
My sacrifices, Back In The Day, were usually limited to being uncomfortable, dirty and tired, nothing at all like what he has given.

I am proud of my country and my military service but this reminds me again of how far removed my game-designing activities are from the real thing.