New "Classics"

I hope that we can all look back at this thread and laugh in ten years. It seems likely that better games may come out in the next several years. Or at least better games than Last Night on Earth or Descent. Think back even five years ago, what were the new "classics" then? A Game of Thrones? Arkham Horror? Arkham Horror is definitely looking like a new classic, but AGoT has dropped out of sight.

Ken, I agree that AGoT should be a classic. It's very innovative and tied to a great license. But locally, at least, here in FFG's backyard, AGoT is dead. Nobody plays it anymore, or even talks about it. I blame George R.R. Martin, for picking up several new hobbies instead of finishing the fifth book of the series. And I'm not the only one who is convinced that he will drop dead before finishing the sixth and seventh books. So many fans have cooled off over the setting, realizing that all we may get is part of an HBO series.

If Martin can finish the Game of Thrones series before he dies, or at least hand it off to a worthy successor like Melinda Snodgrass, I think that it will break through to a Tolkien level of enduring popularity

I really doubt that'll happen. Tolkien is on the same level with Star Trek, Star Wars and Harry Potter. It's an echelon of fandom genre writers aspire to, but few make.

I'd put Martin and the Fire and Ice Saga at the same level as Herbert and Dune. Lots of people love it but no one is making video games based on the license or people cosplaying as Cersei Lannister at Comic Con.

I agree with Sag, and this is why I don't think games like Starcraft and BSG will last. They're tied to videogames and tv shows which are a more ethereal form of entertainment than literature, there's always the next big thing that makes people forget about it.

The true classics would probably be based on books, like Arkham Horror, Fury of the Dracula, War of the Ring, or stand on their own universe like TI3 and Descent.