So why doesn't Hasbro/WOTC....?

[Henry]

Samo, I agree here. 3E resurrected several players for us who had all but stopped playing (that, combined with a few whose schedules had placed them with more disposable time). Unfortunately, some of those same players have had to stop recently, due to those schedules and real-life concerns changing again, but 3E was at the right place and time to be the game of choice for these players. Right now, we have three players who likely wouldn't BE players were it not for the revival of interest in the game at the time.

The oldest paradigm still hasn't changed: want a new player? MAKE one. But it would be nice to have a marketing impetus out there that got the notion out, so that people started asking questions. When these people start asking, new players are the natural result. Also, whether they keep playing is up to us, but the big point being made is that it would drive interest and more mainstream acceptance if certain media outlets tried to drive it as a "cool" thing.

 

[Wolfen Priest]

I agree that WotC should probably (eventually) start a marketing plan, but advertising D&D on MTV??? Gah?

Yo man datz Cray Zay.

Do you honestly think the stupid little wanna-be's (probably mostly chicks around 12-14 years old) who watch Carson Daily (daily) on TRL are going to be able to understand, let alone actually want to play Dungeons & Dragons?

And as Nish said, if D&D ever got anywhere near appealing to those people, you can bet I would find another hobby. If they want to appeal to the "cool" (read: generally stupid, shallow, and conformist) crowd simply for the bucks, then guess what? They should be in another business.

[bitter rant]
Honestly, I can't wait until Hasbro(ke) sells off the D&D brand. I think almost everything WotC has published beyond the Core 3 (other than MotP) was basically crap anyway (and I am saying that because I honestly believe it ~ their stuff isn't even in the top 3 for me).

I wouldn't have a problem if they never published anything again. I'm perfectly content to play (and buy) stuff from 3rd party vendors.
[/bitter rant]

Anyway, YMMV, but D&D will never die out. Just because they (i.e., the Bean Counters) want it to sell like Gap clothes or what-have-you, doesn't mean that's the best thing for the hobby itself.

One last example of what I mean (only people out of high school will know what I mean here): when Star Wars went mainstream, that was *the* moment it began to be less cool for me. It was best when it was all but forgotten, about the years 1989-1991 or so (for me, anyway).

 

[Hand of Vecna]

*has an idea for a D&D ad*

Picture an empty, white room. In walks the man himself, Samuel L. Jackson, decked out in a suave black suit. He walks slowly up to the tv screen, and says:

"DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, MUTHAF***A!"

and then he walks off, and the room fades to black. An image of the three Core Rulebooks apppears, with the WotC logo in the corner.

 

[Wolfen Priest]

You know, honest to God, I think that ad would work.

In fact, I think if they just made it as mysterious and cryptic as they could, it would work out to the product's advantage. If they came out and just showed a bunch of people playing D&D, I don't think it would suddenly sell off the shelves.

Fore example, maybe they could just show Dragon's glowing eyes in the dimness of a dungeon, then fade to black. Then the Logo could show up... well, then again, maybe people would take that as satanic...

Maybe they could make a high-budget (but still lower than using Samuel L. nonetheless) where a huge half-orc barbarian is about to save his dying friends from the clutches of a huge red dragon, then >suddenly< cut off to a bunch of (cool young) guys (and perhaps a girl) sitting around a gaming table in an apartment, yelling about what should happen next.

...Sort of like making it into a 'funny' commercial... almost like a beer commercial, in which the message you basically get is along the lines of:

D&D is cool. Look at these cool people. They are playing such a cool game. If you played this game, you would be cool like these guys are, and you could have a character that is cool, like the ones these guys have. Cool.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Anyway, YMMV, but D&D will never die out. Just because they (i.e., the Bean Counters) want it to sell like Gap clothes or what-have-you, doesn't mean that's the best thing for the hobby itself.

One last example of what I mean (only people out of high school will know what I mean here): when Star Wars went mainstream, that was *the* moment it began to be less cool for me. It was best when it was all but forgotten, about the years 1989-1991 or so (for me, anyway).

I was under the impression that Star Wars went mainstream on 5/25/77?