D&D 5E Can D&D Next Unite Fans of Different Editions? I think there is some hope now.

[DaveMage]

Even if plenty of existing Pathfinder and 4E players don't switch to Next, WotC will still be okay if they capture much of the growth in the market, by supporting as many play styles as possible.

I wonder at this point if there is any significant growth in the tabletop (TT) market or if new TT RPG game systems are simply preying on existing users of other TT RPG game systems. I mean, I know there are *some* all-new TT players that come into the hobby each year, but as a percentage of players, I'd guess the number of newbies that play (and then play a second time) isn't very large. (Now, I'd love to be wrong about this and that in reality that the TT RPG industry is growing by a double-digit percent each year, but...I'm not seeing it.)

I have heard that board games are enjoying a renaissance of sorts, but I haven't heard that it's carrying over into the TT RPG market. If anyone has better info, please share.

 

[Obryn]

I think we really need to just set aside any "unification" stuff as a side effect rather than an actual goal.

WotC just needs to make a good game. That's all. It's a game, not a permanent lifestyle choice or a signifier of personal worth. If it's a good game, people will play it. If enough people play it, you can call it "unification" or whatever else you want.

While there are still trouble spots - and anything reminiscent of 3.x multiclassing could be one - I think they're finally moving towards making a good game. It may never be my regular weekly game, but I'd put something like the new packet on my shelf.

-O

 

[pemerton]

Don't think Ive ever seen mass marketing in our hobby.

There has been some advertising, but not truly mass market.

I'm not sure what counts as "mass marketing", but in the 80s and 90s Marvel Comics used to carry adds, both inside (an ad comic with D&D adventurers) and on the back cover (I remember adds for 2nd ed books, for the FR boxed set, and I'm sure other stuff around the same time).

 

[adamc]

Isn't it the existing gamers who create new players and DMs? Realistically, not that many people start from scratch.

I see folks saying this all the time, but the people I know who picked up D&D in the last 5 years (including me) did, in fact, pick it up "from scratch", i.e., with the help of other players with no experience. I question how true this is.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I see folks saying this all the time, but the people I know who picked up D&D in the last 5 years (including me) did, in fact, pick it up "from scratch", i.e., with the help of other players with no experience. I question how true this is.

It's hard to know. You'l read tons of friends and family referral stories here on ENW, but no ones knows for sure.

Given the relative insularity of the hobby, I think it's reasonable to assume that many players are brought in to the hobby by people they know. Even I, despite being largely self-taught, was recruited to the hobby by friends and certainly would never have done it if I wasn't.

I'm not sure what counts as "mass marketing", but in the 80s and 90s Marvel Comics used to carry adds, both inside (an ad comic with D&D adventurers) and on the back cover (I remember adds for 2nd ed books, for the FR boxed set, and I'm sure other stuff around the same time).

I would call that niche marketing. I don't see D&D commercials on TV or read D&D ads in the paper (back when I read newspapers). And there have never been any theatrical D&D movies. That's right, none.

 

[Iosue]

I would call that niche marketing. I don't see D&D commercials on TV or read D&D ads in the paper (back when I read newspapers).

The 80s were a different world...

 

[Ahnehnois]

The 80s were a different world...

Apparently.

 

[billd91]

The 80s were a different world...

I know I've seen an older commercial than that one, but it may have been regional. It involved a wizard and a whole bunch of stampeding creatures including, I think, a dragon. It may actually have been for either Gen Con or the Dungeon Hobby Shop in Lake Geneva or even TSR in general rather than just D&D, but I really can't be sure and it's hard to find references to it.

 

[pemerton]

And there have never been any theatrical D&D movies. That's right, none.

I probably shouldn't bit, but I will. Why was the D&D movie that I saw in a movie theatre (the bad movie with Jeremy Irons) not a D&D movie?

 

[FireLance]

I probably shouldn't bit, but I will. Why was the D&D movie that I saw in a movie theatre (the bad movie with Jeremy Irons) not a D&D movie?

Well, obviously, because it didn't follow the tropes/mechanics/flavor of [insert favorite edition] closely enough, regardless of what it says on the box.