7 Years of D&D Stories? And a "Big Reveal" Coming?

When asked what he was working on, WotC's Chris Perkins revealed a couple of juicy tidbits. They're not much, but they're certainly tantalizing. Initially, he said that "Our marketing team has a big reveal in the works", and followed that up separately with "Right now I'm working on the next seven years of D&D stories". What all that might mean is anybody's guess, but it sounds like there are plans for D&D stretching into the foreseeable future! Thanks to Barantor for the scoop!

 

[Halivar]

Yep, this. For an awful lot of people, D&D = RPG and RPG = D&D. Heck, you'll find some people saying "we're playing D&D" when they're actually playing Pathfinder - I doubt you'll find the reverse.

This is false, fallacious, and a slanderous lie. We play Pathfinder and Pathfinder only at my table!

*pulls out RIFTS books*

 

[BryonD]

While technically possible, I really don't think Pathfinder will EVER eclipse D&D as the industry leading RPG, EVER. Not because D&D is better, as that's pretty subjective, but because D&D is the OG RPG.

Pathfinder is a beloved and best-selling RPG and probably will continue to be for quite some time, but it isn't serious competition to D&D.

Things change

Before getting hung up on that, keep in mind that it is not a yes/no question. The brand recognition issue is entirely about shades of grey. D&D can be number 1 for a very long time and still be worth a lot less than its full potential.

But D&D will always be #1 to *you and the people you know*. The people who will be leading the economy 20 years from now have not heard of RPGs yet.

But in even shorter term than that, the "OG" gamers are doing nothing but aging. A few more will be gone (from the market at least) by the end of the month. And new players who have never heard of RPGs will discover it this month. They will hear of D&D. But they will also hear of PF. And neither one will have a special place in the heart as the original. They are both "old school" games as far as the new player is concerned.

At the same time, people do evolve in their focus. Not everyone is you and history is loading with people who were shocked when society passed them by.
History is is also loaded with brand kings that faded into being just part of the pack. (or even complete oblivion).
It can happen quite suddenly.

Also, don't get hung up on Pathfinder. Pathfinder is big in play right now, but there could be another game (or three) that take over the industry. There is constantly a push of innovation and ideas and a few of them are actually good. The leader must always stay in the now and ahead of the pack.

Also, it can just take one major technology change for the entire marketplace to change their view of what they want, and being OG suddenly becomes either irrelevant, or even an albatross.

The presumption that these things can not change, that brands are not fragile in the overall market is really short-sighted and naive.

 

[BryonD]

Yep, this. For an awful lot of people, D&D = RPG and RPG = D&D. Heck, you'll find some people saying "we're playing D&D" when they're actually playing Pathfinder - I doubt you'll find the reverse.

You don't need to find the reverse. You just need to find people who simply say anything other than D&D.

There was a time when finding someone who said they used Netflix instead of Blockbuster was an interesting example of someone bucking the trend.
I doubt there was ever a time when people said they used Blockbuster instead of Netflix

 

[delericho]

You don't need to find the reverse. You just need to find people who simply say anything other than D&D.

Fair point. You'll still not find any more than a tiny minority who do that - far fewer than those who say D&D when they mean something else.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm a big fan of Paizo. They've done extremely well, and Pathfinder is a good game. It was deservedly the top selling RPG for the past few years, and indeed it may very well be again before too long. Indeed, that's probably inevitable unless WotC start putting out some more books.

But in terms of brand awareness, and thus in terms of being the "industry leader", Paizo and Pathfinder are way behind. And, indeed, they always will be, unless and until WotC take D&D out of print for a period of several years.

 

[BryonD]

Fair point. You'll still not find any more than a tiny minority who do that - far fewer than those who say D&D when they mean something else.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm a big fan of Paizo. They've done extremely well, and Pathfinder is a good game. It was deservedly the top selling RPG for the past few years, and indeed it may very well be again before too long. Indeed, that's probably inevitable unless WotC start putting out some more books.

But in terms of brand awareness, and thus in terms of being the "industry leader", Paizo and Pathfinder are way behind. And, indeed, they always will be, unless and until WotC take D&D out of print for a period of several years.

I'm a huge fan of Paizo and 5E.

It is naive to assume that the future will depend on your assessment.
And, again, I'm not putting my bet of Pathfinder, I am just saying that D&D can become the next Blockbuster faster than you think.

