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

DEFCON 1 said:

I wasn't referring to D&D's design, publishing or players, I was referring to the other games that wanted to be "more popular". I agree with you that D&D design has little to nothing to do with the question, which is why I didn't talk about that. If I didn't make that clear, I apologize.

Click to expand...

UngeheuerLich said:

Have you seen children play? Power fantsies are attractive. And later, if your job and life is stressful, do you enjoy struggling in the game too?

D&D is a way of escaping reality. If you offer something as bad as reality, don't expect sales.

Click to expand...

UngainlyTitan said:

I think that power fantasy and escapism is a core element of its appeal. Most people feel that they are powerless in real life and few entertainments give them a feeling of powerlessness. With D&D you can have personal agency and shake the foundations of the earth.

Click to expand...

Zardnaar said:

I think it's more that it hits a lot of cultural/religious tropes and myths and legends that have been popular for millenia.

A new Sci fi game for example is really only going to appear to Sci fi nerds who also like rpgs.

Click to expand...

DarkCrisis said:

Sure. I get it. Though as I was saying, it makes it hard for them to try other games and genres that aren’t power fantasies.

There are a lot of great games out there that aren’t D&D.

Click to expand...

UngainlyTitan said:

I am not disputing that. Just think that easy mode is what a lot of people want. Life is tough, no need to make ones hobby tough also. That is not meant to take from those that want something with more challenge.

Click to expand...

UngeheuerLich said:

Have you seen children play? Power fantsies are attractive. And later, if your job and life is stressful, do you enjoy struggling in the game too?

D&D is a way of escaping reality. If you offer something as bad as reality, don't expect sales.

Click to expand...

DarkCrisis said:

I do, but I also like a certain level of danger and difficulty. Some of us play (video) games on easy mode and some on normal or hard.

Click to expand...

DarkCrisis said:

Im here for an adventure with all the rewards and danger that offers. I want LotRs, not Delicious in Dungeon.

Click to expand...

DarkCrisis said:

Though my group that I DM tends to be more Sponge Bob in Lodoss War.

Click to expand...

Micah Sweet said:

Again with the two options? Power fantasy or "bad as reality"? Come on. There are worlds of options in between the two extremes you've suggested.

Click to expand...

DEFCON 1 said:

I don't find anything wrong with 5E being so dominant. If other games were worth being more popular, they would be. The designers could make changes if necessary to make their games more popular if that level of "popularity" really mattered to them... publishers could advertise more if a higher popularity than what they currently have was that important to them... players who liked and played those other games could spend more time advocating for them and running games of them for people who didn't know about them if higher popularity mattered that much.

I'm of the opinion that once you reach a certain level of scale... any single individual voice ceases to matter. And thus one or two people saying "X should be more popular" is a meaningless statement, when you would need thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of additional people out there to actually make something "more popular". If they aren't there, then it means 'X' is only as popular as it needs to be right now. So don't blame Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition because (general) you, as an individual voice, can't find anyone willing to play your Legend of the Five Rings game since they only want to play D&D 5E. That just means you haven't done enough to make the idea of playing Lot5R popular enough to get others to sit at the table with you. It happens. And lessening the "popularity" of D&D 5E won't suddenly make your Lot5R table worth sitting at.

Click to expand...