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Forked Thread: [Ryan Dancey's D&D Death Spiral] - D&D doomed to cult status?
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<blockquote data-quote="munkeywrench" data-source="post: 4754786" data-attributes="member: 56150"><p>As it stands currently, D&D will NEVER enjoy the wild success it once had. This is due to the following factors:</p><p></p><p>1) D&D is a game of pretend. Games of pretend are considered to be in the domain of adolescence in our modern culture. Upon adulthood, games of pretend are expected to be discarded. They are replaced with games grounded in reality such as baseball or chess; games that can be, and usually are, played with without any sense of make-believe. Even video games are beholden to this despite their recent success in becoming mainstream.</p><p></p><p>2) D&D's main consumer base, according to polls that have been conducted here at enworld as well as other D&D/PNP RPG sites, mostly hold ages ranging from late teens to early thirties. Combined with #1, this creates what I call the "neckbeard" stigma. For those not in the know, a "neckbeard" is a derogatory term for the gamer stereotype (overweight, lacking hygene, unshaven, smelly, anti-social, childish personality). </p><p></p><p>3) Neckbeard stigma is the social stigma attatched to being a young or mature adult that, as society sees it, still plays children's games; the young/mature adult is viewed as abnormally socially developed as thus is stigmatized. Neckbeard stigma has two effects:</p><p> A) hampering recruitment of new customers in the 18 to 30 age range.</p><p> B) holding on to customers who truly are immature in their social development.</p><p> C) "B" reinforces the negative "neckbeard" stereotype of the hobby, making it unpopular in the eyes of society. Parents go "I'm not letting my child get into "that" crowd." This hampers the recruitment of adolescent customers. </p><p> D) Neckbeard stigma becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of suck.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The only real way out of this that will bring D&D back to its mainstream glory-days, at least that I can see, will be to minimalize the old-guard fanbase and really push it hard towards the kiddos. I honestly think that's the direction WotC has been taking with 4E, but they need to do MORE. To really bring it back, hasbro needs to start swinging the money hammer. D&D needs to be back in toy stores next to Monopoly and Risk. Make it a household name synonymous with "fun for the whole family". Once that happens, you can make action figures, cartoons, McDonalds tie-ins, videogames, and all that good franchising crap.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="munkeywrench, post: 4754786, member: 56150"] As it stands currently, D&D will NEVER enjoy the wild success it once had. This is due to the following factors: 1) D&D is a game of pretend. Games of pretend are considered to be in the domain of adolescence in our modern culture. Upon adulthood, games of pretend are expected to be discarded. They are replaced with games grounded in reality such as baseball or chess; games that can be, and usually are, played with without any sense of make-believe. Even video games are beholden to this despite their recent success in becoming mainstream. 2) D&D's main consumer base, according to polls that have been conducted here at enworld as well as other D&D/PNP RPG sites, mostly hold ages ranging from late teens to early thirties. Combined with #1, this creates what I call the "neckbeard" stigma. For those not in the know, a "neckbeard" is a derogatory term for the gamer stereotype (overweight, lacking hygene, unshaven, smelly, anti-social, childish personality). 3) Neckbeard stigma is the social stigma attatched to being a young or mature adult that, as society sees it, still plays children's games; the young/mature adult is viewed as abnormally socially developed as thus is stigmatized. Neckbeard stigma has two effects: A) hampering recruitment of new customers in the 18 to 30 age range. B) holding on to customers who truly are immature in their social development. C) "B" reinforces the negative "neckbeard" stereotype of the hobby, making it unpopular in the eyes of society. Parents go "I'm not letting my child get into "that" crowd." This hampers the recruitment of adolescent customers. D) Neckbeard stigma becomes a self-perpetuating cycle of suck. The only real way out of this that will bring D&D back to its mainstream glory-days, at least that I can see, will be to minimalize the old-guard fanbase and really push it hard towards the kiddos. I honestly think that's the direction WotC has been taking with 4E, but they need to do MORE. To really bring it back, hasbro needs to start swinging the money hammer. D&D needs to be back in toy stores next to Monopoly and Risk. Make it a household name synonymous with "fun for the whole family". Once that happens, you can make action figures, cartoons, McDonalds tie-ins, videogames, and all that good franchising crap. [/QUOTE]
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