As a broad category, tools for GMs.  Anything that makes it smoother for a GM to run a game or lowers the barrier to becoming a GM.

I think a book dedicated to helping new GMs learn to make and organize notes would be fantastic. 

A lot of newer modules for games are very poorly written and require the GM to do a lot of prep to actually use them at the table.  A little more effort on the part of adventure writers to put stat block right on the page where they are needed, give a brief summary on the first pages as to the shape and expected flow of the adventure, and more care in providing maps for the GM to use.  Some guidance for adjusting the difficulty of the adventure would be nice too.

Every system needs cheat sheets.  One cheat sheet is a bullet point list of steps to create a PC.  Another is a sheet that is a list of combat rules, modifiers, and conditions.  No deep explanations, just a couple of sheets of paper for the table.

11x17 hex paper.  Stamps for filling in those hexes would be nice too but I would love to just have a ream of 11x17 hex paper.

Quote from: Nakana on June 14, 2024, 08:07:51 PMI think what the hobby needs is a culling of all the inferior crap to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I agree with this, but believe that it is a problem with deliberately providing misinformation about game products.

We are, for the most part, an older and more experienced crowd who knows what products they like and will acquire (even pay for). Yet there is a huge number of hobbyists who can't tell the wheat from the chaff. If you go on Reddit and ask for a good SFRPG, you get a huge response of people recommending a one page game called "Lasers and Feelings" which is more basic than chess and can't even be rationally considered a RPG.

In the face of this kind of ridiculous information, how can an inexperienced hobbyist know where to turn? The Internet allows anyone to give their opinion, but how does the neophyte determine whose opinion is valid and whose opinion is full of shit?

Quote from: JeremyR on June 15, 2024, 03:03:01 AMAs sad as it may sound, I think the opposite, something aimed at solo gaming

A module expansion for existing RPGs to be ran either solo or one-on-one would be a good sell. The problem is that the current market for solo gaming is being supplied by people creating entire RPGs specifically for solo gaming and not module expansions.

Quote from: jeff37923 on June 15, 2024, 05:31:42 AM

Quote from: Nakana on June 14, 2024, 08:07:51 PMI think what the hobby needs is a culling of all the inferior crap to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I agree with this, but believe that it is a problem with deliberately providing misinformation about game products.

We are, for the most part, an older and more experienced crowd who knows what products they like and will acquire (even pay for). Yet there is a huge number of hobbyists who can't tell the wheat from the chaff. If you go on Reddit and ask for a good SFRPG, you get a huge response of people recommending a one page game called "Lasers and Feelings" which is more basic than chess and can't even be rationally considered a RPG.

In the face of this kind of ridiculous information, how can an inexperienced hobbyist know where to turn? The Internet allows anyone to give their opinion, but how does the neophyte determine whose opinion is valid and whose opinion is full of shit?

I think that question is relatively easy to answer. I don't give a shit about what has earned an Ennie or what is a Platinum seller on Drive Thru; I don't reject those products out of hand because of that. But if for instance a poster here or ENworld who holds opinions and thoughts I respect (regardless of it I agree with them or not) I would look into games or systems if they were to review/recommend them. Every time a game system or supplement is mentioned in a thread by someone whose opinion I trust, I check it out if it is interesting.

But really I wish there was almost a second tier of people who post their thoughts on specific products in a semi-formal manner.

Quote from: BadApple on June 15, 2024, 04:46:09 AMAs a broad category, tools for GMs.  Anything that makes it smoother for a GM to run a game or lowers the barrier to becoming a GM.

I think a book dedicated to helping new GMs learn to make and organize notes would be fantastic.

That's a category I completely missed, but you're right. I've bemoaned it else where, but the paucity of practical DM advice around the RPG world is a serious problem. Almost all of what you see in books, videos and blog-posts is either abstract conceptualizing --probably useless to someone seeking advice on running the game-- or Creative Writing 101 level formulaic storycraft, which is probably going to make someone's game worse rather than better.

Quote from: BadApple on June 15, 2024, 04:46:09 AM11x17 hex paper.  Stamps for filling in those hexes would be nice too but I would love to just have a ream of 11x17 hex paper.

You might hit up Black Blade Publishing (https://www.facebook.com/BlackBladePublishing/).

They had 11x17 hex and 17x22 hex when I ordered from them a while back.

I don't think I am really interested in any of the proposed answers.

What we need is good, solid, systems with clearly defined goals that are open to developers.

Yes we have the OGL and Cephus and several others right now.

We need a new retail model that give independant game companies access to wider market awareness.  In store POD.  We need the bigger guys to support in-store POD sales.  Yes a system for that is a product it's just one aimed at retailers.

We need a really solid grassroots movement to bury the existing industry hedgemony.

The RPG industry needs innovation. New ideas. Not derivative ideas.

Story gaming hasn't really been anything that is totally new. But one take on existing ideas that have been poorly executed. For something that was supposed to be the future of RPG gaming, it has certainly fell flat on its face,

More cowbell

Personally, if Dungeon Alchemist would just release a Sci-Fi expansion I would pretty much set for life in terms of RPG needs.

1. A reborn Unisystem
2. A MEGS retroclone
 

2. MEGS Retro-Clone.

I would suggest that the biggest need the RPG industry has is to branch out into the Collaborative Strategy department. The big failing of most of the bigger RPGs is that players are practically always doing their own things when it comes to their character arcs and character advancement decisions, which means the GM's job can become an exercise in herding cats.

It's generally my conclusion that RPGs simply aren't difficult enough on the player-end for players to bother talking to each other that much. If you have classic monsters vulnerable to a certain thing you learn about from reading the Bestiary (or making a knowledge check) then either a player knows it, a player character knows it, or it's irrelevant. In all circumstances, the conversation takes two seconds. By extension, the usual way RPGs increase difficulty is to make monsters roll with bigger modifiers and roll bigger damage dice. There is literally nothing to discuss here; you aren't actually increasing the difficulty so much as increasing the peril.

However, if you actually give the players a puzzle to solve together, they actually have to sit down and talk for a moment. Once you do that, players are more likely to talk to each other about other things, like their character arcs and their character advancement decisions.

Quote from: jeff37923 on June 15, 2024, 05:50:30 AM

Quote from: JeremyR on June 15, 2024, 03:03:01 AMAs sad as it may sound, I think the opposite, something aimed at solo gaming

A module expansion for existing RPGs to be ran either solo or one-on-one would be a good sell. The problem is that the current market for solo gaming is being supplied by people creating entire RPGs specifically for solo gaming and not module expansions.

I was going to respond to the first comment, but the second comment is a good continuance of the first one. 

Solo gaming may indeed be a good alternative; for those who either have odd work schedules, or else do not live amongst a gaming friendly populace.  I fall into both of those camps, myself. 

I make my own way, but I also enjoy watching or reading about how others are getting it done.  Solo gaming allows for the exact gaming experience, you really want.

Quote from: BadApple on June 15, 2024, 04:46:09 AM11x17 hex paper.  Stamps for filling in those hexes would be nice too but I would love to just have a ream of 11x17 hex paper.

I've always thought mapping stickers would be a good idea.

On the GM advice, it seems to me there are barrels of it from The Master of the Game to Robin Laws to How To Be A GURPS GM.  Whether it's all good advice is debatable.  But what about PLAYER ADVICE???  Think about it, where do players learn to not be problem players?