D&D General Why Enworld should liberate D&D from Hasbro

[cranberry]

There was a lot of the bolded going around in the late 1990s-early 2000s as people thought back on their 1e days in the early 80s. WotC was able to use that nostalgia in their 3e marketing, and it worked.

Well maybe, but IMO, 1E players are/were a more loyal/consistent group than 5E 2024 players will be (in hindsight)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well maybe, but IMO, 1E players are/were a more loyal/consistent group than 5E 2024 players will be (in hindsight)

There's no factual basis for this.

 

[Older Beholder]

This is what I don't understand: WotC posted a picture of a very gay, very light-hearted D&D scene (I'm sure you've all seen this by now). Are they trying to appeal to people for whom queer representation is important Or was it rage-bait to drive up engagement? Or both? Neither? What was the goal of that post?
Zero snark intended here. I am legitimately confuzzled.

The tagline for the post was ‘In this realm, your story is yours to tell’
Seems to me like the goal of the post was to remind people they can play the game however they want, as the game is for everyone. Funny how some people feel excluded by that.

 

[cranberry]

And ironically, how old were most of these old people when they started gaming? A lot of them like to make sure you know they’ve been gaming for 50 years…. since they were — wait for it — young people.

D&D was always marketed at teenagers. It was marketed at teenagers in the 1970s. It was marketed at teenagers in the 1980s. It was marketed at teenagers in the 1990s. It’s marketed at teenagers today. It will be marketed at teenagers in 2050.

And the problem today, is that the teenagers like pastel colors (and want to talk with the monsters, instead of kill them).

 

[cranberry]

There's no factual basis for this.

Like I said, IMO. However, it's hard to deny that there are more distractions than there were 50 years ago.

 

[Morrus]

And the problem today, is that the teenagers like pastel colors (and want to talk with the monsters, instead of kill them).

Wait till you hear what the teenagers in 1925 liked!

 

[cranberry]

Wait till you hear what the teenagers in 1925 liked!

Was Gygax even born then?

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Well on the theory that the original post might be some sort of meme-parody I googled "This is not a threat; this is the truth" as the distinctive phrase that seems least likely to have been changed. The results all seem to involve Uganda or vampire media. In any case I don't care enough to pursue it further.

As for the content, the truth is that anyone with time and skill can create their own D&D to suit themselves, and WotC has now creative commonsed more than enough to create your own 5e clone with comparative ease. The reasons official D&D will continue to reign are: 1) There's a massive marketing machine compared to any competitor in the space, including massive free publicity from the D&D brand being a cultural institution. 2) The userbase that marketing brings means that there's always plenty of people to play official D&D and many of people who went to the trouble of learning it don't want to learn another similar game when they can just play official D&D. 3) The continuous series of products produced for offical D&D add value for players, would dwarf most potential competitors, and feed the aforementioned marketing machine. 4) The fact that creating an independent version of the game is unnecessary to many people who are discontent but basically like the game; you just houserule as you like and don't buy products you don't like. 5) The people who are discontent with official WotC D&D are not a monolith who will come together to agree on a single grand unified independent D&D.

Personally I didn't buy ENWorld's 5e clone, which of course already exists, becuase of reasons 2 and 5.

 

[Older Beholder]

And the problem today, is that the teenagers like pastel colors (and want to talk with the monsters, instead of kill them).

Or to put it another way, kids today want roleplay and storytelling, and so do plenty of older players.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Or to put it another way, kids today want roleplay and storytelling, and so do plenty of older players.