 

[Umbran]

The presumption that these things can not change, that brands are not fragile in the overall market is really short-sighted and naive.

Yes, but... (there's always a but)

There's more to overtaking brand awareness than selling more books to current customers. Pathfinder is, at the moment, doing nothing that WotC is not also doing. Pathfinder, specifically, does not seem to be doing anything that takes their name *beyond* their traditional customers. The MMO might do that, if it is a fantastic game, but otherwise the only word is what's sitting on bookstore shelves - and we know how many people actually look at bookstores these days, right?

Meanwhile, D&D gets mentioned on highly-rated national TV shows. And someone is apt to make a major motion picture with "D&D" on it in the not-too-distant future.

So, while it is possible for the brand awareness to change, I don't see it as happening due to current actions on the part of either company.

 

[BryonD]

Yes, but... (there's always a but)

There's more to overtaking brand awareness than selling more books to current customers. Pathfinder is, at the moment, doing nothing that WotC is not also doing. Pathfinder, specifically, does not seem to be doing anything that takes their name *beyond* their traditional customers. The MMO might do that, if it is a fantastic game, but otherwise the only word is what's sitting on bookstore shelves - and we know how many people actually look at bookstores these days, right?

Meanwhile, D&D gets mentioned on highly-rated national TV shows. And someone is apt to make a major motion picture with "D&D" on it in the not-too-distant future.

So, while it is possible for the brand awareness to change, I don't see it as happening due to current actions on the part of either company.

They are putting out RPG books monthly.

That is something more.

But I'm not disputing your point here.
D&D absolutely has the strong inside track and *IF* they stay modern and proactive the leading position is theirs to own.

 

[delericho]

It is naive to assume that the future will depend on your assessment.

Of course. I'm not claiming the gift of prophecy here, just giving an opinion.

And, again, I'm not putting my bet of Pathfinder, I am just saying that D&D can become the next Blockbuster faster than you think.

If that's the case, then we have to look at why Netflix has eclipsed Blockbuster. And the reason for that is actually quite simple: the technology moved on.

There is an analogy for that as regards RPGs, and it has in fact already happened. It's called "World of Warcraft".

 

[Wicht]

Anecdotal evidences of the truthiness of what BryonD is saying...

This past week, the conversation turned in our house to whether or not we play Dungeons and Dragons when we play Pathfinder. My oldest girl, 16 on the 16th, was defending that when we play Pathfinder we play Dnd, but her siblings (14 and 17) were adamant that we do not play Dungeons and Dragons, that we play Pathfinder.

I talked with my son (17) about my desire to buy the 5e books, if only for nostalgic reasons. He had no such compulsion or loyalty to Dungeons and Dragons as a brand. He is firmly in the Pathfinder camp, nostalgically, even though his first exposure to roleplaying was 3e.

My niece and nephew's (10) exposure to rpgs was the Pathfinder Basic Box. You think when they think of RPGs their mind is going to say "DnD?"

The Pathfinder brand has grown and we kid ourselves if we think things do not change marketwise. That does not mean that it will always be thus, but the experiences of those of us who grew up in the 80s(or 70s for some of you) playing ADnD are not the experiences of those forming their brand recognition right now. You look in the stores and WotC shares equal shelf-space with Paizo. People getting their first exposure to the industry are not aware of the legacy of the brands. They simply know what they see at the moment of their introduction.

 

[BryonD]

Of course. I'm not claiming the gift of prophecy here, just giving an opinion.

OK, Dire Bear said it won't happen EVER (all caps), and you said "this". so I took that as you strongly endorsing his all-caps level certainty.

If that's the case, then we have to look at why Netflix has eclipsed Blockbuster. And the reason for that is actually quite simple: the technology moved on.

No, technology moved AND blockbuster didn't appreciate the need to keep up.
Blockbuster had just as strong of an inside track as D&D has now. If they had stayed ahead of the market, they *could* have been the streaming company of today. (A lot of other things would have to happen, but they had the upper hand)

There is an analogy for that as regards RPGs, and it has in fact already happened. It's called "World of Warcraft".

This is the same mistake of looking at the past and thinking it tells you everything you need for the future.
You don't know what the next technology change will be.

And, more importantly, it may be some other change (not technology) that plays the same role.