New Game

Some thoughts on how we got where we are...
It all started with the White Box - well, maybe before, with the idea that led to the White Box - with some innovative wargamers, who painted miniature figures, who wrote rules for how to play games with the miniature figures and played those games around a table in a social setting with friends, usually rolling some dice.The games were based on shared interests in history and games, so the figures and rules were researched and based in history. Some of these guys - gamers were mostly men in those days - also liked to read science fiction and fantasy (sword & sorcery) stories. Also some of the wargames were man-to-man where each figure represented a single person, often with an individual name. The idea that led to the White Box was simply to combine this man-to-man style wargame (which is almost role-playing) with their interest in fantasy tropes.
At this point the hobby is born and our collective journey begins with this simple idea to mix the tabletop game and an interest in fantastic stories. Centered around Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the gamers in Lake Geneva and Minneapolis/St. Paul started to experiment. Chainmail got a fantasy supplement, a few pages in the back of the book, so miniature wargaming could be done with dragons, etc. Dungeon, the boardgame by David Megarry is evidence that the boardgame side of tabletop gaming was also experimenting with the new idea. Those early games led by Mr. Gygax, Mr. Arneson and friends would result in the Little Brown Books - White Box.
With publication the idea gained a wider audience and a new hobby was off and running as word spread quickly among several related groups - tabletop gamers, science fiction fans, etc. that there was this new "game thing" related to what we already know we like. Word spread that it was fun and fresh and like nothing else and lots of people wanted to try it. The target audience was (and is) bright, imaginative people who do what bright, imaginative people do - they they come up with even more ideas, variations on a theme, one might say, rule additions, new mechanics, whole new games which branch out into settings not covered by a fantasy role-playing game. Games about space travel and exploration, games about comic book superheroes, about cowboys of the old west and more.
The following steps were to broaden the scope of the new idea to encompass just about every way to play as a character in a story collectively told in a group. Then some of these bright, imaginative folks started to ask questions about the nature of this new thing, role-playing. How could it be used to develop useful real-life skills like teamwork, what value did it have in maturation and character building, problem solving. The internet allows a whole new level of communication, idea sharing and interfacing and sites like The Forge started talking about role-playing games in an analytical way. Theories developed and questions posed. Interfacing with social sciences, the discussion about the role stories play in our identity as individuals and groups began to include role-playing.
So now the question may be asked..."Where are we?"  Hasn't the idea grown beyond a simple game? I can't imagine that Mr. Gygax or Mr. Arneson or anyone else involved in the early days of the hobby could imagine what the idea would grow into. The popularity of the role-play game, in all its many forms, has resulted in the original idea directly influencing popular culture. So, we have come this far, and are still wondering where we are?