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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 7379160" data-attributes="member: 6778044">I think it's a few things, some of which have little to do with the game.1 and 2. The design is elegant and simple, yes, but I think the real win is that it seems to have a feel that makes players of any earlier edition feel at home. Perhaps 4e players are the least served by this, but to me it feels very much like AD&D, but I think that the number of 3e and Pathfinder players that have switched seem to feel that it has a very 3.5e feel without the problems. I will also point out that I think that 4e was quite popular with new players, but didn't bring in many of the players of older editions (particularly 3.5e). While I ultimately didn't care for 4e for a variety of reasons myself, I think we should still give credit to a well designed game. I really don't think new sales suffered significantly, but that existing players just didn't embrace it. The game is also designed to play in smaller chunks. While I personally miss the 12-hour gaming sessions, 2-4 hours sessions are much more reasonable for most. 3.5e and 4e were definitely on the longer session track, provided you wanted to get through more than a couple of major combats.So new players can easily pick it up, but the bigger win has been bringing in more players from earlier editions. Existing players are your best advertisements, there is no better way to get somebody hooked on the game than to play it. Just hearing about it and seeing it in the store, or reading the free basic rules is one thing, but not the same as actually playing it.3. Discounts are great, but only in reference to a similar product as you point out (Xbox vs PSx, etc.). I don't think that really exists for D&D. Yes Pathfinder is big, but existing Pathfinder players wouldn't have had any reason to consider the cost, since they already owned the materials. Plus, the basic D&D rules are free. And that's great, but I don't think it's driving it either. However, I do think that they really figured out their branding and marketing strategy. While many have complained about the volume of materials being released, I think that's a small part of the D&D community. They've shifted to a similar model as MtG (big surprise), with basically two "events' annually. They have a new AP, a dozen AL adventures, video game updates, and 3rd party accessories, all coming at a sustainable rate. While I'll probably never run the APs, I have them all and steal material from them. But for casual players, it's very much like a video game approach. Pick up the AP, play through it, and 6 months later pick up the next one. 4. While social media may help, I think the bigger aspect is simply that D&D (and "geek culture") is cool now. We've had a generation grow up on video games now, and this is an easy transition. More importantly, I think you have a lot of people coming back to it and teaching their kids too. I really think that this has made a huge impact on the popularity and sale of the game. Those of us that played in the '70s or '80s to 10 year olds. In addition, D&D is really no longer geek culture. It has really become mainstream.I don't think Twitter and Facebook are real drivers, but services like YouTube and Twitch are. Again, the game is benefiting from video gamers, who already have a culture of watching others play games. So being able to watch others play D&D does have an impact because they can see how fun it is, and learn a bit how it's played. 5. VTT have been around for a while, but they continue to make gaming possible for friends scattered geographically. I think the bigger plus here is back to their marketing. The licensing has been great, allowing the entire library to be available on several VTT platforms. Not only is this another source of income for WotC, but having it available greatly increases the appeal of the VTT. So I'd say this is the opposite - it's been a much bigger benefit for the VTT platforms than it has for D&D.</blockquote>

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