D&D 5E Are we at, or close, to peak D&D? Again?

[embee]

My money is on C rather than B. D&D is going the way of baseball cards, not video games.

 

[Zardnaar]

Well the one thing that's true is it will be popular enough until it isn't.

 

[Stormonu]

I feel like the player base is still on the uptick, but the product has peaked and is heading for a downturn of rushed and poorly appealing product.

I’ve lived through two growth spurts of the game, and I’d certainly like to ride this coaster as long as I can, but I know eventually the rush will end. Hopefully not in a crash - but I think in around 5 years we will be looking backwards at the “glory years” of the game again as it settles back to becoming “a geek game I used to play”.

 

[Parmandur]

My money is on C rather than B. D&D is going the way of baseball cards, not video games.

...

You say that like baseball cards aren't still hugely popular? My local Target doesn't even put out the sports trading cards in the open anymore, there is a designated time on Friday when people can come to a desk to buy sports trading cards or Pokemon cards.

 

[jmartkdr2]

I feel like the player base is still on the uptick, but the product has peaked and is heading for a downturn of rushed and poorly appealing product.

I’ve lived through two growth spurts of the game, and I’d certainly like to ride this coaster as long as I can, but I know eventually the rush will end. Hopefully not in a crash - but I think in around 5 years we will be looking backwards at the “glory years” of the game again as it settles back to becoming “a geek game I used to play”.

I agree with this overall: Dungeons & Dragons (tm) will peak and start to fall in the next few years. I guess the bigger question is who, if anyone, picks up the slack. I don't see MMO's recapturing a lot of that audience without a radical new payment model, and board games just aren't the same thing. Another ttrpg might be possible if it really hits the zeitgeist just right, but that's lightning in a bottle.

 

[jayoungr]

Random thought about the adventure collections: sometime you could have an elimination for the best single adventure in an official 5E collection...

 

[Zardnaar]

Random thought about the adventure collections: sometime you could have an elimination for the best single adventure in an official 5E collection...

First one out HotDQ, winner Strahd or Rime of the Frostmaiden.

 

[Morrus]

There are a number of reasons for this- an edition that has been popular and is reasonably easy to pick and play, a number of older players returning to the fold for nostalgic reasons (and many of them bringing younger players with them), the success of youtube/streaming/podcasts for D&D, responsible shepherding of the product, the prevalence of internet tools that make the game easier- especially playing remotely or finding groups, and the general success of "nerd culture" in the mainstream.

Just as an aside, this is one of the best summaries for the general conditions which have led to D&D's current success I've seen. It has been a perfect storm of various factors.

 

[jayoungr]

First one out HotDQ, winner Strahd or Rime of the Frostmaiden.

No, I mean the individual smaller adventures found in Tales of the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and Candlekeep Mysteries. And I meant to post this in the current adventure book elimination thread, whoops.

 

[Zardnaar]

No, I mean the individual smaller adventures found in Tales of the Yawning Portal, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, and Candlekeep Mysteries. And I meant to post this in the current adventure book elimination thread, whoops.

I would probably wait a while. Candle keep hasn't been out that long for example.