Sigh...
truth...its a funny word.
my 2cp is that anything that the media says about D&D in any edition is positive because it's free adverstising.
I get the "oh I havn't played that since I was a child " line all the time.
Could someone point out the part where I'm supposed to be insulted.
Because somewhere amidst the positive news article that talks about more people getting into the hobby and children being able to experience and enjoy the game we grew up in, I think I missed it.
Fa-fa-faditty-ed-ded-diditty...zee-betuleeboom!
Interesting that they don't mention how they've lost players because of the whole edition change, completely-tearing-the-game-apart-and-rebuilding-all-over-again-thing. Of course, I don't know that they've actually lost more players than they've gained, but it certainly seems that way, and it seems to me that the controversy of the 4th ed in the gaming community would be worth mentioning.
Interesting that they don't mention how they've lost players because of the whole edition change, completely-tearing-the-game-apart-and-rebuilding-all-over-again-thing. Of course, I don't know that they've actually lost more players than they've gained, but it certainly seems that way, and it seems to me that the controversy of the 4th ed in the gaming community would be worth mentioning.
Any controversy over 4e is largely confined to a small subset of the already small subset of D&D players. I'd really prefer that the edition wars receive as little coverage as possible - it's the sort of ugliness inherent in our community that media exposure would only make worse.
Interesting that they don't mention how they've lost players because of the whole edition change, completely-tearing-the-game-apart-and-rebuilding-all-over-again-thing. Of course, I don't know that they've actually lost more players than they've gained, but it certainly seems that way, and it seems to me that the controversy of the 4th ed in the gaming community would be worth mentioning.
Because CNN watchers who know nothing about D&D wouldn't care. Seriously.
For that matter, most gamers don't care either.
Only those who cling to the edition war for some bizarre or unknown reason seem to care, and that's not what we need.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Seems pretty positive ad copy over all.
The 'Encounters' format reminds me of 'our' multi-part Pathfinder Society.
and (horror!) I agree with Scott, the Pathfinder vs 4x bit is old. It's like comparing Star Trek Reboot (Pathfinder) with Voyager (4x) both have their origins in TOS, but go in radically different directions.
Its pretty laughable on the whole, people don't like change, people like to hang on to things, especially things they've spent money/time on; but it's not worth ranting and raving about the virtues of the old or new game. Two different animals, everyone has their preference, and if 4e was never created, we probably wouldn't have Pathfinder. I love the Golarion campaign setting and their amazing AP's more then any 4e setting. Both are amazing games IMO and any news that doesn't paint the hobby to be social rejects is nice :)
Wow, I mean, WOW! ... I had no idea WotC was still calling their game D&D. It's amazing, the audacity.
But, it is D&D. Hasbro/WoTC have the legal right to the name. They can - and will - use that licence as they see fit.
Wow, I mean, WOW! ... I had no idea WotC was still calling their game D&D. It's amazing, the audacity.
The same could be said of 3rd Edition. It was a pretty radical shift in design philosphy from 2nd Edition.
Wow, I mean, WOW! ... I had no idea TSR was still calling their game D&D. It's amazing, the audacity.
And then there was the sift between 1st Edition and 2nd Edition.
Wow, I mean, WOW! ... I had no idea TSR was still calling their game D&D. It's amazing, the audacity.
Going back even further, there was the sift between D&D and AD&D.
I think W E Ray was being sarcastic about that.
To me the edition war is pointless and no amount of arguing this or that will achieve anything but spin your wheels in circles. If you enjoy driving your car or walking around in completely pointless circles, go ahead, but it solves/achieves absolutely nothing.
Your wars are full of fail.
It's not a war until something gits blowed up.
Your wars are full of fail.
It's not a war until something gits blowed up.
Don't go giving people any ideas Mouthy...next thing we know there'll be pics of geniuses blowing up their...PHB...with dynamite...hmmm.
Don't go giving people any ideas Mouthy...next thing we know there'll be pics of geniuses blowing up their...PHB...with dynamite...hmmm.Your wars are full of fail.
It's not a war until something gits blowed up.
Where is the street address of the Hasbro headquarters?
::Posts dorm name and room number of certain poster::
I just thought I'd throw this in here.
Like a Molotov cocktail?
Seriously, though, Terquem, interesting thought. Someone should seriously trace that usage and document it.
"Take it to the next level" "Taking it to the next level"
I'm fairly certain that this has nothing to do with D&D, alas.
A quick, but albeit limited, amount of research on google books reveals that the phrase was used in an engineering book as far back as 1846. It was in some more technical publications in the mid 20th century, and then first shows up on a (somewhat unreliably dated and referenced) book from 1953. Barring that,a book dated 1972, Grammatica Speculativa, uses the phrase in the way we might, (i.e. moving up in power/category, etc.)
... since the translation from active to passive is necessary so that the concept can receive the signification that will take it to the next level. The term 'passive' may be somewhat misleading since there is a certain danger that it ...
D&D was first published in 1974, with Chainmail happening around 1971.
In the search, the phrase didn't really take off until the late 1990s, at least on google books. And that may have something to do with video games, or just an upswing on the use of terms like 'level' used for ranking. It could be because of a popular commercial, athlete's phrase, movie line or just frequent use in terms of video games. A case could be made that video game usage comes from D&D but that's a discussion for another time.
While not the etymology, the concept of moving up in levels has been around a long time.
Huh... Am I the only one who saw the title of this thread and thought "Great, now what are they blaming on RPGs?"
So in all possibility, with my apologies for my ignorance on such things, it may have been used in technical or even professional jargon prior to the introduction of D&D.
However, as you mention the term becomes more widely used in the 1990's and then you suggest that may correlate to the interjection of “video games” into our culture, I suggest that these video games, developed most likely by the sorts of individuals who played D&D (and other “fantasy” games), the common usage, the introduction into the vernacular, could most certainly be attributed in some way to our little hobby.
Well, I will first admit that this is a highly unscientific method of research, but it's a way to get a quick idea of when things came about.
Changing the phrase slightly (i.e. just using the words 'to the next level.'), reveals quite a few more books. Around 1950-60 is where I see the term being used as referring to 'moving up in power/ability/category.' It really starts becoming used that way in the 70s, before and after that 1974 cutoff ;)
Now, as to it becoming more common later, there's really no way to track it using google books. Since google books doesn't have EVERY book or periodical or advertisement or speech. It's relative frequency may just have something to do with the number of books available to be scanned from that time period (and logically, there were more books printed between 1950-2000 than between 1850-1900). It may be just that the sampling is more frequent, but the phrase as discussed does seem to be more common.
Now, as for the D&D term inspiring video game terminology, there's really no doubt in my mind, especially if you consider RPG video games. I remember saying 'hey! they stole that from D&D!' on some early RPGs.
Ah, web research is great for generalities, but not so good for specifics.