RPG Roundtable #7, Part One

The first portion of RPG Vault's seventh RPG Roundtable quizzes a handful developers about whether or not "the genre offers as much fun as it should." Providing answers this time around are Spiderweb Software's Jeff Vogel, Liquid Entertainment's Ed Del Castillo, CD Projekt's Michal Madej, and others. A bit of what Michal had to say:
I used to travel around Europe a lot, but as a poor student from a former communist country, I had to hitchhike, which I really loved... at the time. But as I remember trying to get out of Paris for half a day, the endless rain on English highways and a horrendous five-hour journey with an old Scot who was sure speaking louder would make me understand him, I'd never do it again. Why? As we get older, we don't get more patient. Now, I don't have time to travel, just to reach destinations. I think the same is true for Jeff's dislike of RPGs.

I don't think RPG fans really hate the current state of the genre. I do believe the role-playing experience is the very best we get in video games, and everybody is looking for that. Yet there is something rotten. RPGs these days focus on catering to male students and geeks. There are almost no role-playing games for small kids, women or mature men, with stories, gameplay and playing time tailored for their needs and schedules. Nobody even tries to make such games, because by some old, twisted definition, RPGs are only for immature boys.