While I don’t always agree with Alt Text’s Lore Sjöberg, today he’s got a stellar parody of RPG forum behavior (in some circles) rendered as a reaction to a cookbook, so today I do. It stings with familiarity. We’re not all like this, but we’ve all been here, right?
Posted: 1:23 a.m. by LordOrcus Hey, guess what? They’re coming out with The Better Joy Book of Hors D’oeuvres. It just goes to show that the publishers are a bunch of corporate greedheads who care more about money than they do about cooking. Is it too much to ask for a single cookbook that contains all possible recipes?
So what is it that makes us like this?
It think a core difference my be the substantial element of community that is so necessary to the roleplaying hobby. If there is an updated cookbook available, whether or not I adopt it is largely a function of my own desires. The input of the diners likely won’t factor into my decision of what cookbook to use at all.
In the case of roleplaying, though, everyone in a group needs to be on the same page in terms of the system used. If one person wants to “upgrade” to the newest edition, then everyone must do so. (This doesn’t require everyone purchase it, but it does suggest such action from a utilitarian standpoint. I’ve always been happier with multiple copies of the players handbook available as a resource.)
Additionally, there is the potent aspect of the new game as the new, best toy. The ongoing escalation between marketing a product and consumers, well, consuming said product can easily lead to dissatisfaction from earlier adopters. (Look at the outcry when Apple released a new, better iPhone just months after launching the first generation.)
I would guess that most of the people most vocal in their criticism of a new edition are among those same roleplayers who thirst to page through it the most. Anyone who truly believes that another edition or system are superior or even adequate won’t care about the availability of a surplus edition.
Of course, this doesn’t address the concerns of roleplayers who are accustomed to extensive use of published supplements. If that’s someone’s primary source of material, and such resources are now no longer available in favor of a new system, then I can see a more legitimate cause for complaint, if not criticism. Still, I’m unsure how many gamers out there really meet that criteria.