D&D 5E How Important is Stranger Things to the Success of 5e

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

But the question is, given that the latter are "outside of gaming", do they suddenly decide that "gaming is cool" because some children in a '80s-set sci-fi thriller show play a game? I am skeptical that they do.

Whereas people "inside gaming", i.e. they may already be playing videogames or board games (particularly the latter, in my experience), are much more likely to go "Hmmm, Critical Role sure makes role-playing look fun!" and take the plunge, because them it's a dive off the edge of the pool, whereas for the "outside gaming" people it's climbing a 30ft ladder and then diving from there.

I'd also note that fewer and fewer people are genuinely "outside of gaming" as you get younger. It's a bit like finding a kid in the '90s who was "outside of television" - they existed, hell, one of the people I used to play RPGs with a lot was banned from watching TV at all when at home - but they weren't common.

I see your point, but the audience between the two is vastly different in size. And I can pretty much guarantee Stranger Things has created more interest in DND than critical role has, and I think by quite a bit.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I see your point, but the audience between the two is vastly different in size. And I can pretty much guarantee Stranger Things has created more interest in DND than critical role has, and I think by quite a bit.

I think that depends entirely on how you define "interest" and whether you think it matters if that interest translates to actually buying/playing D&D. I very much doubt there are more people playing D&D because of Stranger Things than Critical Role, especially given how fast 5E's audience grew.

 

[RuinousPowers]

They exist for effectively opposite reasons. The D&D scene in ET exists because D&D was a THING at the time, a cultural touchstone. It exists in Stranger Things frankly because it existed in ET. ST is a pastiche of everything 80s. Of course, the Duffers were part of the generation that grew up on D&D so they included more but the reason they put it in at all is nostalgia, not because it was, at the time, a cultural touchston

Since 5e was already outselling older editions, and D&D had already influenced everything from video games, movies, and huge backlog of novels, I would argue it is still a cultural touchstone when ST came out.

 

[Reynard]

Since 5e was already outselling older editions, and D&D had already influenced everything from video games, movies, and huge backlog of novels, I would argue it is still a cultural touchstone when ST came out.

Sure, but it was a much more niche touchstone that after.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

My suspicion is that Stranger Things has had a minor positive impact on 5e's success and a bigger impact on drawing and-or returning people to 1e or similar, as that's the version of the game they're playing* in the show.

* - at least in the show's 1st season, didn't watch beyond that.

I bet that it brought families in... a father (maybe a mother but I am betting more dads) played 1e, his kids saw stranger things he wanted to introduce them to teh game and heard there was a new edition.

 

[Charlaquin]

I think the lower barrier of entry to play of 5E and slow book release got the boulder up the hill. The internets and social media kicked it over the edge.

Would you say it was running up that hilll? Running up that road? Running up that building?

 

[Charlaquin]

I will say this: for those outside of gaming stranger things has been much more impact than critical role. I know no one who watches Critical Role, or anyone who knows anyone to watches it. But I know a lot of people who watch Stranger Things.

On the other hand, most of my coworkers play D&D, and all but like three of them watched Critical Role first and then tried D&D.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Would you say it was running up that hilll? Running up that road? Running up that building?

I'm going to plug this thread again:

I Wanna Be Kate: The Kate Bush Primer

If you're a long-time fan of Kate Bush, very little has surprised you more than the sudden popular resurgence of Kate. Driven by the use of her song, Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God), the only two things that might be more surprising than Kate rocketing up the charts again is finding out...

www.enworld.org

One of my favorites. I mean, if I could do a "Kate Bush in Greyhawk as explained by recent scholarly work on the history of TTRPGs," I'd probably be able to retire.

 

[Reynard]

On the other hand, most of my coworkers play D&D, and all but like three of them watched Critical Role first and then tried D&D.

I wonder what the breakdown is between "were fans* of CR and decided to try it" versus "were curious about D&D so sought out CR to understand it".

*not to be confused with were-fans

 

[Charlaquin]

I wonder what the breakdown is between "were fans* of CR and decided to try it" versus "were curious about D&D so sought out CR to understand it".

*not to be confused with were-fans

I’ve seen a fair bit of both. At work it reached a certain critical mass and became a thing where people were checking it out because everyone else at work was talking about it.