D&D 5E What do you think Wizard's preferred customer is like and what are his/her buying habits?

[Umbran]

Instead, D&D is viewed as a foundational intellectual property that needs to retain it's base to remain legitimate when they pitch it as a possible movie franchise, premium cable series, MMO, VR experience, or whatever big or next-big thing they hope to hitch it to.

I tend to agree. And that leads to the idea that they don't have a singular preferred customer.

As Corpsetaker mentions - when you create a product, you figure out who are are trying to sell it to. But the D&D RPG is one product. A comic book is another product. A computer game is another product. A major motion picture would be yet another product. Nobody should think all these diverse products necessarily target only *one* preferred customer type.

A product may have a specific target customer, but a *brand* doesn't necessarily. Brands are bigger, and have many different possible customers.

 

[Corpsetaker]

What makes them think it'll be different? Maybe the mainstreaming of nerd culture? The wild success of WoW? Stuff like that. :shrug:

I wouldn't say people play D&D because of Nerd culture. I think the connection with Geeks and D&D have faded into the background. When I look around, the main thing I see when it comes to Geek culture are all the comic t-shirts. I can't tell you how many Captain America and retro comic shirts I see on a daily basis. I never ever see something tied to D&D. If you asked someone about about Geek culture, D&D would probably not come to mind with most people. If you asked them about D&D first then they may say something about it.

I also know it's not all about the TTRPG but what makes D&D any different in the mainstream than any other fantasy genre out there?

 

[Corpsetaker]

I tend to agree. And that leads to the idea that they don't have a singular preferred customer.

As Corpsetaker mentions - when you create a product, you figure out who are are trying to sell it to. But the D&D RPG is one product. A comic book is another product. A computer game is another product. A major motion picture would be yet another product. Nobody should think all these diverse products necessarily target only *one* preferred customer type.

A product may have a specific target customer, but a *brand* doesn't necessarily. Brands are bigger, and have many different possible customers.

Yeah, you are right about that.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I wouldn't say people play D&D because of Nerd culture.

That's nice, I didn't mean to imply that WotC thought they might - indeed, I'm guessing WotC has concluded that nothing they could possibly do could induce new players to play D&D would retain enough of them to make up for the swath of the existing player base those same things would alienate and enrage.

Rather, I think WotC /might/ be hopeful that the mainstreaming of nerd culture, as evinced by the popularity of Marvel superhero movies, Big Bang Theory, and whatnot, could mean a window of opportunity for D&D movies or other spin-offs that have failed in the past.

I also know it's not all about the TTRPG but what makes D&D any different in the mainstream than any other fantasy genre out there?

Nothing good, really. It's a bit inaccessible to the mainstream, really, even though it's the only recognizable TTRPG, it's far from the only recognizable fantasy milieu. LotR, Harry Potter, various video game franchises, and Game of Thrones, probably all have it beat, and I'm sure there are others.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Nothing good, really. It's a bit inaccessible to the mainstream, really, even though it's the only recognizable TTRPG, it's far from the only recognizable fantasy milieu. LotR, Harry Potter, various video game franchises, and Game of Thrones, probably all have it beat, and I'm sure there are others.

You know what those you mentioned have over D&D right now as far as tv/film? One that's good. That's it. Six years ago, I guarantee you 10 times as many people knew what 'Dungeons & Dragons' was compared to what 'A Game of Thrones' was. The only reason why it now seems like GoT has D&D beat is because their tv series was and is really, really good. But if/when producers are able to make a D&D tv series or movie of similar quality... you can add D&D to that list you gave. There is nothing inherent in D&D itself that precludes it from having a really good movie attached to it with the 'Dungeons & Dragons' name.

A quality film or tv series will make any property meaningful. You just (as a producer and studio) have to make sure you put in the time and creativity to actually make it good and not a money-grab. Whether or not a new future D&D product will accomplish that though... that remains to be seen.

 

[Tony Vargas]

You know what those you mentioned have over D&D right now as far as tv/film? One that's good. That's it. Six years ago, I guarantee you 10 times as many people knew what 'Dungeons & Dragons' was compared to what 'A Game of Thrones' was.

Lol, yeah, when it was just the novels?

The only reason why it now seems like GoT has D&D beat is because their tv series was and is really, really good. But if/when producers are able to make a D&D tv series or movie of similar quality... you can add D&D to that list you gave. There is nothing inherent in D&D itself that precludes it from having a really good movie attached to it with the 'Dungeons & Dragons' name.

Except the stench of failure from the existing D&D movies, of course.

Probably, as with GoT, it'd make more sense to take one of the D&D novel series and try to make it into a movie. D&D could help you plug it, but it would have, y'know, actual characters and plots and stuff.

A quality film or tv series will make any property meaningful. You just (as a producer and studio) have to make sure you put in the time and creativity to actually make it good and not a money-grab. Whether or not a new future D&D product will accomplish that though... that remains to be seen.

That begs the question, then, of why WotC even needs to keep the TTRPG going, at all.

 

[Nifft]

That begs the question, then, of why WotC even needs to keep the TTRPG going, at all.

Just... One... More... Edition...

 

[Mistwell]

What makes now any different than what came before?

I mean we have already had the following:

1: Movies.
2: Video Games.
3. MMO's.
4: Card games.
5: Dice games.
6: Board games.
7: Novels.
8: Action Figures.
9: Cartoon.

What they are doing isn't new but why should it work now when it didn't really then?

D&D video games have seen amazing levels of success. Board games have done well before as well. The novels have been profitable for them, pretty consistently. Some of it they're not going after - there is no rumor of most of what you list in fact (nobody is going after card games, dice games, or cartoons for instance). The movie thing, well, they're trying to get it into the hands of a major studio rather than a minor one, which has not been done before.

 

[SteveC]

I think their core customer is someone who still thinks of D&D as relevant and a part of their lifestyle.
They're looking to the console/PC game and the eventual movie rights to draw in the fans to those other formats that make a lot of money.

Since I don't run 5E, I haven't really had anything to buy for it since the core launched, but I'm still looking forward to Swordcoast Legends, and my friends will be there on opening weekend for the next D&D movie whenever that happens. So yeah, I guess I'm still their customer.

I just wish players of the tabletop game were the answer to that question.

 

[Sadrik]

A DM, who gets excited about quality products that can either do one of two things.

Bring in a new player and get them to buy
Buy everything

The tone of an RPG has to be geared entirely toward the DM. They are the ones that get people excited about the game.