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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8100163" data-attributes="member: 7023840">So to put a cap on this:1. As you know, it's hard to overstate how big D&D was back then. It's why "D&D" was a synonym for roleplaying in general for most people. If you treat it separately, it would take up the top four spots (OD&D, AD&D, B/X, DIY variations, in some order). If you treat it as a monolith, then it's going to be "D&D, then other stuff."2. As far as I know, there are no sales figures, which is why I was curious that someone would confidently assert something as fact. Was Traveller the number two selling game from 1977 through some period in the 80s? I doubt it, but maybe. But probably not. I certainly wouldn't say that is an indisputable fact- would you?3. You're welcome to use a database of GenCon if you'd like to look at some comparative figure; either old scans of the convention flyers are a searchable databse here- [URL unfurl="true"]http://best50yearsingaming.com/programs[/URL]From what I can see, this seems to match my occasionally faulty memory. 4. I think that there was a lot of regional variation; if you had a FLGS or (like a lot of places) had to deal with a Waldenbooks / B Dalton ... or KB Toys as your distributor, for example. People often tend to overrate their local community. I know that people played Traveller, but (for example) I can also state definitively that no one I know played either Traveller because no place carried it; instead, Gamma World was our go-to. Doesn't mean Traveller didn't exist. But as a general rule, I wouldn't say, "Gamma World was the second-biggest game from the 70s to the early 80s" because that would be nothing more than unsupported anecdotal assertion, especially given that there are no reliable sales figures from back then (which is a continuing source of annoyance for some of us!).</blockquote>

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