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Why can't WotC break the mass market barrier?
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<blockquote data-quote="Clavis" data-source="post: 3820662" data-attributes="member: 31898"><p>The reason more people don't play D&D is the people who already play D&D.</p><p></p><p>In other words, the rest of the culture thinks we are all overweight, chauvinistic geeks with extremely poor personal hygiene and no social lives outside D&D. We are considered the opposite of cool, and people are afraid that by associating with us they will identify themselves as uncool.</p><p></p><p>Ever try picking up a girl (outside of a 'Con) with the line of "Why don't you come back to my place and check out the character sheet for my awesome Elven wizard"? Girls like Vin Diesel because he's a buff action movie actor - and will <em>overlook</em> the fact that he's a gamer.</p><p></p><p>The whole Satanic thing didn't really hurt D&D as much as people think. In fact, in my experience a lot of gamers played D&D <em>because</em> it had dangerous, Satanic connotations! When I was in High School, there were 3 kinds of people who played D&D: Physics and chess club nerds, metalhead freaks, and Drama Club dorks. I hung with the metalhead freaks, who wanted a game with demons and nekkid chicks and lots of gore. I knew a lot about science, and had sympathies with the Physics club types, but that was accepted because I also knew stuff about SATAN (sound of distorted power chord here).</p><p>None of us gamers belonged to the popular cliques, or to each other's cliques, but we all gamed.</p><p></p><p>Pretty much the dumbest thing TSR ever did was take out the Half Orc, Assassin class Demons, and Devils for 2nd edition. No longer were the metalheads interested, because the game was now family safe. Eventually, that crowd mostly drifted to Vampire, when all their Goth girlfriends wanted to pretend to be sexy bloodsuckers. Vampire didn't suffer from an association with the typical gamer geek stereotypes, but the Goths who loved it were equally socially unacceptable. Once again, the mass culture wanted no part of them.</p><p></p><p>Until the mass culture changes its mind about what kind of people gamers are, there will be no mass-market penetration of D&D. Unless D&D is something potentially dangerous and rebellious again, its not going to get back the kind of gamers it once did. People love fantasy and fantasy games; the prominence of World of Warcraft proves it. What they don't love are we gamers. Only <em>we </em>can change that attitude, not WOTC.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Clavis, post: 3820662, member: 31898"] The reason more people don't play D&D is the people who already play D&D. In other words, the rest of the culture thinks we are all overweight, chauvinistic geeks with extremely poor personal hygiene and no social lives outside D&D. We are considered the opposite of cool, and people are afraid that by associating with us they will identify themselves as uncool. Ever try picking up a girl (outside of a 'Con) with the line of "Why don't you come back to my place and check out the character sheet for my awesome Elven wizard"? Girls like Vin Diesel because he's a buff action movie actor - and will [I]overlook[/I] the fact that he's a gamer. The whole Satanic thing didn't really hurt D&D as much as people think. In fact, in my experience a lot of gamers played D&D [I]because[/I] it had dangerous, Satanic connotations! When I was in High School, there were 3 kinds of people who played D&D: Physics and chess club nerds, metalhead freaks, and Drama Club dorks. I hung with the metalhead freaks, who wanted a game with demons and nekkid chicks and lots of gore. I knew a lot about science, and had sympathies with the Physics club types, but that was accepted because I also knew stuff about SATAN (sound of distorted power chord here). None of us gamers belonged to the popular cliques, or to each other's cliques, but we all gamed. Pretty much the dumbest thing TSR ever did was take out the Half Orc, Assassin class Demons, and Devils for 2nd edition. No longer were the metalheads interested, because the game was now family safe. Eventually, that crowd mostly drifted to Vampire, when all their Goth girlfriends wanted to pretend to be sexy bloodsuckers. Vampire didn't suffer from an association with the typical gamer geek stereotypes, but the Goths who loved it were equally socially unacceptable. Once again, the mass culture wanted no part of them. Until the mass culture changes its mind about what kind of people gamers are, there will be no mass-market penetration of D&D. Unless D&D is something potentially dangerous and rebellious again, its not going to get back the kind of gamers it once did. People love fantasy and fantasy games; the prominence of World of Warcraft proves it. What they don't love are we gamers. Only [I]we [/I]can change that attitude, not WOTC. [/QUOTE]
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