Thread by @rdonoghue

Tangential to the previous topic - RPGs are the original “legacy” style game, so I am very curious what happens when someone actually builds a product that recognizes and rolls with this.

You can see bits of it. Forbidden Lands ships with a map and a sticker sheet, and expects you to add stickers to the map to reflect your adventures. This is clever and neat, but also barely scratches the surfaces.

We are a hobby that writes in pencil because we are *accustomed* to changing things as a result of play.

Imagine something like the PBTA game which ships with sticker sheets that are literally expected to be slapped on your playbook over the course of the game.

Or leverage the card games with a “memory” of state, like 7th Continent or Pathfinder Adventures for your character’s process.

Or, god forbid, combine the two and actually mark up cards.

I mean, I cringe inside when I say it. I could not bring myself to tear up that first card in Pandemic Legacy because you just don’t *do* that. But the problem there is my instincts and old patterns of production, and getting past those looks liberating.

Note, “RPGs could learn from board games” is a very old song, and I do not want to dismiss the fact that there are games pushing the envelope. We have games that destroy their books (or destroy the whole game as we play), games that put knives on the table and more.

This is absolutely not a complaint against creativity in RPG design so much as a curiosity about *product* design and how some of those elements might cross the membrane.

Also, a big part of product design is about audience. A good product for me may be a bad product for another audience. This is one of the fascinating things about the explosion of streaming play - it’s opening eyes to the idea that our traditional audience categories are crap.

Grognards vs the Forge? OSR vs Story Gaming? These distinctions matter a *LOT* to us in our tiny internet ponds, but when the audience increases exponentially, they become less important as market segments.

Which is INFURIATING if that segment is also your identity.

But it probably shouldn’t be, so take it as a learning opportunity.

Obviously, you’re not obliged to design games with the market in mind. Still lots of art going on out there, as there should be. It’s awesome to have that range of products and ideas. Confusing sometimes, sure.

But learning opportunities abound.

I think we’re still sorting out how to talk about these things, and that’s fine. This is still a young medium, and the rate of change is such that our earned wisdom is painfully disposable. So it goes.