D&D 5E I believe the D&D boardgames actually hinder the table top game.

[Jester David]

And this is what WoTc doesn't seem to want to accept. They are trying to grow a product that is a small niche, to the point of possibly having their expectations too large.

As [MENTION=66434]ExploderWizard[/MENTION] says, that's the point. You don't make more money if you only remain in your small niche. WotC is trying to expand out of their tiny hobby and into other venues.
That means a little bit of overlap in audience, but that's not too bad since they're also not putting out waves of books at the same time.

What about new customers? If you don't know the feeling of a good table top RPG then you wouldn't know the difference between a fantasy boardgame and D&D. Especially a D&D boardgame.

D&D is one of those things that has to be played and experienced to really "get". Because it's so different. Explaining it is kinda hard. It's difficult to make the jump from standard board games (or video games) to D&D.
The board games can make this transitory process easier, being a bridge. That's a good thing for those new customers.

 

[Beleriphon]

And this is what WoTc doesn't seem to want to accept. They are trying to grow a product that is a small niche, to the point of possibly having their expectations too large.

No they're trying to turn D&D into Marvel Movies. The movies are the sole reason Disney bought Marvel, and to some degree Lucasfilm. Disney execs don't give a rat's ass about the sales of Spider-Man comics as much as they care about the sales of Avengers underoos, Avengers party plates, AVengers wallpaper and Avengers movie tickets. The Hasbro, and by extension WotC, marketing teams care about the big picture, the RPG is only one part of the whole picture and quite frankly isn't even the biggest part of it. Expecting it to be the tent pole is disengenious to the RPG product because D&D the RPG is never going to have the mass market appeal like D&D the movie. My mother might see D&D the movie, she'll never buy D&D the RPG. As for board games, they are complimentary to the RPG rather than competition, at worst its no more competition than Carsacone or Settlers of Catan are competition to the RPG.

 

[Fildrigar]

You can call me pessimist, or a doomsayer or whatever.

You are a pessimist, a doomsayer, and you've made your complete hatred for Wizards quite clear. There is nothing they can do to make you happy. I honestly don't know why you're even posting in the 5e section of the forum when you've made it so abundantly clear how much you love Pathfinder.

 

[BryonD]

The fact that there are vastly more board game options hurts RPGs in a general sense because it adds to the alternatives and some fraction of the fan base will prefer new options.

Games like the new D&D board games didn't exist in the past. I enjoyed Dungeon! as a kid, but that was an exception, and even then it didn't offer remotely the diversity and high volume replay value of modern games like Eldritich Horror or Descent.

But that exists either way. Even if WotC didn't produce the D&D based games, the overall selection of alternatives would be there.

Maybe the fact that WotC resources go into these products hurts 5E to some degree. But the TTRPG hobby and industry are flooded with a functionally infinite amount of material. The recent past has proven that gamers can get by quite well without D&D at all. There is some merit to the "flagship" doing well, but it isn't that big of a deal. In the end the game is the thing and brands are just noise.

I'm sure some >0 number of people drift away from TTRPGs becasue they find the board games more fun and drift into that market.
I'm sure some >0 number of people play the board game and it becomes a gateway into RPGs.

I greatly doubt the net effect is more than negligible.

 

[Umbran]

I just don't agree that the boardgame line really impacts the RPG line, any more than a market selling apples really impacts their sale of oranges.

When someone wants an apple, they'll get an apple. When they want an orange, they'll get an orange. I don't expect many gaming groups will fail to meet or form because they'd rather play the board game instead.

 

[Nebulous]

What about new customers? If you don't know the feeling of a good table top RPG then you wouldn't know the difference between a fantasy boardgame and D&D. Especially a D&D boardgame.

Then new customers are more likely to buy both if they like one of them.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Yeah, I don't think the boardgame is reducing the D&D RPG market. If anything, it's growing it. The two games overlap in market for RPG groups who dabble in boardgames and vice versa, but I suspect (based on a comparison of the number of types of events in the local metro area) that the number of people who play boardgames but not RPGs is much, much larger than those who only play RPGs. The potential to bring people into D&D RPG via the boardgame would far exceed the number likely to be lost from the RPG to the boardgame.

Add to that the time commitment and learning curve to buy into the board game is much less than the RPG, and you've got a solid strategy to grow the brand.

I can't see it as anything but a good thing.

 

[HobbitFan]

The only downside I can think of is that boardgames might be using development people (and possibly budget, etc) that might instead be working on D&D. But, not being privy to insider information at WOTC I don't know that's the case. It is a resoanable assumption given the small D&D staff but only that-an assumption.

Sailor Moon-I don't think you have a whole lot to worry about on this one. The anemic release schedule you're talking about in your other thread is a more real concern.

 

[HardcoreDandDGirl]

I think that as long as they support both (witch lets be honest they are not) it would be fine. I would rather have a new splat book then a game, but if we were getting 2-3 splat books per year 1 or 2 board games would be great.

 

[Sailor Moon]

As for board games, they are complimentary to the RPG rather than competition, at worst its no more competition than Carsacone or Settlers of Catan are competition to the RPG.

Complimentary huh? Seems like the D&D boardgames continue to become more and more complex and have more parts. I could understand if it was a simple boardgame that took all of 5 minutes to setup but take a long look at the image of this game. If you are a die hard table top gamer then this isn't directed at you because you are going to play TTRPG's no matter what. Unfortunately I would say there is a large population who doesn't think like this and not to mention new customers.