Why I think D&D is losing market share...

[Ulric]

Let me throw something else out--in addition to the obvious computer game benefits. Here it is...brace for it...

THE TREND TOWARD LACK OF STORY.

RPGs are only fun because they allow a person to enter worlds, scenarios, and stories that aren't available to them in the real word. The quicker this can be done, and the more emersive the experience, the better. This is why computer games have been kickin' regular RPGs butt lately.

Let me explain it another way. If someone attacks me, and I have a sword in my hand, what do I do? SWING. I don't grab my dice, calculate the thickness of my armor, calculate attack penalties and bonuses etc... AGAIN, I just swing.

I played D&D while I was growing up (in the '80), then I didn't play for about ten years. I was totally surprised, and disappointed, the first time I played with a group again. Why? Almost everyone (and it was a large group) was a Rules Nazi. Story and experience seemed to be second to "the rules" and "what the book says" and "3.5 versus 3.0". My attitude? Who cares! What are we? Warriors out on a campaign to save our women, or a bunch of computer nerds who want to spend all our time arguing about some stupid paragraph on pg. 97 of the Player's Handbook?

RPG systems and rules should be focused on only one thing: the enhancement of imaginative experience. Anything that doesn't do this and do it well should be axed. Writers and RPG system creators need to remember this--or maybe learn it for the first time. Right now, computer game creators are kicking butt in the verisimilitude department. Back to the basic I say. The more this happens, the more traditional deck-top RPGs can slow the loss of market share.

STORY OVER STRUCTURE.

Seems kinda obvious to me.

 

[Treebore]

I'll go one step further:

1) Distribution. D&D is not about books. In CT, the only place I can buy D&D anything is bookstores. This has to stop. D&D is a game. It used to be in toy stores. It must be repackaged as a boxed set so it can return to toy store shelves.

2) One word: Heroscape. Figures and maps are essential. In the visual 3-D gaming world, flat tokens and imagination aren't cutting it.

3) The networking part is huge. There should be an RPGA membership included with each boxed set, or automatic membership in DDI for three months, or something. It's like how Xbox gets packaged with Xbox Live. This is a complex game that absolutely requires a few other people to play. It's about time D&D made an effort to include some means of finding them.

The fact that Heroscape has moved under the WOTC banner is very encouraging: http://heroscapers.com/?p=184

I've always said that if Hasbro is truly committed to D&D, then they will start moving hybrid-type games like Heroscape into WOTC's department, and -- more importantly -- will standardize the board game rules so they're a trimmed down version of the D&D rules. Gateway games, if you will, for a younger generation to learn and use.

That is very encouraging, indeed. Plus it can easily fit in with my idea of presenting D&D in new and different ways.

Plus "ease of access" is definitely an issue, I definitely enjoy gaming on line now that we have the "issues" worked out and everything is stable. It is definitely much more convenient. No driving, no cleaning house, no one drinking or eating things you wish they wouldn't, no wishing someone had bathed, etc...


Plus by presenting D&D in a "Heroscape" manner, or having online access like they are wanting to do with D&D Insider may help address the issues Thanae brought up.

Definitely ideas to address in a new "business Plan".

 

[Aegir]

I ran into this problem alot before I abandoned 3.x, the system just seems to attract this sort of mentality like flies on... you know.

I've worked to passively discourage this since shifting away from 3.x (I play Iron Heroes currently, which at this point could be called something of a "3.6", as I'm slowly adding in bits of 4E as I find them) in two ways: I run an improv-heavy game and play loose with the rules (so being a lawyer accomplishes nothing), and by establishing what amounts to my rule 1, "tell me what you're doing, and I'll worry about how its done."

Mind you, I have a group that plays well with this sort of game (no lawyers), but it does seem to help some.

 

[Ruslanchik]

I know a game like the one you're talking about. It's called the DnD miniatures game. It is the DnD version of chess and can reasonably be learned in 10 to 15 minutes. It is not an RPG, of course. RPGs are more complicated because they attempt to replicate complicated things.

It takes way more than 10 minutes to learn how to play a computer RPG, much less a MMORPG. Setting 10 minutes as a goal is just silly because only someone with the shortest of attention spans will sit down to try something and get up after only 10 minutes of learning. Those people aren't playing CRPGs. They are either playing console games that are basically mini-games or watching TV.

