Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Are we at, or close, to peak D&D? Again?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="ccooke" data-source="post: 8236626" data-attributes="member: 6695890"><p>I think the main question, really, is how sticky the current success of d&d is.</p><p></p><p>At some point, it <em>is</em> going to wane. That might be next month, next year or next decade, but nobody is disputing that will happen. The real question is, what proportion of the current playerbase will stick with the game after it has waned?</p><p></p><p>While a huge number of players stuck around after the end of the 80s craze, they were a tiny proportion of the actual playerbase at its peak. I have a gut feeling that this time, the playerbase is larger and the proposition is stickier - that is, there are more feedback loops that draw people back in, and keep them involved. In the 80s, you had local clubs, conventions, mass media. But the thing is, we have all of that now, but we also have a massive variety of game-adjacent stuff that we didn't have before. Someone who has stopped playing, but continues to follow Critical Role is vastly more likely to pick up their dice again when they have the opportunity than someone who doesn't have things they're directly engaged with.</p><p></p><p>Basically, I think A and C are extreme positions, and the outcome is going to be somewhere in between, but more like A. I think the community will continue to be large enough after the peak for the hobby to remain somewhat relevant for at least another decade or two, all things being equal.</p><p></p><p>As to option B... obviously WotC are going to try that. If they do it well, it will bring more people in to the hobby (obviously not as many as interact with the brand as a whole). If they do it badly... well, we have the OGL, and the 5e SRD is actually a lot better than the 3e one for making sure the game remains playable. I'm mostly expecting the brand expansion to be slightly successful, but not create anything long-term.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ccooke, post: 8236626, member: 6695890"] I think the main question, really, is how sticky the current success of d&d is. At some point, it [I]is[/I] going to wane. That might be next month, next year or next decade, but nobody is disputing that will happen. The real question is, what proportion of the current playerbase will stick with the game after it has waned? While a huge number of players stuck around after the end of the 80s craze, they were a tiny proportion of the actual playerbase at its peak. I have a gut feeling that this time, the playerbase is larger and the proposition is stickier - that is, there are more feedback loops that draw people back in, and keep them involved. In the 80s, you had local clubs, conventions, mass media. But the thing is, we have all of that now, but we also have a massive variety of game-adjacent stuff that we didn't have before. Someone who has stopped playing, but continues to follow Critical Role is vastly more likely to pick up their dice again when they have the opportunity than someone who doesn't have things they're directly engaged with. Basically, I think A and C are extreme positions, and the outcome is going to be somewhere in between, but more like A. I think the community will continue to be large enough after the peak for the hobby to remain somewhat relevant for at least another decade or two, all things being equal. As to option B... obviously WotC are going to try that. If they do it well, it will bring more people in to the hobby (obviously not as many as interact with the brand as a whole). If they do it badly... well, we have the OGL, and the 5e SRD is actually a lot better than the 3e one for making sure the game remains playable. I'm mostly expecting the brand expansion to be slightly successful, but not create anything long-term. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Are we at, or close, to peak D&D? Again?
Top