D&D General D&D's Utter Dominance Is Good or Bad Because...

[Wolfpack48]

The only thing I can point to is my own experience. I started roleplaying in 1976, with of course Basic D&D. We moved on to AD&D pretty quickly and played it for years, had a lot of fun. But throughout that time we were trying different games, Call of Cthulhu 1e, Paranoia, RuneQuest, Champions, MERP, Rolemaster, Traveller, Harn, Star Wars, Top Secret. All that time D&D was the dominant game most people played. At no time did we feel hindered from trying other stuff. Maybe today there’s less 3rd party content on the shelf at the local FLGS, but I still do find other titles. And of course Drivethru. For our last RQ campaign I advertised it specifically (bulletin board at the game store) and got a decent number of responses, 2 new people who joined a 2 year campaign who we still play with. Maybe it’s more selling the campaign idea over the system that pulls in new players but I’ve never got a “I only play D&D” response.

 

[MNblockhead]

The only thing I can point to is my own experience. I started roleplaying in 1976, with of course Basic D&D. We moved on to AD&D pretty quickly and played it for years, had a lot of fun. But throughout that time we were trying different games, Call of Cthulhu 1e, Paranoia, RuneQuest, Champions, MERP, Rolemaster, Traveller, Harn, Star Wars, Top Secret. All that time D&D was the dominant game most people played. At no time did we feel hindered from trying other stuff. Maybe today there’s less 3rd party content on the shelf at the local FLGS, but I still do find other titles. And of course Drivethru. For our last RQ campaign I advertised it specifically (bulletin board at the game store) and got a decent number of responses, 2 new people who joined a 2 year campaign who we still play with. Maybe it’s more selling the campaign idea over the system that pulls in new players but I’ve never got a “I only play D&D” response.

In the 80s, EVERYONE I knew who played TTRPGs played multiple systems. Nearly all of us started with Basic or Advanced D&D, but we also played a lot of different systems.

It doesn't feel like that is as much the case these days. I'm sure a good number of new fans brought into the hobby with D&D go on to play other systems, but by my observations it seems fewer people go on to try fewer other games.

I wonder if this is in part because, at least with the people I was playing with in the 80s, long campaigns were not really not at common. The focus with D&D, and many TTRPGs, these days seems focused on long adventures. It requires much more of a commitment to that game.

 

[FrogReaver]

What absolute bullocks. If you are trying to put together a not D&D 5E game, thhe overwhelming popularity of 5E D&D absolutely affects your outcome. It is so obviously true that suggesting otherwise is either denial or disingenuous.

Ahem. It’s not d&d’s popularity that’s a problem when it comes to finding groups for other games. It’s the other games lack of popularity that’s the problem with finding groups for those games.

 

[FrogReaver]

In the 80s, EVERYONE I knew who played TTRPGs played multiple systems. Nearly all of us started with Basic or Advanced D&D, but we also played a lot of different systems.

It doesn't feel like that is as much the case these days. I'm sure a good number of new fans brought into the hobby with D&D go on to play other systems, but by my observations it seems fewer people go on to try fewer other games.

I wonder if this is in part because, at least with the people I was playing with in the 80s, long campaigns were not really not at common. The focus with D&D, and many TTRPGs, these days seems focused on long adventures. It requires much more of a commitment to that game.

1. Kids have a ton more time.
2. Ttrpgs compete with video games for time.
3. Alot of the newer rpg players are more casual which means they aren’t going to want invest the time to try a bunch of different systems.

 

[FrogReaver]

How? If you have 5 tables of X in your area, you still have 5 tables of X whether you have 0 tables of D&D or 100. The math, the odds of one of those 5 tables of X [having an opening], doesn't change.

If you're assuming there are more than 5 tables of X if there are 0 tables of D&D then it's an entirely different premise.

Right… it’s like assuming that if the NFL was not so popular there would be more people watching volleyball.

 

[Hussar]

It has?? Beyond 'accessible, with high polling approval' what is their stated design goals?

Lessee:

1. Keep the game simple and accessible.
2. Support FLGS play.
3. Appeal as broadly as possible.
4. Keep their publications as generic as possible to allow individual tables to customize the game as they see fit.
5. Keep the number of publications down to make each publication an event in and of itself.

Did I miss anything? All one has to do is read the Dragon publications they used to make (I do miss those) and actually read what they say/watch their videos. It's not like they're hiding anything. They've been crystal clear and upfront from the get go.

 

[Scribe]

Lessee:

1. Keep the game simple and accessible.
2. Support FLGS play.
3. Appeal as broadly as possible.
4. Keep their publications as generic as possible to allow individual tables to customize the game as they see fit.
5. Keep the number of publications down to make each publication an event in and of itself.

Did I miss anything? All one has to do is read the Dragon publications they used to make (I do miss those) and actually read what they say/watch their videos. It's not like they're hiding anything. They've been crystal clear and upfront from the get go.

So accessible with high approval rating via being as safe and generic as possible.

 

[Hussar]

So accessible with high approval rating via being as safe and generic as possible.

Sounds about right.

 

[mamba]

Lessee:

1. Keep the game simple and accessible.
2. Support FLGS play.
3. Appeal as broadly as possible.
4. Keep their publications as generic as possible to allow individual tables to customize the game as they see fit.
5. Keep the number of publications down to make each publication an event in and of itself.

so basically what @Scribe said... 1, 3 and 4 are basically 'accessible' and 'high approval'. 2 and 5 are not really design goals. The addition is that 'high approval' is accomplished by being generic

 

[Thomas Shey]

In the 80s, EVERYONE I knew who played TTRPGs played multiple systems. Nearly all of us started with Basic or Advanced D&D, but we also played a lot of different systems.

It doesn't feel like that is as much the case these days. I'm sure a good number of new fans brought into the hobby with D&D go on to play other systems, but by my observations it seems fewer people go on to try fewer other games.

I wonder if this is in part because, at least with the people I was playing with in the 80s, long campaigns were not really not at common. The focus with D&D, and many TTRPGs, these days seems focused on long adventures. It requires much more of a commitment to that game.

I think there were a couple factors that contributed to this in the early days:

1. D&D, while still the big dog, was not quite as huge. That meant more people were likely to hit RPGing through other games in the first place.

2. The vast majority of early RPGers were SF fans (as in, active fans) or wargamers. And such people were more likely to be interested in things beyond the experience D&D offered early on and actively look around.