The key is not to reduce the rules to one page. The key is to facilitate the easy integration of new players. I agree that forcing someone to read the entire PHB before playing is not an effective way of drawing in new players. This is where a knowledgeable DM is invaluable. Seriously, an 8 year-old can play DnD with a good DM to help with the character sheet and to walk him/her through the basics. This cannot be learned in 15 minutes.

The best thing for drawing in new players is to publish lots of 1st level adventures that come with pre-gen characters and make it possible for a person who has only played a few times to run a fun and engaging session. There should also be lots of tools that help new DMs to flesh out their own worlds and design their own campaigns.

In my mind, the best thing that DnD has is its books and rules. A game night is a fairly rare occurrence for me, but I can pick up a book any time. Make tools for newbies, don't oversimplify the game.

 

[Treebore]

I know a game like the one you're talking about. It's called the DnD miniatures game. It is the DnD version of chess and can reasonably be learned in 10 to 15 minutes. It is not an RPG, of course. RPGs are more complicated because they attempt to replicate complicated things.

It takes way more than 10 minutes to learn how to play a computer RPG, much less a MMORPG. Setting 10 minutes as a goal is just silly because only someone with the shortest of attention spans will sit down to try something and get up after only 10 minutes of learning. Those people aren't playing CRPGs. They are either playing console games that are basically mini-games or watching TV.

The key is not to reduce the rules to one page. The key is to facilitate the easy integration of new players. I agree that forcing someone to read the entire PHB before playing is not an effective way of drawing in new players. This is where a knowledgeable DM is invaluable. Seriously, an 8 year-old can play DnD with a good DM to help with the character sheet and to walk him/her through the basics. This cannot be learned in 15 minutes.

The best thing for drawing in new players is to publish lots of 1st level adventures that come with pre-gen characters and make it possible for a person who has only played a few times to run a fun and engaging session. There should also be lots of tools that help new DMs to flesh out their own worlds and design their own campaigns.

In my mind, the best thing that DnD has is its books and rules. A game night is a fairly rare occurrence for me, but I can pick up a book any time. Make tools for newbies, don't oversimplify the game.

I am not saying simplify the game. I am saying to just do what D&D has flirted with before. Have a true "basic" entry level version, and advanced versions, up to what ever the "full version" would end up being.

To expand the game you need to attract DM's first. Then DM's can attract more players.

So what I am saying isn't aimed at those of us who already play D&D. You would play the "full version". I am talking about an introductory product line that has as basic a set of rules as can possibly be developed. With everything spelled out and presented in a manner that makes it very quick and easy to understand and learn, then teach to others.

Then that product line would help those who become interested in having more complexity can step it up to as complex as they wish it to be.

The idea is to get them playing the full version in "baby steps".

 

[Morrus]

We all know how fun D&D is (no matter what edition you play), so why do you think its market share is shrinking?
)

Ok, colour me intrigued!

1) D&D's market share of what? RPGs? Entertainment products? Everything? Really need this in context!

2) Is it shrinking? I'd be interested to see the source of that premise. Over how long?

 

[MichaelSomething]

Well for simpler rulesets, isn't there Microlite D20? It was designed to be as simple as possible.

Of course there is also the FLGS. After all, you need a place to play and people to play with and a FLGS can provide both. Promoting them can only lead to good things.

 

[Ranger REG]

And regarding that thinking stuff, lots of people I've met don't like to work their imaginations and be creative, so they just make up an orphan RPG character with no background who likes to kill stuff and take treasure, another thing WoW is better at.

So, basically WoW is an anti-roleplaying game.

 

[Ranger REG]

Can this be done? I think so, but it is going to require a radical rewrite and restructuring of how RPG's are initially presented.

It can be done. Just hope elitist veteran gamers can tolerate the apparent "dumbing down" of the rules you're envisioning.

 

[Aus_Snow]

It can be done. Just hope elitist veteran gamers can tolerate the apparent "dumbing down" of the rules you're envisioning.

Probably not, mostly. However, this is where I suspect D&D 4e doesn't go nearly far enough. I don't mean for my tastes - I'm one of those 'veteran gamers', elitist or not: plentiful crunch and otherwise obscure or unintuitive elements don't scare me off or bore me to death. Hell, I even enjoy mucking around with game systems, altering them to taste, mixing and matching, creating rules, whatever. And prep time. Yes, really.

But if companies want to tap into the wider 'potential roleplayer' market, Treebore is most likely onto something.

Of course, it could be that 4e is (among other things, obviously) a testing ground for various design and marketing strategies, which might see true fruition around the 5e mark.