D&D 5E What is Quality?

[Oofta]

I wonder what happened about a decade ago. Oh yeah! Fantasy games, RPGs and shows entered the main stream.

You're assuming that this growth is entirely due to 5e's quality, rather than the fact that D&D, and other traditionally non-main stream games entered the main stream at about that time. Had 2e or 3e been released 10 years ago, it would have seen a huge increase from that as well.

I'm assuming that the TTRPG market is relatively competitive. That when 5E was released, it had not been the top selling RPG for a couple of years, but quickly bounced back. That there's no inherent reason for D&D's growth over other systems.

But primarily that if it wasn't decent quality that some other TTRPG would have risen to the top. It's not hard to find alternatives, it's a google search away if the game doesn't work for people. It's easy to find games online. Or maybe it's simply impossible to have any objective measurement of people's subjective experiences.

The post is labeled "What is" not "D&D 5E is" for a reason.

 

[Aldarc]

As far as why I like 5E? Many reasons. It holds together with minimal tweaking at higher levels. The rules are consistent and flexible while having very few things that I consider broken. It's easy to modify, combat it relatively quick and so on.

Thank you, Oofta. I appreciate your answer here. I mean that. This provides more valuable information about 5e's good qualities than appeals to its popularity, and I think that this also provides us a list of design elements that that we could use as a jumping point to expand our discussion about 5e's quality and entertainment value.

I understand that not everyone can articulate why they "like what they like" or their preferences, but I also think that it's a useful skill to develop with time and practice.

 

[Maxperson]

I'm assuming that the TTRPG market is relatively competitive. That when 5E was released, it had not been the top selling RPG for a couple of years, but quickly bounced back. That there's no inherent reason for D&D's growth over other systems.

Name recognition. D&D dropped off due to the lack of popularity of 4e, but still was very close to the one that for a few years replaced it. What was that system. D&D. It was called "Pathfinder," but it was D&D. So D&D has always been number 1 in some form.

But primarily that if it wasn't decent quality that some other TTRPG would have risen to the top.

So long as it was D&D, sure. 5e took the number 1 spot back because it was D&D and better received than 4e was, AND because it hit the main stream at the same time we have seen it take off like no other edition has. It's reaching far more people who are willing to try it now. Any prior edition released at the same time would have seen the same main stream boost.

It's not hard to find alternatives, it's a google search away if the game doesn't work for people. It's easy to find games online. Or maybe it's simply impossible to have any objective measurement of people's subjective experiences.

But it is impossible to find any that comes close to D&D that is not also a form of D&D.

 

[soviet]

We have as much detail about 5e's sales as we did about 4e's. The notion that 4e was not also the market leader for at least the vast majority of its run appears to have no evidence. The notion that 5e (rather than WotC) has seen record double digit growth year on year also appears to be without evidence. The OP is based on very loose foundations.

 

[FrogReaver]

I'm assuming that the TTRPG market is relatively competitive. That when 5E was released, it had not been the top selling RPG for a couple of years, but quickly bounced back. That there's no inherent reason for D&D's growth over other systems.

But primarily that if it wasn't decent quality that some other TTRPG would have risen to the top. It's not hard to find alternatives, it's a google search away if the game doesn't work for people. It's easy to find games online. Or maybe it's simply impossible to have any objective measurement of people's subjective experiences.

The post is labeled "What is" not "D&D 5E is" for a reason.

Your argument here presumes that intrinsic quality is the driving force in a competitive market. It’s not. Lower quality products win out all the time. Price point, marketing, branding, fear of missing out, keeping up with the Jones’s, wanting to play with friends, ease of finding campaigns, sunk costs, curiosity about what’s trending, etc.

 

[Morrus]

The notion that 5e (rather than WotC) has seen record double digit growth year on year also appears to be without evidence.

There's evidence in the form of testimony from WotC and Hasbro. Whether you consider that good evidence or not is up to you, but it's evidence.

 

[Oofta]

We have as much detail about 5e's sales as we did about 4e's. The notion that 4e was not also the market leader for at least the vast majority of its run appears to have no evidence. The notion that 5e (rather than WotC) has seen record double digit growth year on year also appears to be without evidence. The OP is based on very loose foundations.

I can only point you to this thread which is fairly old and the recent one here. There have been many, many reports of how 5E exceeded expectations from the get go and has seen double digit growth every year since.

I see no reason to doubt the reports.

 

[Willie the Duck]

There's evidence in the form of testimony from WotC and Hasbro. Whether you consider that good evidence or not is up to you, but it's evidence.

Much like the 4e one, without seeing the exact statement, it's pretty meaningless.

edit:

I can only point you to this thread which is fairly old and the recent one here. There have been many, many reports of how 5E exceeded expectations from the get go and has seen double digit growth every year since.

I see no reason to doubt the reports.

Ah, thank you. I'll be digging through.

 

[Morrus]

Much like the 4e one, without seeing the exact statement, it's pretty meaningless.

You can see statements from WotC's CEOs over the years on any of the many mainstream media articles about the game, or the various articles about Hasbro earnings calls and the like. I cover that stuff on the news page fairly regularly.

 

[soviet]

There's evidence in the form of testimony from WotC and Hasbro. Whether you consider that good evidence or not is up to you, but it's evidence.

Looks to me like the growth refers to WotC and not 5e, but I can't seem to access the report itself.