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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dragonhelm" data-source="post: 3698820" data-attributes="member: 3867">I think that depends on who you ask.  As mentioned in prior posts on this thread, different people play RPGs for different reasons.  Some like character builds, some are story or character-focused, some like world-building, and so on and so forth.I guess the question to ask is what common theme links all these types of gamers together in the same hobby?  Is it that one hobby has something to offer for many people?  Is it just the spirit of adventure?Personally, I think TSR's old tag-line of "products of your imagination" needs to make a comeback.  To me, that's the selling point of RPGs.  You can use your imagination to create characters (builds or story), create adventures, tell a story, and so forth.  That's your common theme.  That's what sets apart RPGs from computer games.  The players and GM build the world and are the ones in charge, not some computer program.  The limits are, literally, that of the imagination. I think you're on the right track, though perhaps not in the way you were thinking.I work at an ad agency who is very big into relevance.  We're also very big into brand identity.  What we're facing right now is whether or not RPGs are relevant to a young audience who has card games and computer games.  As an industry, we could stand to have some new identity.  Personally, I think a good ad agency could do wonders for WotC, which in turn would do wonders for the industry as a whole.Redefine what a role-playing game is.  Don't shy away from it being a geeky thing, because these days, being a geek is almost a badge of honor.  Give a new face to RPGs.  Show how it has its own niche.  Show what it can do that other RPGs can't.Advertising, advertising, advertising!  Part of what makes the trading card games so popular is that they have cartoons doing the advertising for them.  My son loves Yu-Gi-Oh even though the plot is the same from episode to episode.  When was the last time there was a TV commercial for D&D?  The 80's?  WotC needs to tap into the Hasbro advertising budget and pimp their products in appropriate avenues.  Sci-Fi channel and Cartoon Network are great avenues.  How about some of the podcasts that Farpoint Media puts out?  Maybe the smaller companies won't have the budget for this, but again, WotC can blaze a trail and the results will trickle down to other companies as well.  The industry as a whole benefits.Redefinition of our identity coupled with proper advertising is what our industry needs.  Get the word out and pimp that identity, and the rest will fall into place.(All in my all-so-humble opinion, of course!   <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />  )</blockquote>

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