[Theory] Why D&D is Popular

[Henry]

D&D is popular in the U.S. and Great Britain because fairy tales are easily accessible to all people, and fun. Rarely are we raised on tales of tortured vampires and embittered cops, but more on tales of knights & dragons, or daring spaceship captains. D&D plugs into that genre nicely, no matter the version.

 

[Quasqueton]

But does being first really have an effect on its popularity now, 30+ years after the beginning? There are many companies "first" in their market, but they aren't always the most popular 1+ years later.

[I agree with WizarDru and diaglo.]

Quasqueton

 

[Gentlegamer]

I agree with WizarDru and diaglo.

 

[Andre]

But does being first really have an effect on its popularity now, 30+ years after the beginning? There are many companies "first" in their market, but they aren't always the most popular 1+ years later.

I think so, for a couple reasons.

One, D&D wasn't just the first major RPG system, it was practically universal in its day. No matter what other system someone played, it was likely that they had played D&D also. And virtually everyone playing RPG's knew someone playing D&D.

Two, as has been pointed out many, many, many (ad nauseum) times, the RPG market has not been focused on bringing in new blood since the 1980's. How many current RPG players began with D&D? Over half I would guess.

Why do these things matter? People don't like learning new systems. If I and four friends know D&D, but only one of us knows Deadlands, and only two know Vampire, and one hates Hero System, guess which game we'll end up playing. Personally, I'm ready to try a different system, but I haven't been able to convince my group to switch - inertia, I suppose.

D&D's ability to change over time has also helped. Anyone publishing a system identical to the original brown/white box set today would be ridiculed, roasted, whatever for the lousy production values, incomplete rules, unbalanced play, monty haul treasure tables, and so on. But (with the exception of Diaglo ) we're not playing a 30 year old system.

For a new system to take over D&D's market share, it would have to be more than just an evolutionary improvement - it would have to be revolutionary. The only thing I can think of that might do it would be an RPG system that combined computer/VR technology - and that's years/decades away.

So the short answer is partly a common experience with some version of D&D, player inertia, and consistent improvement in the base system. Being first gave D&D the lead - these other things have allowed it to keep that lead.

 

[The Shaman]

But does being first really have an effect on its popularity now, 30+ years after the beginning?

Yes - it's called branding.

D&D is to roleplaying games what Xerox is to photocopiers and Kleenex is to facial tissue - it's a defining product.

 

[Wombat]

I think there are some points to be added to the "first" category.

D&D was the first and the only, as has been stated. As such, most (but not all) early games essentially copied D&D -- classes, levels, experience points, hit points. In many ways this was like the card games that came out in the wake of Magic: the Gathering that all had the roughly same mechanics. This meant that the other games were playing catch-up to an established game, one that had already captured the popular imagination.

Now here is where I veer off a bit, but still I think it is important: Timing

Roughly 30 years ago two other phenomenon became popular -- Renaissance Faires and the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). That's a big convergence of interest in very similar ideas. Equally, if you went into bookstores you were suddenly finding that sci-fi/fantasy sections were no longer tucked back in some embarassed corner of the store, but prominently identified. In other words, D&D was riding the crest of a wave in general popularity of fantasy, swords, and re-enactment.

And, like it or not, those steam tunnels keep coming back to us, news of death, hints of satanism and mystery, all somehow swirling (wrongly, but still there) around a new type of game. TV movies and bad "true crime" novels do a lot to seer the name of Dungeons & Dragons into the popular imagination.

D&D was the first out of the gate and got it's name stamped indelibly in the minds of people who do not game as being the equivalent of "all role-playing games".

Now none of this is to say anything against D&D -- I play the game and I like it. Still, I think this non-gaming factors are very important to keep in mind when you think about the staying power of D&D.

 

[fusangite]

I agree with everything that Wombat has said but I would add that D&D 3.0 did for D&D what Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 did for Microsoft: it incorporated enough features that made competitors' products attractive to create a strong centripetal force in the industry that pulled GMs and players back.

 

[WizarDru]

I agree with WizarDru and diaglo.

Me, too!

...wait....


Anywho, diaglo hits the nail on the head with one point in particular; fantasy is easier. We've all been raised on tales of giants, knights and so on....that alone isn't a sole reason, but consider this: SF requires mental buy-in that fantasy does not. In Fantasy, if I tell you that magic works like 'X', it only really requires internal consistency to work. In SF, if I tell you that hyperspace works like 'X'...you have to come to the table with some understanding of associated concepts to make it work. That's one reason Star Wars works so well...it's more fantasy than SF.

 

[Rel]

D&D is popular because our parents didn't want us to play it.

 

[fett527]

D&D is popular because our parents didn't want us to play it.

That's interesting. My parents didn't have a problem with it.

This is significant because my father is a Southern Baptist Minister.