What constitutes a "hit" in your mind?

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Popularity + reach.

"Popular within its genre" isn't a hit -- has to attract people from outside the genre and in-built audience.

 

[jolt]

When you try to miss, but fail.

 

[Kichwas]

As far as I'm concerned, critical consensus means nothing if a thing doesn't draw an audience, for purposes of whether it's a "hit." Also, being a "hit" doesn't imply that something is actually good. Pablum for the Public sells.

Yeah.

I lived through 80s pop music so I most certainly agree with this. But that perspective adds a point to - to find a 'hit that's good' you need hindsight. Folks who think of all the cool music of the 80s these days are remembering the good hits. Not all the junk that was the vast majority of it in between those few gems. A few times I've listened to collections of 'actual 60s music' and not the remembered gems and it's the same for "boomer music" - for every classic we remember there was a pile of absolute junk that rose to the top of the charts for a bit and then was quickly forgotten.

But a hit - that means it resonated with a large amount of the relevant public.

For a tRPG I'd say it has to have done three things:

1. Sold Well - this is the least important factor because you can have a hit even if only GMs buy it or people just pirate copies off of illegal PDF sharing...
2. Well liked by 'most gamers' - a super subjective analysis because a lot of people never speak up about liking or not liking.
3. Staying Power with an ease of finding games running it. This is the most valuable metric and likely the easiest one to track. Go on various 'looking for players' spaces and see how often that game shows up, and whether or not tables fill quickly. One flaw in this though can be when not many GMs are seeking players but a lot of players are seeking tables.

That third metric for me means not a single one of the new games of 2025 has yet been around long enough to be measured on this issue. Not even Daggerheart which seems to be 'all the rage' right now and is my "number 2" after "Legend in the Mist". It's just too early to really tell.

 

[Kaodi]

She's basically a very horny gnome, like Critical Role's Scanlan with a record contract.

I tried listening to a few of her new songs. I might legit be too prudish for her music.

 

[Kaodi]

Yeah.

I lived through 80s pop music so I most certainly agree with this. But that perspective adds a point to - to find a 'hit that's good' you need hindsight. Folks who think of all the cool music of the 80s these days are remembering the good hits. Not all the junk that was the vast majority of it in between those few gems. A few times I've listened to collections of 'actual 60s music' and not the remembered gems and it's the same for "boomer music" - for every classic we remember there was a pile of absolute junk that rose to the top of the charts for a bit and then was quickly forgotten.

I have actually listened to YouTube videos that showcased the hit song by month for the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I was born in the 80s and overall I think I recognized at least half of the songs. I think I may have recognized more 70s chart toppers than 80s chart toppers. There were some songs by extremely famous pop stars I had never heard, including Michael Jackson and Prince. Even the musical greats produce duds that seem good in the moment.

 

[Evaniel]

For a thing to be a hit for me, it needs to be at least equal to my armor class.

This is literally what I thought the thread was about. Doesn't @darjr have a thread about misunderstanding thread titles? Welp. This is my entry haha.

 

[Ryujin]

I have actually listened to YouTube videos that showcased the hit song by month for the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I was born in the 80s and overall I think I recognized at least half of the songs. I think I may have recognized more 70s chart toppers than 80s chart toppers. There were some songs by extremely famous pop stars I had never heard, including Michael Jackson and Prince. Even the musical greats produce duds that seem good in the moment.

There are times that I legitimately don't recognize songs from vinyl that I actually owned.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Young men, of all generations, and all eras, suck. Gen Z women are just smart enough to talk about it in public, rather than suffering alone.

That's quite a misanthropic take! Sorry this was your experience.

 

[jian]

Young men, of all generations, and all eras, suck. Gen Z women are just smart enough to talk about it in public, rather than suffering alone.

There is a generational thing, though, so far - Gen Z men are much more likely to say that women shouldn’t have the same rights as women, compared to Gen X or millennial men, for instance. Maybe they’re just more open about it, but decades of social media and Andrew Tate have also played a part.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There is a generational thing, though, so far - Gen Z men are much more likely to say that women shouldn’t have the same rights as women, compared to Gen X or millennial men, for instance. Maybe they’re just more open about it, but decades of social media and Andrew Tate have also played a part.

Yeah, that definitely doesn't make things better. There's a whole industry devoted to making young men more toxic.