[Theory] Why D&D is Popular

[WizarDru]

Gruns has a big point here. In the broad sense, D&D is not popular. It's a niche product. There's something like 300 million people in the US, and I expect less than 3 million RPG players. And not all of those play D&D. So, really, it isn't popular.

Yeah, it depends on the question. I would say it's well-known, though, if not 'popular' per se. D&D is short-hand for the industry and a particular style, really. I'm willing to bet non-gamers would lump Warhammer in under the D&D label, if only as a style. I mean, Frisbee Golf isn't really popular, and neither are skate-parks, per se. But plenty of people kwow who Tony Hawk is, even if they don't know the first thing about skateboards.

 

[diaglo]

But plenty of people kwow who Tony Hawk is, even if they don't know the first thing about skateboards.

who???

 

[Wombat]

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.

Very good points, these.

 

[Umbran]

Also, Microsoft is the most popular software company in the world, but none of its programs were the first of their type. They didn't make the first DOS, the first GUI, the first word processing program (or even the first office suite), or the first web browser, yet they now dominate all of those markets.

True - the real important thing is not being first, it is market dominance. D&D got market domination by being first, and having no real competition for a while. MS got dominance by being reasonably early, and stacking some some... highly effective business decisions on top of it.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

1) I wouldn't call D&D or even roleplaying popular.
2) D&D is succesful becuase at it's heart it's about one thing, killing things and taking their stuff.

 

[Turjan]

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 that this isn't the whole story, but it certainly helps. If you just look at countries where D&D did not have that headstart and where it still has solid competition from its predecessors on those special markets. Take Germany, frex, where DSA (The Dark Eye) is the RPG with the largest market share. They were a bit earlier than the translation of D&D, and they brought much more product on the market (e.g., more than 100 adventures). I think that constant market presence is also a very important factor.

 

[Ry]

D&D hangs out with all the cool kids at recess, and makes snide remarks that they think are a sign of maturity.

 

[Numion]

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....

I've been raised on D&D

 

[Steel_Wind]

D&D is the most popular RPG because:

1- D&D was the first RPG which appeals to a mainstream desire to become a fantasy hero.

2- D&D benefitted from the media sensation over James Dallas Egbert III to become known in the mass media. It has never looked back from that free publicity and turned itself into a brand name about which people, generally, had some idea of what it was. Spielberg put it in ET as it was "cool". While it's been a long while since those days - it's still the only brand with any market awarness of its existence in the mainstream public.

3 As the first RPG, D&D became the overwhelming choice as the first point of entry into the hobby. D&D is therefore the customer's first love, as it were and the customer is theirs to lose. And for a time - lose them is exactly that they did. Customer churn is a serious issue for WotC.

3.0 changed all that and WotC brought their former customers back into the fold. As former customers are nearly all lifestyle gamers who consistently spend money on hobby games - those are important customers to retain. They assure WotC of a guranteed minmum sales base for their products in significant volume. No one else has this. This is not a small point.

4- As the only RPG manufacturer with a relatively deep pocket, D&D can afford the economies of scale to manage to bring significant prodcution values to their products. No other publisher has been able to consistently do this. This leads to #5

5- D&D benefits from market recognition as being a superior good. D&D is the genuine article. All others are imitators, be they good or bad. The quality of the physical product reinforces this belief.

6- D&D benefits from Brand recognition in console, computer games, novels and even TV and movies. No other brand has done this successfully - though many have tried.

7- D&D benefits from monthly periodicals on the newstand and a host of other support products from 3rd party manufacturers to reinforce market awareness among gamers generally and the public occasionally.

Result: The result is a market share where D&D is the only RPG that matters. The rest is economically insignificant.

To the Warhammer advocate: Not a chance. Games Workshop has retail stores in malls yes. But only those who are familiar with the product itself have any clue as to what Warhammer is. Warhammer has tried to compete with D&D as a brand in the past. It failed miserably. They have not even bothered to try to seriously do so again.

Games Workshop survives by selling visually attractive product that is VASTLY overpriced to a niche of a niche. It's no more than that - and never has been.

 

[Zander]

FWIW I also agree with WizarDru and diaglo's posts near the beginning of this thread.
diaglo's point is essentially the same as one I made in Dragon magazine issue 325.

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.

No doubt that the timing was propitious. In the '70s, the LotR trilogy was experiencing a popular revival - not that it was unpopular before that - especially in the US. Tolkien's death in 1973 (IIRC) and the resulting media attention in his works of fantasy helped to propel the LotR's appeal even further. While Col Pladoh has denied that Tolkien greatly influenced D&D, many gamers saw D&D as a way of entering Tolkienesque worlds filled with fantastic/legendary/mythological elements with which they were already familiar.