Is the D&D brand name really that important?

I've seen several commentators on blogs say that one of the things that makes D&D so great is the brand name. It's because anything with a different name isn't, in our heart of hearts, "real D&D". Their point seems to be that WotC screwed up so bad with 4E that they drove away those emotional gamers, but that it's possible to win them back with a few rules tweaks and internet polls. Their assertion is that all of our true home is with D&D, no matter which company buys the right to slap it on their books.

Is this true for you? What would you sacrifice to have the legal right to call the game you're playing "D&D"? Never mind that you can call it The Fruit Loops Game in your own home and among your gamer friends. Never mind that you can play a nearly identical game to some iterations of D&D. The point is the name. How much is the name "Dungeons & Dragons" really worth to you?

Would you sacrifice rules quality? Art quality? Editing quality? If the game labelled D&D was a little more restrictive, would you say "well, that's the price we pay to play the real D&D"? If the game had a bit less support materials, a little less web support, a little less planned publications, would that be enough to turn you away from the real D&D?



And I'm not necessarily asking what you think people out in the ether will do. But I guess you can answer that too. Do you think there are thousands of gamers out in the ether who would give up significant quality, by some measure, in order to play the real D&D?



I should give my answer too, and maybe admit that I might be a bit biased by my opinion. But no, for me, the name doesn't matter much at all. There is very little that I would be willing to sacrifice for the legal right to call what I'm playing "D&D". I suppose it's not absolutely zero, but pretty close to zero.

Branding is an incredibly powerful marketing tool, which is why the majority of entertainment is paid for with advertizing money.

Incenjucar said:

Branding is an incredibly powerful marketing tool, which is why the majority of entertainment is paid for with advertizing money.

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There's brand recognition, and then there's brand loyalty. Brand recognition is why WotC was able to stagger along through 4E. Brand recognition is on the top of people's heads. Brand recognition is people being able to say "oh, yes, that game with the wizards and the battlemats, what's it called? Oh yeah, Dungeons & Dragons. I think I might Google it and learn more." Brand loyalty is in the bottom of the heart. Lack of brand loyalty is why players went over to Paizo.

Without the name, it's just some other fantasy RPG. We have dozens of those, we don't need another.

A new version of D&D though, is a freaking new version of D&D! I know I've bought my 4e collection because of the D&D name (before defecting to old-school retro-clones).

It is obviously not as valuable as WotC thought going into 4e.

That said, it is 'the game with the name', folks unfamiliar with role playing games nonetheless recognize the name Dungeons & Dragons. Heck, more than once I have had to describe the meaning of the term 'role playing games' by saying 'like Dungeons & Dragons'.

Until Pathfinder gets that kind of name recognition, yeah, the name is important, but not as important as having a game with staying power.

When I hear Pathfinder being denounced on the 700 Club, or a Chick Publication with a young woman crying 'No, not Seoni! Nooo!' then I will know that the name has lost all its impact.

The Auld Grump

Control of the brand name is like having the Mandate of Heaven. You benefit from the ability to legally -be- D&D rather than another fantasy heartbreaker regardless of how close or far from previous editions you make your game, and you inherit a certain amount of sales because of that.

But like the historical Mandate of Heaven, if you ruled poorly and abused your authority, you stood likely to face a revolt and a loss of what you took for granted. 5e will still have the brand name, but it might not be worth as much as it used to be, and it remains to be seen if lessons have been learned. We shall see.

Definetely important.

Mechanically, I think Arcanad Evolved is my perfect system. It works in a way that coniually suprises me. It feels SOOOO much like D&D

But, since it isn't D&D, its not very popular, it doesn't have the traditional classes or races, and its just different. I want D&D again

It's important enough that if WoTC gets its act together I believe it could easily supplant Paizo in #1 publisher status.

It's not important enough, that if we believe 4th ed sold more than 3.5 and 3.5 sold more than 3.0, that it's going to generate the income Hasbro wants.

It's hard to imagine anyone coming out with a game without that brand name that would have as large a sustained player pool.

Is the D&D brand name really that important?

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If it wasn't, why would we be wasting our time on this game?