Peak of D&D: the 1980s?

[Akrasia]

.... I'd be inclined to believe that D&D is at its peak right now, especially considering what the D&D brand manager said more players than ever....

But if his claim is based on sales of the PHB alone, then it is pretty misleading for two reasons:

(a.) Many purchases of the 3.5 version of the PHB were not "new players", though they were "new purchases".

(b.) During the 1980s there was a fully supported version of the game -- called, ironically enough, "Dungeons and Dragons" -- that did not require the purchase of the PHB. So during the 1980s many D&D players never bought the hardbacks that provide the comparison class in question.

To back this up a little more: Also, consider the fact that D&D has spawned/inspired other avenues of fantasy roleplaying such as A-list computer games (i.e Neverwinter Night, EQ, etc). There have been movies and best-selling novels based on D&D since the 80's. Movie stars will openly admit they play D&D now days. And D&D's 30th anniversary just made the front page of CNN. A whole industry based on d20 as greatly expanded the availability of compatible products.

Plausible, but many of the "spin-off" games (NWN, EQ, etc) may have actually weakened overall support for traditional PnP D&D.

And the fact that D&D is now an accepted part of the popular culture does not necessarily mean that it is more popular (in terms of people playing). For example, I suppose that "punk music" is probably more embedded (and hence acceptable) in our popular culture today than it was during the 1970s, but I doubt it is more popular (in the sense that there are more "punks" around now than there were then).

But I just don't know ...

 

[Shadowdancer]

Ummm ... the quote from the CNN article is making a claim -- presumably not one that the reporter made up out of thin air. News agencies that simply "invent" facts -- like the claim that D&D was at "its peak" in the 1980s -- tend not to last very long.

Hate to disillusion you, but take it from someone who is a working journalist, and has been since 1983 -- this stuff happens all the time, especially by the major broadcast networks. Fox News is the worst, but CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC -- they all do it. It's usually not important, verifiable facts, but little things like the statement about D&D reaching its peak in the 1980s -- something that interjects the reporter's opinion into a story -- happens frequently.

Watch the documentary "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" for an excellent summation on how Fox News has raised this to an artform.

You're wise to be skeptical about political and marketing spin, but you should also be skeptical about anything in journalism that smacks of reporter opinion rather than documentable fact, unless the piece in question is clearly labeled as being an opinion piece.

 

[Shadowdancer]

After reading the CNN story linked above, I discover it's not, in fact, a CNN story but an Associated Press story that CNN posted on its website. As a newspaper journalist, I work with AP stories all the time (this same story ran in our newspaper on Sunday).

While AP is usually not as bad as the broadcast networks at interjecting opinion into stories, it does happen from time to time in feature stories such as the one linked to. AP is pretty good about sticking to the facts for hard news stories, though.

 

[Zarrock God of Evil]

Well, I can only speak for the market in Denmark, but here's what I've heard from people in the business. My source is the owner of my FLGS, in Aarhus, the second largest city of Denmark. He owns two stores called Goblin Gate one in Aarhus (my FLgS) and one in Aalborg (the third largest city in the country). Apart from that he sells a great proportion of books via mail and really only has two direct competitors in this market (both located in Copenhagen). Him and his shops have been around almost since the beginning so he should have the proper perspective on things...

When 3E first came out, he told me that he had never sold as many PHB as this time and that the d20 market was the beginning of the most profitable period for tabletop roleplaying games he had experienced. He told me a similar thing last year when 3.5 came out. (as an anecdote he told me that White Wolf today makes more money on its Sword and Sorcery division than on its WoD series according to his English distributors).

After the apathy of the mid-nineties here, I definitely feel like we are living in a new Golden Age. The general acceptance of subcultures and "strange" hobbies has definitely increased tenfold too and that may have further benefitted the upswing. I cannot say for sure that this period is "better" than the 80s but at least some evidence does suggest it.

-Zarrock

 

[UniversalMonster]

I say this is the peak, golden age, whatever right now! You can quote me on that!

I'm just 'some guy', so you should quote it like that. See below:

According to some guy, "...this is the peak, golden age, whatever right now!"

 

[Akrasia]

I say this is the peak, golden age, whatever right now! You can quote me on that!

Sorry -- but nobody realizes that something is the "golden age" of x until it has passed away.

So your statement necessarily has the truth-value of: FALSE.

 

[Aaron2]

The main problem, as I see it, is that there is no way to know exactly how many D&D players there were in the 1980s. We might know how many basic sets or PHB were sold but we'll never know the overlap (I had two basic sets and the PHB myself) nor will we know how many purchasers actually ended up playing. Players surveys of that time don't exist.

Hate to disillusion you, but take it from someone who is a working journalist, and has been since 1983 -- this stuff happens all the time, especially by the major broadcast networks. Fox News is the worst, but CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC -- they all do it. It's usually not important, verifiable facts, but little things like the statement about D&D reaching its peak in the 1980s -- something that interjects the reporter's opinion into a story -- happens frequently.

This is only bad if you think that journalists shouldn't interject their own opinions into stories. They way I figure it, the person writing the story is already picking and choosing their facts to support their preformed opinion anyway. They might as well come out and say it so the reader (or watcher) knows what the writer's bias is.


Aaron

 

[MonsterMash]

How about we just say that the '80s were the Golden Age of 1e D&D?



Of course it was all downhill once we got away from three little books in a box.

 

[UniversalMonster]

According to SOME GUY, though....

 

[Belen]

It's difficult to say whether the game "peaked" in the 80s. DnD certainly had more face time in the 80s with all the various products, such as lunchboxes and cartoons, yet it was heavily stigmatized at the time.

I would say that, yes, the game currently has more players now than during the 80s. Here is why I believe it.

1.) Computers game now offer a portal into the PnP world. PC market to a huge audience.

2.) Communities- With the net, gamer communities are far larger than ever before. The community reinforces and supports our passion for the game. Without the communities, a lot more people would probably fall into the category of "I used to play in school."

3.) Family- As gamers age, we naturally try to pass on our passion to our families. I taught my wife to play and we both plan on teaching our children. This allows the game to be multi-generational.

4.) Audience- the game IS multi-generational. At the worldwide gameday, I saw at least 3 generations of people in the same room. Most hobbies/ games do not have that appeal.

In terms of marketing, DnD peaked in the 80s. It was a fad at the time, and a lot of people probably owned a piece of the fad who never played the game. Some watched cartoons, other used the lunchbox, but many of those people did not play the game. As I said, the game had a stigma that the merchandise did not, so that probably caused a lot of people who may have enjoyed the cartoon etc to not play.

In terms of players, I honestly believe that more exist now than in the 80s. We have grown quietly, but we have grown. The game just does not have the public face/ scrutiny that existed in the 80s.