D&D 5E After 2 years the 5E PHB remains one of the best selling books on Amazon

[Mistwell]

No it's wrong because D&D and Pathfinder are two different games, brands, etc... owned by two different companies... or is that opinion as well?

But Kre-O toys are D&D because they say Dungeons and Dragons on them? I have a bag that says Dungeons and Dragons with the 4e D&D logo on it, is that also D&D?

 

[Parmandur]

See, now we're talking about the market as a whole, which does seem to appreciate iconic charscters. Again, look at PF, but also 13th Age, most of what c7 makes, etc.
anecdotally, like your "I know no one that cares", many ppl I know have expressed a desire to see iconics in DnD. Most seem to have forgetten or never realized that the people in the 3e books had names. Wotc never did a good job of its iconics. That's probably why they just dropped it.

either way, I've never seen a single person express active dislike of them, to the point where it might decrease their interest in a product, so saying it would be a mistake to include them seems pretty weird.

Well, on that front, the 5E core does a great job, using actual iconic characters like Bruenor Battlehammer, Tanis Half-Elven or Drizzt for text examples, and using innamed generic characters for most art.

It's not that people would actively dislike it, just that it was a forgetable marketing gimmick. Some smaller games use the gimmick still, but eh.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

You realize others are arguing Kre-O figures and novels and miniatures and perhaps even branded dice are D&D but not a game made initially entirely based on compatibility with the actual game and perceived as D&D by many to be D&D?

They may be wrong too, but that doesn't affect the status of Pathfinder as not D&D, and vice versa.

 

[Imaro]

But Kre-O toys are D&D because they say Dungeons and Dragons on them? I have a bag that says Dungeons and Dragons with the 4e D&D logo on it, is that also D&D?

Plain and simple Mistwell... @Hussar asked for 3 iconic D&D characters that were non-white... someone replied with 3 iconic Pathfinder characters. [MENTION=22779]Hussar[/MENTION] didn't know them and was called out on wanting D&D characters of color but not remembering those we had at which point this tangent started because it was brought up that they were Pathfinder iconics and not D&D characters... which was what was specifically asked for. In that context Pathfinder having those characters is irrelevant to D&D having non-white iconic characters. Do you agree or disagree?

 

[Mistwell]

They may be wrong too, but that doesn't affect the status of Pathfinder as not D&D, and vice versa.

Again, for this topic, we're asking "How does the potential game-playing public perceive Dungeons and Dragons in general?" and not "technically speaking can Pathfinder be properly categorized as Dungeons and Dragons?" Those are different questions with likely different answers.

Which of these do you think is most likely to be perceived as people playing Dungeons and Dragons?

 

[Imaro]

Again, for this topic, we're asking "How do people perceive Dungeons and Dragons in general".

Which of these do you think is most likely to be perceived as people playing Dungeons and Dragons?

No that wasn't the question that this tangent is revolving around or started it... it was the defense for answering a request for non-white D&D iconics with those from the game Pathfinder.

EDIT: And if this is your criteria for what is or isn't D&D... every roleplaying game is probably perceived by the majority of people (non-gamers) as D&D...

 

[Mistwell]

No that wasn't the question that this tangent is revolving around or started it... it was the defense for answering a request for non-white D&D iconics with those from the game Pathfinder.

People are more likely to perceive non-white iconics in Pathfinder as "part of D&D" than they are to perceive iconics in Kre-O toys as "part of D&D" is my point. And yet you said you consider anything branded as D&D, which includes Kre-O toys, as D&D, but not Pathfinder. That seems to be flawed logic. If the potential game-playing public perceives Pathfinder to be D&D and as inclusive, that's relevant to a discussion of how D&D is perceived by the public in terms of inclusiveness. It's certainly at least as relevant as the branding on some lego-type toys.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

No that wasn't the question that this tangent is revolving around or started it... it was the defense for answering a request for non-white D&D iconics with those from the game Pathfinder.

EDIT: And if this is your criteria for what is or isn't D&D... every roleplaying game is probably perceived by the majority of people (non-gamers) as D&D...

And gamers. Ya can't look at that image and easily tell wht specific game it is. Most gamers I know call ttrpgs DnD.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I've been playing D&D for 30 years and at my table we pretty much refer to any of the D&D derivatives and OSR clones, etc as playing D&D. C&C was playing D&D, the OSR/3e mashup was D&D, etc. But technically they are not D&D. Though if you put 4e and Pathfinder on a table and told me to point at the D&D book I'd point at PF most likely.

 

[Shasarak]

It's not *really* the same people. The main staff at Paizo didn't work for WotC, and rest only worked in the periodical department.
Yes, the Paizo staff freelanced, but so did staff from lots of different companies. Green Ronin for one. That doesn't make Mutants & Masterminds into D&D.

Compare this with 13th Age that was designed by the lead designers for 3e and 4e, who were on staff and designed editions. Is 13th Age D&D just because former WotC staff worked on it? Not compatible, but very much D&D in flavour.
How about Numenera, designed by Monte Cook? It's not even really a D&D clone, but former WotC staff?
How about Star Wars? As d20 games, each of those was pretty much compatible with D&D. And they were actually published by WotC. Were they also D&D?

Can I play a Cleric in Star Wars? What about Numenera? I know that I can when I play Pathfinder.

Is Star Wars compatible with my other 3e WotC products? What about Numenera? I know that I can use them when I play Pathfinder.

Do you have any other examples of RPGs that you are not sure about?