There were a lot at the time. Computers for playing games were expensive and lan parties tended to take a whole weekend including sleeping there, while D&D was

There were a lot at the time. Computers for playing games were expensive and lan parties tended to take a whole weekend including sleeping there, while D&D was more relaxed and was just a couple hours in the evening. I'd still say the culture was vastly different though. A few people sitting around a board rolling dice was just a completely different social interaction to a hundred people in a noisy hall. There also wasn't the same level of 'scoreboard hero' in tabletop games that arose during Doom/Quake. I guess I'm actually talking more about 'quake culture' than gaming culture at the time, but it's actually that 'quake culture' which has gone mainstream rather than the 80s gaming culture which is still around today. Without the lan parties and quake, you wouldn't have the 'rape culture' they talk about and that's why I'm saying the two are something different.