D&D 5E How Important is Stranger Things to the Success of 5e

[FitzTheRuke]

They did 5 hardcovers last year, and this year we (thst we know of) 4 hardcovers, a slipcase with three smaller books, the new starter box set and the battle game. Definitely amping the pace up a bir, but still nothing like I remember in 3.x when I was buying bothing at leas5partly becaue Inhad analaysoa paralysis constantly from the stream of new stuff.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure most of 3.x and 4e had a release every month, or nearly.

 

[Lanefan]

My suspicion is that Stranger Things has had a minor positive impact on 5e's success and a bigger impact on drawing and-or returning people to 1e or similar, as that's the version of the game they're playing* in the show.

* - at least in the show's 1st season, didn't watch beyond that.

 

[SteveC]

Stranger Things definitely had an effect on moving D&D back into the mainstream. I had MANY coworkers say "hey, you play that D&D thing they talk about on Stranger Things, what's the story with that..."

Stranger Things, celebrities, streaming and of course Critical Role all played a huge part in expanding the base of gamers. I'm not sure how anyone can deny that because the new people in the hobby had to be exposed to one of those things to even really know about it.

 

[RuinousPowers]

I suspect that Stranger Things had the same kind of effect that E.T. did on the hobby.

 

[darjr]

I suspect that Stranger Things had the same kind of effect that E.T. did on the hobby.

After season one, yea I’d agree. But now after season four? No. E.T. Scene almost didn’t register with most folks. The search for Vecna, initially, put a huge spike in the search for dnd

 

[RuinousPowers]

After season one, yea I’d agree. But now after season four? No. E.T. Scene almost didn’t register with most folks. The search for Vecna, initially, put a huge spike in the search for dnd

Seeking more information about the show, yes. Looking into buying/playing 5e? I would think very little.

 

[darjr]

Seeking more information about the show, yes. Looking into buying/playing 5e? I would think very little.

i think your wrong. What’s more I, at least, have correlation on my side.

Maybe.

 

[Reynard]

I suspect that Stranger Things had the same kind of effect that E.T. did on the hobby.

They exist for effectively opposite reasons. The D&D scene in ET exists because D&D was a THING at the time, a cultural touchstone. It exists in Stranger Things frankly because it existed in ET. ST is a pastiche of everything 80s. Of course, the Duffers were part of the generation that grew up on D&D so they included more but the reason they put it in at all is nostalgia, not because it was, at the time, a cultural touchstone.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Not the MOST important, but quite important, especially because it gives D&D a renewed jolt of interest every season, and the four seasons have been spread across 6 years, which is probably better for D&D than if there had been new seasons annually since 2016. Vecna is now a household name in the U.S. If even a fraction of the people who Googled "Vecna" this summer end up actually playing D&D, that is still a big chunk of people.

That said, I'm not sure it's more important than Critical Role has been to the growth of the game. It is more important than, say, Community with its two D&D-centric episodes.

I will say this: for those outside of gaming stranger things has been much more impact than critical role. I know no one who watches Critical Role, or anyone who knows anyone to watches it. But I know a lot of people who watch Stranger Things.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I will say this: for those outside of gaming stranger things has been much more impact than critical role. I know no one who watches Critical Role, or anyone who knows anyone to watches it. But I know a lot of people who watch Stranger Things.

But the question is, given that the latter are "outside of gaming", do they suddenly decide that "gaming is cool" because some children in a '80s-set sci-fi thriller show play a game? I am skeptical that they do.

Whereas people "inside gaming", i.e. they may already be playing videogames or board games (particularly the latter, in my experience), are much more likely to go "Hmmm, Critical Role sure makes role-playing look fun!" and take the plunge, because them it's a dive off the edge of the pool, whereas for the "outside gaming" people it's climbing a 30ft ladder and then diving from there.

I'd also note that fewer and fewer people are genuinely "outside of gaming" as you get younger. It's a bit like finding a kid in the '90s who was "outside of television" - they existed, hell, one of the people I used to play RPGs with a lot was banned from watching TV at all when at home - but they weren't common.