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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JThursby" data-source="post: 8633643" data-attributes="member: 7025596">These are two assumptions I want to push back against slightly, if only to highlight some of the nuance in the current D&D scene and why the game is experiencing explosive popularity.I run 5e professionally for kids sometimes, and I haven't noticed anything casual with their engagement in the game.  They like running complex builds and heavily utilize full casters and strange martial combos.  These are the same kids that will learn how to master many difficult video games, some of my kids having already conquered Elden Ring for instance.  Nor are they casual in the sense that they are only interested in D&D as a peripheral hobby.  All of them are pretty heavily invested in the game and have fairly developed opinions about what they like, dislike and want out of the game.  There's a trend right now where each younger generation is <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/americans-fewer-friends-survey-b1890794.html" target="_blank">experiencing more and more difficulty gaining and keeping friends</a>. About 1 in 4 twenty-sometimes in the US report as having no friends whatsoever, and those who report having friends have far fewer than previous generations. As a twenty-something myself I struggled with this when I changed colleges and it was a living hell. My only real in to a friend group was through tabletop roleplaying, and the friends I made that way are the ones I have kept for a number of years now. As chronic loneliness gets worse I imagine more and more people will turn to social games like D&D. It isn't particularly more complicated than most popular video games, and it fulfills an ever more vacant niche.When it comes to the lack of 5e products this is true...for first party products.  The third party publishing scene for D&D 5e is ludicrously expansive.  It enjoys the largest and most frequent kickstarters for new projects, and DMs Guild dwarfs other digital publishing venues for third party content.   So while the product pool might be shallow when it comes to first party products, the third party publishing scene is going to be a factor in what version of 5e they are ultimately going to play, as few truly play a stock version with no alterations.  I would not be surprised if at this point many players decide they do not need a WOTC version of the game and just pick a fan-alteration as their defacto version (ie Morrus' Advanced 5e).</blockquote>

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