D&D General All Basic, B/X and BECMI and Rules Cyclopedia set sales, from Ben Riggs.

[Yaarel]

LOL!

The drop in sales 1984 could represent a difference between the many people who initially bought the books versus the few people who were able to make sense of its poorly written rules.

From that point on, D&D transitions into an oral tradition, rather than a written tradition. Thus, learning to play from someone who already knows how to play makes sharing books and homebrew rules more commonplace.

 

[Reynard]

I don't really think it will, honestly. Back when 5E was being developed and released, there was talk about making it "the evergreen edition" of the game, and I'm starting to think they actually pulled it off.

But it hasn't solved the fundamental problems of ttrpgs as mass appeal activities I mentioned: time, players, and commitment. I would be very interested in data - if it exists - of how many D&D sessions are being played per week, for how long and by what method/venue.

 

[Malmuria]

Also interesting that the expert sales are so much lower than the basic sales. After level 3, did people move on to advanced? Or, perhaps more likely, games fizzled out and interest went elsewhere.

Oh, absolutely. They definitely drew ideas from all eras of the game, but I've heard Mearla talk about how their core goal was to go back to what made Basic work.

I feel like they are getting away from that goal with all the new options. Granted, new options are more for experienced players, but I hope they remember to keep the core game simple for the 2024 edition

 

[darjr]

But it hasn't solved the fundamental problems of ttrpgs as mass appeal activities I mentioned: time, players, and commitment. I would be very interested in data - if it exists - of how many D&D sessions are being played per week, for how long and by what method/venue.

I would also like those numbers but it may be next to impossible.

About solving the problem? Having a magnitude more players goes a long way to fixing those. The more players the more DMs the more chance of finding a compatible group and the more play there is.

As an aside the more players the more stores and other places support public play which in this edition has just grown and grown around here. The pandemic being a huge hurdle that stopped it for a while, it took a pandemic to slow it down.

We probably could have had several more tables running games at Midlands Pride, for example.

Even now it’s only been a couple weeks since my local store has had public games of D&D and we are at the point we may have to turn down new DMs or expand to more nights.

 

[DarkCrisis]

You'll pry my Rules Cyclopedia out of my cold dead hands.

 

[darjr]

Also interesting that the expert sales are so much lower than the basic sales. After level 3, did people move on to advanced? Or, perhaps more likely, games fizzled out and interest went elsewhere.



I feel like they are getting away from that goal with all the new options. Granted, new options are more for experienced players, but I hope they remember to keep the core game simple for the 2024 edition

I did get the expert set. But we moved on to AD&D by then.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't really think it will, honestly. Back when 5E was being developed and released, there was talk about making it "the evergreen edition" of the game, and I'm starting to think they actually pulled it off.

Yeah, I think the post-streaming world has broken down a lot of barriers to understanding that limited growth.

 

[Mannahnin]

Also interesting that the expert sales are so much lower than the basic sales. After level 3, did people move on to advanced? Or, perhaps more likely, games fizzled out and interest went elsewhere.

I did get the expert set. But we moved on to AD&D by then.

Yeah, I think there was a substantial amount of AD&D being perceived as the "real" game, for "serious, grown-up" players, and that led to kids who got Basic and were really hooked almost inevitably transitioning to AD&D. I'm sure some players also lost interest.

But it hasn't solved the fundamental problems of ttrpgs as mass appeal activities I mentioned: time, players, and commitment. I would be very interested in data - if it exists - of how many D&D sessions are being played per week, for how long and by what method/venue.

About solving the problem? Having a magnitude more players goes a long way to fixing those. The more players the more DMs the more chance of finding a compatible group and the more play there is.

I'd also love to see such numbers.

I suspect that 5E growth is benefitting hugely from streaming and online play. Streaming largely solves the issue of "How do I actually do this?" that you used to need a mentor for. Online/Discord/VTT play largely solves the issue of player availability.

D&D's sheer popularity also increases the ease of finding a local physical group. A virtuous circle of network effects.

 

[Yaarel]

Also interesting that the expert sales are so much lower than the basic sales. After level 3, did people move on to advanced? Or, perhaps more likely, games fizzled out and interest went elsewhere.

I might have assumed so. But the Basic continues to sell more than Advanced, even from 1984 to 1988.

I suspect most Basic players were casual and content with low level play.

 

[darjr]

I just saw a near mint Expert Set, the one that went with Moldvay Basic, on an auction site. Near mint, with original bagged dice.

The bids are at $300 and climbing.