D&D General Why Is D&D Successful?

[Micah Sweet]

performing above expectations...

That reads as "successful" to me.

 

[Imaro]

That reads as "successful" to me.

No, successful is meeting expectations...

 

[Oofta]

I said that clearly a lot of people enjoy it. Heck, I enjoy it, for the most part. That doesn't refute my assertion, at all. What exactly do you want from me?

I just get tired of people claiming the game is mediocre design. That 5E is "serviceable" and that it's only popular because of advertising is just brought up in every thread that touches on 5E. It's ... old.

 

[MockingBird]

I just get tired of people claiming the game is mediocre design. That 5E is "serviceable" and that it's only popular because of advertising is just brought up in every thread that touches on 5E. It's ... old.

I feel you on this. 5e is my favorite edition.

 

[Older Beholder]

In a lot of ways 5E does feel special to me.

I always struggle to think of a more innovative and elegant mechanic than advantage/disadvantage.

I'm also a big fan of Backgrounds and Inspiration for character creation and roleplaying (Although honestly, I don't have a wide enough experience with other games and have never played 4E to know if these are original to 5E or came from somewhere else).

It builds and improves on previous editions, taking the best of each and getting rid of the things that aren't needed or just didn't work.
It's also based on more feedback and playtesting than any other game, and I think they do a good job of responding to what players want and creating a gaming experience that matches how people are actually playing the game.

These are all bricks in the wall of what makes D&D successful.

 

[Micah Sweet]

No, successful is meeting expectations...

Very successful? And in any case you're just talking about money, which has little to do with quality.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Don't get me wrong, I always loved 3e. And it's difficult to learn. That's not necessarily a criticism, just an observation about its complexity.

Any RPG system has to find a balance between simplicity and completeness, between flexibility and consistency. I think 5e has become popular because it finds a good balance, and really shines when GMs embrace the flexibility. Could it use more robust social and exploration pillars? Probably, but that's the great thing: it's really easy to introduce homebrew subsystems into it.

5e has become a lingua franca among RPG players. I think at least some of that is due to 5e's merits, and not only luck and historical coincidence.

English is the lingua franca of the modern world.

Would you thus argue that, because so many people speak it, it must be easy to learn?

 

[Imaro]

Very successful? And in any case you're just talking about money, which has little to do with quality.

I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about the goals for a rules set/product.

Edit: If I was talking about money I'd use profitable.

 

[MGibster]

I just get tired of people claiming the game is mediocre design. That 5E is "serviceable" and that it's only popular because of advertising is just brought up in every thread that touches on 5E. It's ... old.

I'm in agreement here. It's a good game. I have my criticisms of it, as I do with every game, but overall it's pretty good. I don't think the rules are the reason D&D exploded in popularity in recent years, and I typically reject arguments that something is popular because of advertising. Advertising might get people through the door, but if it's bad word of mouth will kill it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm not talking about money. I'm talking about the goals for a rules set/product.

Edit: If I was talking about money I'd use profitable.

I'm pretty sure the goals for this product were to make a bunch of money for WotC by getting as many people as possible to buy it.