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<blockquote data-quote="woodelf" data-source="post: 2990072" data-attributes="member: 10201">Unfortunately, i suspect that a lot of new RPers would disappear along with the D&amp;D name, if the D&amp;D name disappeared. So, from a market/industry standpoint, it would probably be a bad thing. A lot of proto-gamers don't go looking for &quot;an RPG&quot; they go looking for &quot;D&amp;D&quot;, and if that isn't an option, they might not move on to the next option (which, for the uninitiated, is &quot;a game like D&amp;D&quot;).But, from an artistic standpoint, i've long said that the D&amp;D brand being somehow removed from the RPG world would be an immensely good thing. Right now, a lot of proto-gamers choose D&amp;D for no reason other than name recognition. This then becomes their game of choice again because of no other reason than it being their first game. [This is not to say that some, maybe even most, who play D&amp;D predominantly, don't play it because they prefer it to other choices. Just that at least some subset is playing D&amp;D because of its market dominance, not any characteristic of the rules themselves.] Similarly, the market muscle of D&amp;D has a huge distorting effect on the design of other RPGs: most other RPGs are designed either to be like the dominant game(s), or to contrast with the dominant game(s) in a particular way. Take away that easy target, and i think more RPGs would be designed to satisfy their own reasons, irrespective of how they related to other RPGs on the market. Similarly, right now there's a huge market force to make your D20 System game compatible with D&amp;D--greater than merely the force of that compatibility itself. Without the D&amp;D brand, and presumably therefore the D20 System logo, D20 System game designers would never have to face the choice between tweaking the mechanics to better suit their vision, and leaving them alone to better match D&amp;D. The latter incentive wouldn't exist, so games would end up similar because it was what made for the best game, not because of the ability to associate your product with the D&amp;D brand.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="woodelf, post: 2990072, member: 10201"] Unfortunately, i suspect that a lot of new RPers would disappear along with the D&D name, if the D&D name disappeared. So, from a market/industry standpoint, it would probably be a bad thing. A lot of proto-gamers don't go looking for "an RPG" they go looking for "D&D", and if that isn't an option, they might not move on to the next option (which, for the uninitiated, is "a game like D&D"). But, from an artistic standpoint, i've long said that the D&D brand being somehow removed from the RPG world would be an immensely good thing. Right now, a lot of proto-gamers choose D&D for no reason other than name recognition. This then becomes their game of choice again because of no other reason than it being their first game. [This is not to say that some, maybe even most, who play D&D predominantly, don't play it because they prefer it to other choices. Just that at least some subset is playing D&D because of its market dominance, not any characteristic of the rules themselves.] Similarly, the market muscle of D&D has a huge distorting effect on the design of other RPGs: most other RPGs are designed either to be like the dominant game(s), or to contrast with the dominant game(s) in a particular way. Take away that easy target, and i think more RPGs would be designed to satisfy their own reasons, irrespective of how they related to other RPGs on the market. Similarly, right now there's a huge market force to make your D20 System game compatible with D&D--greater than merely the force of that compatibility itself. Without the D&D brand, and presumably therefore the D20 System logo, D20 System game designers would never have to face the choice between tweaking the mechanics to better suit their vision, and leaving them alone to better match D&D. The latter incentive wouldn't exist, so games would end up similar because it was what made for the best game, not because of the ability to associate your product with the D&D brand. [/QUOTE]

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