Why can't WotC break the mass market barrier?

[Whisper72]

Hmmm.... reading this makes me wonder why 4E isn't launched through a boxed set covering the first 1-5 levels or so...

Is also easier for the 'hard core' gamers, who can dig in immediately iso getting one book at a time spread over several months....

Seems to me to be a missed opportunity, especially in the light of bringing in new players...

 

[Glyfair]

Hmmm.... reading this makes me wonder why 4E isn't launched through a boxed set covering the first 1-5 levels or so...

Is also easier for the 'hard core' gamers, who can dig in immediately iso getting one book at a time spread over several months....

Seems to me to be a missed opportunity, especially in the light of bringing in new players...

Scott has said there will be a 4E basic/beginners set (like the current ones) towards the end of 2008.

 

[Whisper72]

That is good to hear, too bad it is not the launch product though...

 

[crueldespot]

Nor do I recall much mainstream media presence during this time.

Your brain (probably as a self defense mechanism) has shielded you from the memory of the Dungeons and Dragons movie.

My son really liked the D&D movie. He was 7 at the time. The movie got him curious about the game (via the 3rd edition boxed basic set), and he was the one who me re-interested in gaming. I hadn't played in years before that. Now he still plays D&D at age 14, but would probably deny ever liking that movie. Unfortunately, the movie was so bad that it probably repelled more customers than it attracted. But at least they tried... What is their next plan to try to gain wide visibility? If they don't have one, then I think that gets to Grimstaff's point. Where is the D&D MMORPG for example?

 

[GSHamster]

Where is the D&D MMORPG for example?

Dungeons & Dragons Online

 

[jmucchiello]

That is good to hear, too bad it is not the launch product though...

Why? This way 4e sells to the gamers in May-August and then the boxset is available for retail outlets just before Christmas. This way, WotC's quarterly income reports show sales over several quarters rather than a big blip in Q2.

 

[JamesM]

Your brain (probably as a self defense mechanism) has shielded you from the memory of the Dungeons and Dragons movie.

This is true, though, if I recall correctly, the movie wasn't specifically produced as a tie-in to 3E or even to raise public awareness of the existence of D&D. Rather, its release just coincided with the early days of 3E, but the movie had been in development in one form or another for quite some time, certainly well before WotC owned TSR's gaming properties.

In any case, my point isn't that WotC hasn't done anything to promote D&D; they most assuredly have. My point is that there's very little WotC could do that would raise the visibility of D&D sufficiently to make it a guaranteed (or even likely) mass market success. If roleplaying were ever again to become faddishly popular, it'd be because of some unpredictable pop cultural element that simply can't be planned for.

D&D's previous mass market success had little or nothing, I'd bet, to do with D&D itself and a lot more to do with cultural Zeitgeist of the lat 70s to mid-80s. Barring some Really Amazing Plan that we have yet to get even an inkling of, 4E will be marketed to and sell primarily to existing D&D players, with (possibly) some forays into the fans of related hobbies. For all the hue and cry about how different 4E is from previous editions, the fact remains that, fundamentally, it's still a tabletop RPG, which, almost by definition, is too complex and too time-consuming to be a sustainably mass market form of entertainment.

 

[bento]

I saw the basic set at Toys R Us two weekends ago. All the Barnes and Nobles in our area carry a fairly diverse range of WoTC books.

I see the problem of general merchandise stores carrying D&D is that outside the basic set, there really isn't anything else they want to carry. They could carry the hardback books, but they have a limited appeal factor (Lords of Madness anyone?) and are more difficult to return that paperbacks. At least with hardcover bestsellers, there is an active trade in remainder copies. The other product would be DDM, but these boxes are easily pilfered. Compare the DDM booster with a booster for Attatix or Heroscape, and its easy to see why you find these two more often in your local WalMart.

Face it, WoTC isn't interested in getting the bulk of their product into general merchandise stores. For gateway products like the Basic set it makes sense, but to sell the majority of their product line they understand its customers WILL seek out specialty retail shops or online vendors.

 

[Wombat]

As someone who has always tried to lure new gamers to the table, let me give a couple of observations here.

First of all -- Availability. At both Banres & Noble and Border's Books you can find the core books and more on a regular basis; this is true with almost all of their outlets in the San Francisco Bay Area. You are also able to find them at Walden (a subsidary of Border's) with fair frequency and this store also carries the minis. At these stores you are also able to find White Wolf books and some other material (Star Wars rpg, sometimes GURPS, etc.).

The Turn Off Factor -- Fewer and fewer people in this country read. Those that do read less material and prefer it to be either strictly informational for getting a job done or on a topic they already enjoy. Equally, while many people like games, they hate complicated (have to know a lot of rules themselves) games. Add to this the basic notion that if you are going to play a game, you have to know all of the rules (a pretty standard mentality). So I have seen many people look at D&D (and other rpg) books and say something equivalent to, "I could never learn all of these rules!" And, actually, I have seen people pick up GURPS or Vampire at B&N or Border's over D&D because there were simply fewer pages to read.

Most of us on this board are heritage gamers. Heck, I've been playing for over 30 years now. We forget just what a daunting task it is for people to pick up those books, with no other exposure, no friends to guide us in, read them through, and start playing. It's a lot of reading.

Equally, unlike Vampire, which conforms pretty well to an Anne Rice vision of vampires, D&D doesn't really emulate any set of fantasy novels or books other than those made specifically for D&D. If someone wanted to play LotR, for example, they were more likely to pick up the Decipher rules simply because they said LotR on them. I've seen people pick up the Firefly/Serenity game in Border's, again because of this aspect, while they utterly overlook D&D.

So, just quick observations. Make of them what you will.

 

[JamesM]

We forget just what a daunting task it is for people to pick up those books, with no other exposure, no friends to guide us in, read them through, and start playing. It's a lot of reading.

This is absolutely correct and it's part of tabletop roleplaying that probably can't be changed without changing the character of what we currently consider roleplaying considerably. Certainly rules can be better and more intuitively presented, but there's a limit to how simple a game like D&D can be made, I think. It's why I'm always skeptical when I hear people claim that "edition X will make the game more attractive to newcomers." It's a nice dream, but it's unlikely to happen. Tabletop roleplaying is very reading-intensive and demands a lot of attention from people looking to learn it, let alone play it. That's two strikes against the hobby right now.