D&D 5E What do you think Wizard's preferred customer is like and what are his/her buying habits?

[DaveDash]

Someone like me.

Play the game, recruit others to playing the game, but also play their CRPGs, and get excited about their new upcoming titles - like Legends of the Sword Coast.

Maybe ideally for them I'll get sucked into MTG as well, but I haven't yet.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Wizards obviously has has a specific type of customer in mind with this whole "power to the brand" push and I'm wondering what they want this preferred customer's buying habits to be?

I think WotC has thrown in the towel as far as whipping D&D into a rapidly-growing, money-making TTRPG to rival the income streams of M:tG or WoW, simply because they realize such a thing is impossible.

Instead, D&D is viewed as a foundational intellectual property that needs to retain it's base to remain legitimate when they pitch it as a possible movie franchise, premium cable series, MMO, VR experience, or whatever big or next-big thing they hope to hitch it to.

The target audience is thus people who have played D&D before. Probably a lot, but possibly not since the 20th century. They want them to get out to AL events and play, visibly, so that they can site attendance figures to prove that D&D is this vibrant nerd-culture IP. They want them to buy enough of each major book they put out to get it on the best-seller list, like the PH. That means relatively few books, to build up lots of excitement and pent up demand when one does come out. They don't want them to play other games, and are probably all but indifferent to them bringing new players into the hobby.

 

[Corpsetaker]

What makes now any different than what came before?

I mean we have already had the following:

1: Movies.
2: Video Games.
3. MMO's.
4: Card games.
5: Dice games.
6: Board games.
7: Novels.
8: Action Figures.
9: Cartoon.

What they are doing isn't new but why should it work now when it didn't really then?

 

[Nifft]

Their preferred customers are people who will spend money on their products.

The problem, right now, is that they aren't sure which products will get enough people (whatever that is) to spend money. That's why they're so firm that D&D "isn't [just?] a TTRPG, anymore". They think that video games and maybe books will bring in more money (have a wider audience). I'm sure the gold ring is to pull a Marvel and have D&D spread across movie/TV screens to the point where the RPG is a footnote.

Heh.

That comparison actually dovetails nicely with the "preferred customer" idea: not only do comic book people buy cheep print products, some of them will buy several copies.

Where I think they're looking at it wrong isn't in trying to expand into other markets. It's that D&D can't and won't translate well to TV/movie. D&D doesn't have a story. D&D doesn't even have a real setting. Forgotten Realms has a story and setting. Eberron has a story and setting. Dark Sun has a story and a setting. Those are all things that could be put into action. If WotC can figure out that they don't just have one "brand", but have several, they might actually be able to pull it off. Right now, they don't seem to have a clue.

The video game market is expanding again. Lots of re-hash content, but that's in-character for D&D.

There's still a huge opportunity for more games, though.

- Puzzle games. Dungeon Thief: Use your Skills, gear, and wits to navigate the heavily trapped 3D room to get the treasure, then get it out, all without being detected. Isometric, turn-based, puzzle-oriented, and suitable for tablets. If you die, you can start over. New challenges become available when you beat the current one(s); maybe you level up, also.

- First Person Sneaking. Some other franchises already claimed Thief and Assassin as titles, but WotC still has Rogue and Ranger, I think. Similar to the puzzle game, but first-person and real-time, and you can stab a jerk in the back if that's what gets the job done. Think Tomb Raider, but with elves and halflings on top. Play as evil or good -- if you're Evil, then you sneak into towns and kill / steal from ordinary citizens. If you're Good, then you sneak into ruins and such.

- Skirmish games. D&D Minis Online: You and your friend make armies up to some point value, then play turn-by-turn, just like online Chess or Scrabble. If you play a turn every day, you earn a point that day towards "buying" new digital minis. You can also buy "booster packs" for cash, but the best stuff must be earned through play. Turn-based, suitable for tablet devices.

- Single-player tactical puzzle skirmish. War of the Dragon Blahblah: You get a small force of "minis" and you must use them to win some battles. Then you get more, and the battles get harder. Turn-based, suitable for tablet devices.

- Dragontinder. Swipe left to join me in my dungeon, baby. No, wait, that's a terrible idea.

 

[Remathilis]

Eh...both are used in rather negative contexts quite often. "Casual" may not be as inherently negative as "slacker," but if we're trying for positive language it's not exactly ideal either. Particularly because it's entirely possible to consider yourself a "D&D fan/player" while meeting whatever definition of "casual" you have--I probably would, despite being a forum-frequenter, because of how rare play opportunities have been for me.

Casual as opposed to hardcore. A casual player plays for a couple of hours, enjoys the game, but when the game is done doesn't think much on it again all week. They aren't the kind of players you find homebrewing their own settings, creating and using variant rules, or spending hours on the char-ops boards. I have a lot of friends who are casuals in this regard, some have played for years never once worrying about the game between sessions and never bought more than the PHB of a given edition (and perhaps 1-2 supplements).

 

[Mephista]

Preferred customer - the average gamer who enjoys various aspects of gaming; non-forum posters.
Buying Habits - the occasional book, since everything else is pirated as a pdf

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

I think the ideal or preferred customer is a myth. WotC is diversifying the brand in the face of a diversified audience. Sword Coast Legends targets the video gamer, Dragon+ targets the mobile/app addict, the core rulebooks target the traditional tabletop gamer (most of us here), etc. The idea behind making D&D a brand, as opposed to just a game, is to bring in multiple different types of customers.

 

[Corpsetaker]

Preferred customer - the average gamer who enjoys various aspects of gaming; non-forum posters.
Buying Habits - the occasional book, since everything else is pirated as a pdf

Why would that be their preferred customer?

I've seen something from a few people now saying basically Wizards just wants people playing the game. Remember, the whole reason we are seeing this strategy is because they want to make more money than the last few editions. How is someone who buys a PHB and attends free AL putting money in Wizard's pockets?

Casual gamers aren't going to go out and buy all the books, plus invest in the MMO, and Fantasy Grounds and then invest in Sword Coast legends and I would say the casual gamer would be the largest group in sheer numbers. I also don't see this strategy as being something that will carry the game along for years to come like they think it will.

 

[Corpsetaker]

I think the ideal or preferred customer is a myth. WotC is diversifying the brand in the face of a diversified audience. Sword Coast Legends targets the video gamer, Dragon+ targets the mobile/app addict, the core rulebooks target the traditional tabletop gamer (most of us here), etc. The idea behind making D&D a brand, as opposed to just a game, is to bring in multiple different types of customers.

I don't think it's a myth because they obviously have a marketing strategy. When you design a product one of the first things you do is figure out who to target.

Remember when Bilbo told Gandalf "I feel like butter scraped across too much bread"? That is what can happen when you try and put out very little, but different products targeting different audiences.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Remember, the whole reason we are seeing this strategy is because they want to make more money than the last few editions.

Not make more money off the TTRPG, though. They tried that, it didn't work. They've tried growing the game by making it better, to appeal to & retain new players. They've tried growing it by making it retro, to appeal to lapsed players. Neither have really done the trick.

So, now, they're just making it familiar to appeal to existing customers. That's giving up on growth, entirely, but aiming for stability.

They've said they want to expand to movies and other opportunities to make money off the IP, but, as you pointed out, someone's already done all that stuff, before.

What makes them think it'll be different? Maybe the mainstreaming of nerd culture? The wild success of WoW? Stuff like that. :shrug: