Devil worship as a brand

[DMZ2112]

I would be more interested in 5e if they went that route

Suit yourself, bru, but I don't want to be narrating my players' encounters with the burgeoning whore population of Westeros.

 

[Stormonu]

I think one of the things that does sell D&D is the monster menagerie. Not just its demons/devils, but dragons, beholders, illithid and the swarms of other monsters that have spawned over five Monster Manuals and hosts of knockoff books and supplements. A good story gets people interested, it seems the wierd and bizarre monsters of D&D keeps folks interested. I think if the brand could somehow play to the menagerie, that might be where it will strike gold.

 

[delericho]

I think D&D as a 'brand' *might* compete with mainstream fantasy brands by going more adult...

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 if -2 and saw Robocop years before I should have done.

I think there's something to that. Certainly, if they want to attract 14-year-olds, they could do a lot worse than pitch it at 18-year-olds.

I also think there is (or should be) a place for a real 'adult' line of supplements for D&D, whether from WotC or a third party. (Where 'adult' here doesn't just mean boobs'n'blood, as in too much of our media.)

 

[Hussar]

I have been paying attention, for a really long time now. I am fully aware that they see the "graying market" as a problem, and are scared by it. My point is that they don't seem to be willing to accept the fact that their strongest customer base is AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE adults. No amount of marketing to kids and teens is going to bring them to the game in any significant numbers. Some will continue to drift in, but that's a natural thing. Putting a lot of money and effort into marketing specifically to their age group (or changing the game to make it more "kid friendly") is not going to help that, though.

Roleplaying games had their heydey, back when video games were very primitive and no other fantasy gaming options were available. Since entertainment changed, though, it has become a much tinier niche market, and will probably remain so for the forseeable future. It is following in the steps of wargaming, which is largely (though not exclusively) a middle-aged and older male hobby these days.

RPG companies need to stop worrying about the long-term future of the hobby and the greying of the customer base, and stick to putting out products that are very attractive to their customers. The greying rpg players aren't going to disappear in ten or twenty years, just as old-style wargamers are still around.

You realize that the average age of a Paizo Dragon or Dungeon reader was about 22 right? That was in 2006. DnD has never been marketed as an adult pastime.

 

[Hussar]

Why stick to one demographic? Go full bore. Kre-o toys for kids, cool models for teens, a Michael Baysplosion hackfest movie or three. Fantastic.

Thing is, once you've tapped into that, then you can really start to go wild. Do you think we would have gotten a live action Marvel tv show without the movies first? The only way we could get Wonder Woman on the big screen was to have a few big tent movies milk the cash cow. If the last Superman movie had tanked, then forget about it.

Go full blitz media.

 

[Grydan]

Similarly, the comic book companies keep trying to reinvent themselves to be a children's medium, like they were a long time ago.

... really?

I mean, I've certainly seen the major publishers occasionally make some noise about trying to get kids to read comics, but in terms of actual efforts it's abundantly clear that they're aiming much more at the Game of Thrones crowd than the LEGO Movie/Frozen one.

I could go on at length citing examples, but basically aside from clearly showing genitalia or bare female nipples (both generally restricted to books labelled for Mature Readers, as seeing them apparently requires greater maturity to handle than a man wearing his own flayed face as a mask, a teenage boy punching a woman's head off, or a murdered woman's dismembered corpse stuffed into her refrigerator as a message to her superhero boyfriend), there's nothing that's been depicted on-screen on Game of Thrones that hasn't shown up on-panel in a DC or Marvel book (and I'm not talking about either company's mature readers lines).

 

[Dannorn]

Discuss! How would you market D&D?

Well first I'd actually market it. Show of hands who here has seen an advertisement for DnD or TTRPGs in general outside a store where you can buy them, convention, or website about them in the past 5 years? I haven't, I'm guessing most other people haven't either (maybe I'm wrong). DnD needs marketing, it needs advertising.

The appeal of RPGs and Tabletop Gaming in general is that it has always been an all ages thing for me. Older siblings, younger siblings, parents, grandparents, everyone can find something to enjoy. Fantasy and Adventure for the kids, Empowerment Fantasies for teens, and Intrigue for adults. All in the same game, at the same table. Gaming as a kid my older brother picked up on subtext I missed, and my parents even more so, and so on. That is what DnD should go for with their marketing; not something for kids, or teens, or adults, but something for everyone.

 

[Will Doyle]

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.

Game of Thrones has definitely attracted new fans who would otherwise sneer at the fantasy genre. Anecdotally, I know a few people who claim that the Lord of the Rings movies are silly and "all about fairies", but love Game of Thrones because it's more realistic. Low-fantasy probably has a broader appeal than high-fantasy, and there's the problem - D&D comes bundled with so much high fantasy camp. Take out all the beholders and gelatinous cubes and prancing high elves and what do you have left?

I actually think the game should remain kid-focused, and I challenge the notion that the *brand* can never be as successful as others. The RPG alone - that's more difficult.

 

[TerraDave]

You realize that the average age of a Paizo Dragon or Dungeon reader was about 22 right? That was in 2006.

Prove it.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Well first I'd actually market it. Show of hands who here has seen an advertisement for DnD or TTRPGs in general outside a store where you can buy them, convention, or website about them in the past 5 years? I haven't, I'm guessing most other people haven't either (maybe I'm wrong). DnD needs marketing, it needs advertising.

Yep. Little to nothing out there.