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<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8522929" data-attributes="member: 7023840">Why did D&amp;D &quot;take off?&quot; (Most of this is taken from memory from various sources, including the excellent Game Wizards by Peterson which has the best account of the sales of early D&amp;D). 1. Originally, it didn't. I mean, it did pretty well, much better than expected, but it wasn't the alpha and omega of all things.2. The first problem was that OD&amp;D wasn't very easy to understand from just the rules. So the initial bursts of sales corresponded to conventions where people were able to see how it was played first-hand. Once you could understand the gist of how it was played, then you could play it yourself.3. From there, D&amp;D primarily spread through existing hobbyist channels during the 70s. Specifically, there were two- the wargaming community and the Sci-Fi community (which was an umbrella term that included fantasy). These two communities, along with some college scene, was the primary driver of D&amp;D during the 70s.&nbsp; Still it was incredibly niche during that time- it was very dominant in terms of the wargaming community (for example), but still quite niche overall.4. Two things combined led to the explosion of D&amp;D. The first was the disappearance of James Egbert III in 1979 (the basis for the later Mazes &amp; Monsters movie with Tom Hanks). Without going too far into it, Egbert's parents hired a private detective who blamed everything on D&amp;D to the national media. Suddenly, a lot of people want to play D&amp;D across the nation (I know.... all publicity is good publicity). In effect, Egbert's disappearance was the rocket fuel that D&amp;D needed for national growth and prominence, leading to what most people remember as the &quot;golden age&quot; of D&amp;D's prominence.The second factor was something that eventually killed off TSR- 1979 was also when the signed the Random House deal. This allowed D&amp;D to be in all sorts of places that other games weren't; it's why, for example, people could find D&amp;D everywhere from Sears to Waldenbooks to Kaybee Toys to Scholastic book fairs.&nbsp; In short, the combination of nationwide publicity and the Random House deal led to the explosion of D&amp;D in the 80s. There are other factors, but that's the nutshell.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 8522929, member: 7023840"] Why did D&D "take off?" (Most of this is taken from memory from various sources, including the excellent [I]Game Wizards[/I] by Peterson which has the best account of the sales of early D&D). 1. Originally, it didn't. I mean, it did pretty well, much better than expected, but it wasn't the alpha and omega of all things. 2. The first problem was that OD&D wasn't very easy to understand from just the rules. So the initial bursts of sales corresponded to [I]conventions[/I] where people were able to see how it was played first-hand. Once you could understand the gist of how it was played, then you could play it yourself. 3. From there, D&D primarily spread through [I]existing hobbyist channels during the 70s[/I]. Specifically, there were two- the wargaming community and the Sci-Fi community (which was an umbrella term that included fantasy). These two communities, along with some college scene, was the primary driver of D&D during the 70s. Still it was incredibly niche during that time- it was very dominant in terms of the wargaming community (for example), but still quite niche overall. 4. Two things combined led to the explosion of D&D. The first was the disappearance of James Egbert III in 1979 (the basis for the later Mazes & Monsters movie with Tom Hanks). Without going too far into it, Egbert's parents hired a private detective who blamed everything on D&D to the national media. Suddenly, a lot of people want to play D&D across the nation (I know.... all publicity is good publicity). In effect, Egbert's disappearance was the rocket fuel that D&D needed for national growth and prominence, leading to what most people remember as the "golden age" of D&D's prominence. The second factor was something that eventually killed off TSR- 1979 was also when the signed the Random House deal. This allowed D&D to be in all sorts of places that other games weren't; it's why, for example, people could find D&D everywhere from Sears to Waldenbooks to Kaybee Toys to Scholastic book fairs. In short, the combination of nationwide publicity and the Random House deal led to the explosion of D&D in the 80s. There are other factors, but that's the nutshell. [/QUOTE]

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