So, roughly about this time (give or take a few weeks), I think I was attending GenCon UK in the year that D&D3rd edition had arrived. I think some third party had managed to get a D20 supplement released under the OGL just prior to this, but there was definitely a buzz about it. The internet hadn’t quite gotten a hold of absolutely everything back then, but for gamers it was the new tool of communication.
Over the next few years, we would see a huge glut of OGL/D20 titles which had a lasting effect by establishing new game publishers, and sparked new debates about game design. Trends in gamers changed - they stopped imagining themselves as counter-culture storytellers (á la White Wolf games), and began talking in business terms (á la Wizards of the Coast). 'Punk’ as a gaming theme was receding as fans turned to more positive ‘Pulp' themes instead. People were getting excited for a new Dune RPG by last Unicorn Games. Moon Design was releasing HeroWars to revamp Greg Stafford’s Glorantha setting. The whole drive towards updating older games with new editions became strong or just rereleasing old games with new formats The follow on trends of Indie and OSR, although palpably there, had yet to become culture war movements in gaming. PDF and POD were not business models, and the three-tier distribution was going strong.
Lord of the Rings had yet to be released, although there was a naff D&D movie released this year, but fantasy was generally starting to become more popular again - Harry Potter. Snatch and Gladiator were in the cinemas. Tarantinoesque was still an adjective. Anime and Manga was popular amongst western audiences. 9/11 hadn’t happened. People still argued for Fukayama’s End of History. Post modernism was still cool but in the descent. Transhumanism was becoming cool. The Millennium had just happened.
What else has changed since then? What else was big back then?
Over the next few years, we would see a huge glut of OGL/D20 titles which had a lasting effect by establishing new game publishers, and sparked new debates about game design. Trends in gamers changed - they stopped imagining themselves as counter-culture storytellers (á la White Wolf games), and began talking in business terms (á la Wizards of the Coast). 'Punk’ as a gaming theme was receding as fans turned to more positive ‘Pulp' themes instead. People were getting excited for a new Dune RPG by last Unicorn Games. Moon Design was releasing HeroWars to revamp Greg Stafford’s Glorantha setting. The whole drive towards updating older games with new editions became strong or just rereleasing old games with new formats The follow on trends of Indie and OSR, although palpably there, had yet to become culture war movements in gaming. PDF and POD were not business models, and the three-tier distribution was going strong.
Lord of the Rings had yet to be released, although there was a naff D&D movie released this year, but fantasy was generally starting to become more popular again - Harry Potter. Snatch and Gladiator were in the cinemas. Tarantinoesque was still an adjective. Anime and Manga was popular amongst western audiences. 9/11 hadn’t happened. People still argued for Fukayama’s End of History. Post modernism was still cool but in the descent. Transhumanism was becoming cool. The Millennium had just happened.
What else has changed since then? What else was big back then?
Last edited: