D&D 5E Brand Vs RPG

[Zardnaar]

So how do fellow ENworlds think the brand vs RPG thing of 5E is working out? I almost bought the Sword COast Legend game until I started seieng reviews and the very low rating it got, never saw the D&D themed Kreeo over here (not that I would buy it anyway) and it seems they are going to move away from mega adventures.

I have bought all of the RG products (RoT, PotA, OotA), SCAG, starter set+core books (2 copies) and so far PotA and the starter set are the high points of 5E along with some of the Quests of Doom material. Not currently playing atm due to the whole late November/December thing making things rough. None of the mega adventures I find that compelling with RoT being out right bad for the most part. SCAG was a bit meh with not that much crunch and the fluff was kind of laughable compared to the 3.0 FRCS from 15 years ago. SCAG doesn't even compare that well to the 3.5 Players Guide to Faerun.

The sundering it seems with gods just brought back all the dead ones and included everything so now there is new silliness like Amauntor +Lathander floating around and Cyric has lost most of his portfolios he had in say 2E. Probably just avoid 5E Realms anyway along with the new novels.

Did not buy the online tools at the virtual table due to its pricing.

 

[Mistwell]

I don't think serious effort to promote the brand really starts until the first movie comes out and they see if it has legs or not.

 

[Morrus]

I'm not sure what "vs" means in this context, but I think they're succeeding well on both fronts.

The RPG is excellent, and popular.

Their branding efforts are - with a few missteps like SCL - also reasonably successful. The boardgames stuff is, IMO, the best arm of that. Still hoping for a decent movie. D&D is certainly managing to get play in mainstream media these days, and they're working well with geek celebrities and the like. Most of the branding isn't directed at its, of course - it's designed for outreach and recruitment of new players.

 

[ccs]

I don't think serious effort to promote the brand really starts until the first movie comes out and they see if it has legs or not.

I doubt you'll see anything of note even if the (eventual) movie is a success.

 

[BoldItalic]

I've bought most of the RPG products and I agree that the quality is variable but it's okay. The core books are great and if you regard the adventures as toolboxes rather than tablets of stone, they are fine.

I'm indifferent to the computer games this time around because although they are touted as a way to experience D&D, for me D&D is about making stuff up and they don't really support that. If they updated the Bioware NWN to 5e and modern graphics, I'd buy it like a shot.

There's no doubt that Sword Coast Legend bombed - sales since launch have barely kept up with the rate at which people demanded refunds - but I don't really care because even if it worked (which it presumably will after a few more patches) it wouldn't give me anything I want. They are giving it away for free for this weekend (starting round about now) to try to get the player base up a bit, but I'm not really interested. If I wanted it, the price would make no difference anyway. Even if the software is free, my time isn't.

I haven't tried Fantasy Grounds, mainly because I don't see the point of paying for something I can do for free anyway, or paying again for what is in the books I already own.

In summary, for me, I'm indifferent to the 'Brand'. I'm probably not the demographic it's aimed at.

 

[Mistwell]

I doubt you'll see anything of note even if the (eventual) movie is a success.

Because successful fantasy movies see no cross-marketing branding in the modern world? Come on man, name me a successful fantasy movie in the past decade that didn't see massive cross-branding happen? It's a machine. It happens automatically. It's part of the plan for any larger genre movie. Remember this isn't even going to be run by Hasbro. It's going to be run by Warner Brothers, using a team similar to the Lego Movie. You saw all the cross-branding from the Lego Movie, right?

 

[darjr]

So I'm a sucker for the classic games on gog.com and steam. That branding has worked for me. I think licensed third parties are doing well, fantasy grounds, WizKids, and gf9. Ultrapro is dipping their toe in with their new DND 5e character sheet and spell card portfolio. I think the MMOs are doing OK, and if it wasn't for the branding I wouldn't have even given scl a glance.

 

[DEFCON 1]

The branded D&D items out in the wilds seem to be doing okay for the most part-- some very well, some not well at all, and some in between. The books, the computer games, the board games, the merchandise... varying quality, varying popularity. Pretty much just like all brands.

The RPG seems to be doing extremely well. The game is very popular, there's been quite a lot of comments and articles from various media outlets about how the game has been reinvigorated for a lot of people. The decisions made for the slower creation and publishing of new gaming material do not appear to have been an obvious out-and-out mistake... so now we're in wait-and-see mode as far as the number of years the game can remain solvent before a decision is made to begin work on 6E.

Not everyone is happy with where the game is right now... but that's always been true for every edition. They all have had their detractors. But the company in charge of the game seems to be satisfied, so I don't expect any radical shifts to happen any time soon.

 

[Cody C. Lewis]

I think the brand is weak at the moment. But not internally with its current audience.

It's like this... if you are a tabletop RPG gamer, frequenter of comic shops, or possibly all-around geek, the brand is fine. You have video games, board games, books and other sorts of swag to scratch your itch.

But, if you are a (tough to define, maybe "standard") video gamer, "standard" book reader, person who doesn't play TTRPGs, D&D means almost nothing to you. There is almost nothing inside of a mall that you can find, you probably haven't seen a D&D bumper sticker during your commute in years, and you might not have perused the row of books in B&N with D&D on the spine even if you read sci-fi or fantasy. I think, besides the movies, the biggest lost opportunity for D&D as a brand has been their lack to capitalize on the video game market. SCL is terrible and over-heated my brand freaking new EVGA 980, neverwinter seemed mediocre outside of setting (which I loved by the way, but I am in the other group regardless), and the redone Baulder's Gate series is fun, but dated. So if you are a video gamer that is 14 years old and who doesn't already hang out in comic/game shops, you MIGHT have played Neverwinter for a bit. I should also mention DDO still is around and man did I love love love that game, but it certainly feels as old as it actually is.

To me, at least, it seems the brand is not building on itself; that it is not growing the category, rather it is taking back it's market share that it lost a few years back. Word of mouth may still be the best thing it has going for it, which is a bummer.

 

[wedgeski]

I don't really understand why the two things stand in opposition?

The "brand" doesn't seem to me to be doing a whole lot more than it used to (yet). Books, board games, video games. In a year or two we'll have a movie. I honestly don't expect it to make much difference. Things will continue as they are now, except we'll also have a movie to talk about.

The game itself has utterly destroyed my spare time. I've connected with a half-dozen new local roleplayers. We're turning people away because I literally can't fit any more around the table. I'm running PotA, OotA, and Dragonlance in 5E. I'm playing in a mash-up of the Tiamat campaign. I have more D&D than I can possibly manage to fit into my life

It really is Christmas over here.