What Does a "Successful" RPG Look Like?

[The Soloist]

It's still relevant 10 years after launch. The company that published it provides steady employment for its employees (even if just a one man publishing house) producing content for it without big boom and bust swings.

In other words, it is to paper what Stardew Valley or Skyrim is to video games.

There is a short list that meet that criteria. CoC and D&D are certainly on it. Traveller might make the cut. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, maybe? Castles & Crusades is starting to get to that point.

Interesting metric. 10 years is a long time in the business world. Savage Worlds would qualify. Shadow of the Demonlord (2015) still gets adventures regularly.

 

[Celebrim]

Interesting metric. 10 years is a long time in the business world. Savage Worlds would qualify.

I definitely should have mentioned Savage Worlds.

 

[The Soloist]

I definitely should have mentioned Savage Worlds.

GURPS too.

How old is Morrus' WOIN?

 

[Aldarc]

so I gave my longer list but now I'll narrow down based on these excellent conversations on what I think would tell me a game is "successful" which might mean "healthy" or whatever.

• I can actually buy it and own it (PDF or print).
• I hear people talking about it and talking about actually running it on Discord or forums or wherever.
• It has some sort of open license so I know people can keep writing for it even if the creators abandon it.
• I can find people running games of it at conventions.

There are a lot of Free League and BRP games that you could probably add to your list based on these metrics.

 

[Reynard]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this thread is quickly turning into a place where people show their bubbles.

Just because you see or don't see a game likely says nothing about its success or popularity, because we all cultivate our information ecosystems -- whether we mean to or not.

 

[The Soloist]

There is always someone who states the obvious.

 

[SlyFlourish]

For me, social media presence is not a good metric to evaluate success. Shadowdark on social media like YouTube is gargantuan, you would think millions are playing it regularly. Not the case.

how many are playing it?

 

[SlyFlourish]

There are a lot of Free League and BRP games that you could probably add to your list based on these metrics.

Yep! Like I said, it's far from a complete list. Just some games that might be on the threshold?

 

[SlyFlourish]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this thread is quickly turning into a place where people show their bubbles.

Just because you see or don't see a game likely says nothing about its success or popularity, because we all cultivate our information ecosystems -- whether we mean to or not.

That's actually part of the design of the question! I want to see the variance in people's views on this.

 

[The Soloist]

how many are playing it?

Dionne has said she sold 30,000 copies, which is excellent for an indie RPG. Assuming there is one book per 3-5 player table, that would mean 90,000 to 150,000 players IF they all play regularly and the book is not collecting dust on the shelves as another FOMO game that got played once or never or the group switched to another RPG.