D&D 5E Mike Mearls - Reddit AMA

[Charlaquin]

IIRC, the good folks at Wizards have said things to the effect of "We knew it was going to be a hit, but not that it was going to be this big a hit."

That sounds about right.

 

[Mistwell]

There's a huge difference between "book bloat" and "basically 1 book a year." 3 books must include adventures because otherwise I've seen nothing. You can't just claim the other extreme is bad and pretend you've made a point. I still feel like they must have a reduced staff and reduced presence, which in turn leads to fewer things to talk about and less press. Somewhere in the middle would be nice.

As for "more people are playing" I'd have to see evidence to believe it, but it's a fair point that I have no interest in Twitch and so I've no idea what is on offer there. My points of reference are gaming stores and online 1st-party presence, both of which have seen marked declines since 5.0.

Wow, you think they're getting LESS press right now than before? I think....you're not reading/watching the press coverage. D&D broke into the mainstream man...it's massive press, on a near constant basis now. It's just...not marketing to you.

 

[Olive]

Wow, you think they're getting LESS press right now than before? I think....you're not reading/watching the press coverage. D&D broke into the mainstream man...it's massive press, on a near constant basis now. It's just...not marketing to you.

Totally - everything from the video gaming websites to the New Yorker! I’ve never seen coverage like this.


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[TwoSix]

There's a huge difference between "book bloat" and "basically 1 book a year." 3 books must include adventures because otherwise I've seen nothing. You can't just claim the other extreme is bad and pretend you've made a point. I still feel like they must have a reduced staff and reduced presence, which in turn leads to fewer things to talk about and less press. Somewhere in the middle would be nice.

As for "more people are playing" I'd have to see evidence to believe it, but it's a fair point that I have no interest in Twitch and so I've no idea what is on offer there. My points of reference are gaming stores and online 1st-party presence, both of which have seen marked declines since 5.0.

Saying retail is down because you're looking at shopping malls and ignoring Amazon and Wal-Mart would also be a bad observational strategy. I can sympathize that their current market focus doesn't cater to your preferences (it doesn't cater to mine either), but conflating "my desires" with "observed success" is to ignore the tons of mainstream evidence that the brand is doing quite well.

 

[Ancalagon]

Totally - everything from the video gaming websites to the New Yorker! I’ve never seen coverage like this.


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This is very anecdotal, but I have co-workers curious about trying. They've known I play for years, but now are expressing interest.

 

[Charlaquin]

This is very anecdotal, but I have co-workers curious about trying. They've known I play for years, but now are expressing interest.

I had my parents over for Christmas dinner and they asked me to teach them how to play.

 

[Ancalagon]

Hmmm

The fifth edition is certainly a lot easier to learn/teach than 3.x or pathfinder...

 

[RobertBrus]

Social media and D&D 5E came together in a way that helped to explode this system. Watching a group of friends who are not teens nor even twenties playing and having a great time, all while expressing their creativity, has had a significant effect. Watching/listening to these shows has made it less "nerdy" or silly, and opened up at least the desire to give it a try in many more people than would have without social media. I don't mean by this that WOTC was simply lucky, but thy certainly benefited.

As a side note, if you want to support this hobby, please support your local--or perhaps your not so local depending on where you live--hobby store, rather than some big store/online widget peddler who neither knows nor gives a damn about the hobby, only that these widgets make them money. If the local hobby stores go away, they won't be coming back, and I promise you, Amazon will not support your hobby.

 

[Eubani]

Social media and D&D 5E came together in a way that helped to explode this system. Watching a group of friends who are not teens nor even twenties playing and having a great time, all while expressing their creativity, has had a significant effect. Watching/listening to these shows has made it less "nerdy" or silly, and opened up at least the desire to give it a try in many more people than would have without social media. I don't mean by this that WOTC was simply lucky, but thy certainly benefited.

As a side note, if you want to support this hobby, please support your local--or perhaps your not so local depending on where you live--hobby store, rather than some big store/online widget peddler who neither knows nor gives a damn about the hobby, only that these widgets make them money. If the local hobby stores go away, they won't be coming back, and I promise you, Amazon will not support your hobby.

The Amazon's and such are actually making the game more accessible due to being more affordable which means people who may of passed on the rpg scene due to affordability may give it a go. Also online purchasing enables those who do not have a local store to get in on the fun. So in a way Amazon and similar sites have supported the hobby. Maybe no intentionally but it has had effect.

 

[abirdcall]

I want to reiterate to the people who think D&D is in a decline because of their insulated view within geek culture that 5e is a phenomenon.

Highest Amazon Sales Ranking: Books

5e PHB: 1
Pathfinder Core Rulebook: 678

Currently, 3 1/2 years in, the PHB is at #42.