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The RPG or the Brand?
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<blockquote data-quote="weldon" data-source="post: 6511209" data-attributes="member: 18817"><p>I think the comparison to Lord of the Rings is appropriate. Before the movies, about 100MM copies of the book(s) were sold worldwide (50MM have been sold since). In 2004, WotC estimated that about 20MM people have played D&D. I don't have a good way to figure out how # of books sold equates to people who have read them (I have 4 or 5 copies myself but many people read one copy in a library). But let's call it 1:1. LOTR is known to 5x or 10x more people than D&D, but we're in the same ballpark. A lot of people have heard of D&D.</p><p></p><p>LOTR sales: <a href="http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2007/04/16/tolkien_proves_hes_still_the_king.html" target="_blank">http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2007/04/16/tolkien_proves_hes_still_the_king.html</a></p><p>D&D players: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3655627.stm" target="_blank">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3655627.stm</a></p><p></p><p>What made LOTR a good property for creating huge movies (IMO) and using the movies to drive the brand is the characters and the narrative. The movies were a huge success. The popularity of the movies made it possible to grow the brand by selling toys, books, games, etc. A massive effort was put into creating and bringing to market a whole set of products that would feed the demand.</p><p></p><p>I think it also paved the way for other fantasy properties like Game of Thrones, which has 14MM viewers for each episode on HBO. The books were already bestsellers before they were optioned, but the show has driven the brand (and book sales).</p><p></p><p>It feels like TV or movies is the best way to grow the brand. But to do a popular TV or movie, you'll do well to have strong characters and narrative which don't come directly from the RPG.</p><p></p><p>I feel like D&D is stuck in this weird place where they have a lot of the elements to create a great media property, but the heart and soul of the RPG is in conflict with the key pieces that would be needed to grow it into a huge brand.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="weldon, post: 6511209, member: 18817"] I think the comparison to Lord of the Rings is appropriate. Before the movies, about 100MM copies of the book(s) were sold worldwide (50MM have been sold since). In 2004, WotC estimated that about 20MM people have played D&D. I don't have a good way to figure out how # of books sold equates to people who have read them (I have 4 or 5 copies myself but many people read one copy in a library). But let's call it 1:1. LOTR is known to 5x or 10x more people than D&D, but we're in the same ballpark. A lot of people have heard of D&D. LOTR sales: [url]http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2007/04/16/tolkien_proves_hes_still_the_king.html[/url] D&D players: [url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3655627.stm[/url] What made LOTR a good property for creating huge movies (IMO) and using the movies to drive the brand is the characters and the narrative. The movies were a huge success. The popularity of the movies made it possible to grow the brand by selling toys, books, games, etc. A massive effort was put into creating and bringing to market a whole set of products that would feed the demand. I think it also paved the way for other fantasy properties like Game of Thrones, which has 14MM viewers for each episode on HBO. The books were already bestsellers before they were optioned, but the show has driven the brand (and book sales). It feels like TV or movies is the best way to grow the brand. But to do a popular TV or movie, you'll do well to have strong characters and narrative which don't come directly from the RPG. I feel like D&D is stuck in this weird place where they have a lot of the elements to create a great media property, but the heart and soul of the RPG is in conflict with the key pieces that would be needed to grow it into a huge brand. [/QUOTE]
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