Devil worship as a brand

[Morrus]

I think D&D as a 'brand' *might* compete with mainstream fantasy brands by going more adult and playing up to 80s paranoia. Chick it up! Well, not literally. But GoT and Walking Dead are fantasy series both squarely marketed at adults, and both are knocking it out of the park, ratings-wise. More importantly, teenagers are watching them.

Seriously. Drizzt and Elminster can't compete with Spider-man and Vader. D&D's core strength has never really been it's fiction, it has been it's tabletop experience.

But it does have one identifying feature beyond those who buy FR novels, etc. It has that 80s Jack Chick paranoia. Why not market it as the grown-up game, not target it at the kids? A bit of devil worship never hurt anyone (literally, unless you actually believe in magic). I haven't smoked in a few years, but when I started it wasn't because I was a 16 year old looking for a new kiddie thing to do. I also sought out 18 movies at the age of 12 (not always successfully, but we all tried) and saw Robocop years before I should have done.

Ok, the title's a bit silly. I'm not literally suggesting devil worship as a brand. What I mean is that you can get the attention of teenagers by marketing for adults.

Discuss! How would you market D&D?

 

[MarkB]

Devil worship isn't where mainstream fantasy is at. If you really want to play up to the mass market, vampires are the way to go - tortured, romantic vampires who've spent all their feat slots on Brooding, Improved Brooding, Great Brooding and Empowered Angsty Brooding.

That and zombies.

 

[Morrus]

Devil worship isn't where mainstream fantasy is at. If you really want to play up to the mass market, vampires are the way to go - tortured, romantic vampires who've spent all their feat slots on Brooding, Improved Brooding, Great Brooding and Empowered Angsty Brooding.

That and zombies.

Sure. That was an example. What I mean is grown-up. GoT shows that's a market.

 

[TerraDave]

All that paranoia, and O/AD&Ds more adult oriented writing and art, coincided with big sales. Of course, they still did the red box and the cartoon to broaden the market.

Maybe thats the trick, kiddie stuff here, naked Hecate there .

 

[Stormonu]

No.

I was quite happy back in 2E, when they dumped the demons and devil stuff for a while.

You can do adult/serious without having to involve demonic stuff.

Sometimes, I think D&D doesn't do so well because it does take itself too seriously. There used to be lot of camp in the game, and a lot of appeal to the 13-15 year old crowd.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I'd try to make it more of a general fantasy rpg, and try to create spinoff versions of it for tie-ins to popular fantasy properties that do have value. Regardless of if you're watching the Hobbit movies, Game of Thrones, Twilight, The Walking Dead, or Harry Potter, you're already halfway to becoming a D&D player.

The closest we really saw to this was when 3e and SW d20 and Wheel of Time were released together, which was not bad, but certainly that approach could be taken much farther.

 

[Morrus]

Sometimes, I think D&D doesn't do so well because it does take itself too seriously. There used to be lot of camp in the game, and a lot of appeal to the 13-15 year old crowd.

I must admit, I find that the most dissociative statement I ever did see! You think it used to appeal to kids more than it does now? I am really, really, bet-my-life sure that it's the opposite. They're going all-out to bring in young gamers.

 

[pickin_grinnin]

I must admit, I find that the most dissociative statement I ever did see! You think it used to appeal to kids more than it does now? I am really, really, bet-my-life sure that it's the opposite. They're going all-out to bring in young gamers.

That is probably their plan, but it's not a good one. They tried that with 4e (trying to attract the video game and MMO crowds), and look what happened.

Similarly, the comic book companies keep trying to reinvent themselves to be a children's medium, like they were a long time ago. It never works, but they keep trying it over and over. Kids today have too many other options for fantasy escape entertainment.

I started playing D&D in late elementary school, back when it first came out. Back then, if you liked fantasy stuff you had limited options. Books, some comics, and the very occasional movie. D&D offered another option that was unique for it's time, so a number of kids and teens flocked to it. 2014 is not the 1970s, though. When my parents were young, playing marbles was very entertaining, and some kids obsessed over it. It hasn't been that popular for many decades since. What was fun and exciting for a child in the 1940s wasn't as much fun to most kids in the 1970s. What was fun for kids in the 1970s isn't as much fun for most kids today.

 

[Morrus]

That is probably their plan, but it's not a good one. They tried that with 4e (trying to attract the video game and MMO crowds), and look what happened.

Similarly, the comic book companies keep trying to reinvent themselves to be a children's medium, like they were a long time ago. It never works, but they keep trying it over and over. Kids today have too many other options for fantasy escape entertainment.

Which is why Game of Thrones has done so well. That market for fantasy aimed at not-kids is begging to be filled. If not D&D, somebody needs to do it. Nolan's Batman audience wasn't 10 year-olds, it was adults.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I don't get the impression that WotC is interested in marketing to-or is run by-adults.

It is a shame. There are certainly untapped demographics out there.