D&D Has the Biggest Playerbase, So Why is it the Hardest for 3rd Party to Market Too?

[Hawk Diesel]

I'm willing to bet that most D&D players around the world will either have no idea or only have a vague notion that 3pp content even exists.

There is a natural tendency for "super-fans" (such as those frequenting these boards, people going to conventions, etc.) to think that the rest of the hobby is just like them.

In my experience, most D&D players are casual players. They get together, play the game, have fun, laugh and drink and when finished go home. They don't sweat the rules, worry about character-balance, optimizations or any of the zillion things that we think are so important. What is so great about 5e that you don't need to do any of that and still have fun.

This, I believe, lies at the heart of the apparent success of 5e and which also explains (a) WotC's release schedule/strategy and (b) why third-party publishers are perhaps not getting much reflected glory: they cater to us, the super-fans and not to the vast multitudes that make up the majority of the market.

This comment hit me hard. I never thought about it, but yea. Most other players I know do not spend even a fraction of the time that I do reading rules, crafting homebrew content, tweaking official material to adjust game balance, or scouring message boards and DMSGuild for new ideas and content. I never really considered myself a super fan, but it does explain some things.

Sorry for the aside from the discussion.

 

[fjw70]

Yep, 40 years of material to pull from. Right now I am running the 1e Dragonlance campaign with the kids and using 2e Spelljammer material for my adult group. I haven’t ever touched the 5e hardcover adventures yet (except a little of YotYP).

 

[ccs]

So 1st party = WoTC/TSR
3rd party = everyone else.

Who's the 2nd party?

 

[TwoSix]

So 1st party = WoTC/TSR
3rd party = everyone else.

Who's the 2nd party?

You are.

 

[fjw70]

So 1st party = WoTC/TSR
3rd party = everyone else.

Who's the 2nd party?

Us, the customers.

 

[Greg K]

I thought second party were for those companies with official licenses like Judge's Guild used to have for AD&D. Live and learn.

 

[Parmandur]

I'm not.

Every rpg needs adventures, though they are the money losers (since only 1/5 of the customer base - the DMs - are on the market, and not every DM likes every adventure).

In other words adventures aren't WotC's problem. If adventures was even close to the main bulk of 3PP content WotC would be a happy camper indeed.

I believe the evidence since 3E, per WotC is that only that fraction that buys adventures buys *any* books at all, basically. The separate product for everyone at the table strategy was a bust, that's why all the books are DM/Player smorgasbords now.

 

[Parmandur]

First, Eberron was not a third-party product.

Second, it's not unreasonable to say that Critical Role's Tal'Dorei at least has the potential to be 5e's Eberron. The setting has huge popularity and brand recognition, and from what I've heard the initial sales have been phenomenal.

Tal'Dorei might we'll be more popular now than Eberron ever was.

 

[Zardnaar]

I thought second party were for those companies with official licenses like Judge's Guild used to have for AD&D. Live and learn.

I would be willing to bet most D&D players use verylittle material, core books, an adventure or 2 maybe 1 or 2 splats.

Of those an even smaller fraction would probably know what 3pp actually is or even if it exists. Unless you are plugged into the forums, maybe social media or have a game store with a decent range its understandable IMHO.

 

[Ancalagon]

Kobold Press is doing very well with a couple must-have books.

What are those, out of curiosity?