D&D General Why Is D&D Successful?

[LuisCarlos17f]

Now D&D as brand has got more power than ever. The number of the sales is a dream comparing to previous editions. Even with those "bad days" now D&D is living its best age.

And now BG3 is the superstar of the CRPGs, even the potential "killer" of Final Fantasy.

 

[schneeland]

English is the lingua franca of the modern world.

Would you thus argue that, because so many people speak it, it must be easy to learn?

Funnily, your post reminded me that the English language and 5e do indeed share some similarities:

• For both, part of the appeal is that a lot of people are using the system/language
• Both will give you access to a great deal of interesting content
• Both are relatively easy to learn, but hard to master (at least from a German perspective)

And I think that's something I would definitely give the 5e design: the learning curve makes it relatively approachable - certainly, in comparison to earlier editions (maybe not B/X, but AD&D to 4e), but especially on early levels also compared to other bigger games on the market.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Both are relatively easy to learn, but hard to master (at least from a German perspective)

Here, you are simply, objectively incorrect. English is one of the most difficult languages to learn on Earth. Very few languages are harder to learn than English. The learning curve is steep and exceptions abound.

The only possible out here is "at least from a German perspective," and even then, modern German is much easier to learn than modern English is, in large part due to spelling reforms that have made most spelling phonetic, and the (comparatively) smaller vocabulary. (English is notorious for stealing words from other languages and inventing neologisms at an astounding rate, probably at least in part because it is so widely-used, but also because it lacks an Academy to define what is "real" English.)

It is simply, straight-up objective fact that English is a very difficult language to learn. Period. That you use it as an example of how 5e is supposed to be an easy game to learn would be genuinely funny if you weren't serious.

 

[Oofta]

I'm pretty sure the goals for this product were to make a bunch of money for WotC by getting as many people as possible to buy it.

The goal of 5E was to keep the brand alive so they could use the IP to sell other products. Fortunately we got a good game that surprised them by exploding in popularity. Meanwhile they've continued to invest money in surveys and analyzing feedback on what the majority of people want out of the game.

While a product with a lot of desirable qualities isn't guaranteed success, they are more likely to be commercially successful. Especially when the product has been running on fumes for the previous several years (and editions) like D&D was.

 

[Nikosandros]

Here, you are simply, objectively incorrect. English is one of the most difficult languages to learn on Earth. Very few languages are harder to learn than English. The learning curve is steep and exceptions abound.

I haven't studied many languages, but I found German and especially Russian to be way, way harder to study than English.

 

[Oofta]

I haven't studied many languages, but I found German and especially Russian to me way, way harder to study than English.

According to a quick google search of the most difficult languages to learn for non-English speakers, English is in the top 10, but it's last in the list.

1. ARABIC
2. RUSSIAN
3. MANDARIN
4. GERMAN
5. DUTCH
6. SWAHILI
7. SPANISH
8. FRENCH
9. HINDI
10. ENGLISH

Since that list pretty much covers languages spoken by the majority of people on the planet, I wouldn't say English is particularly difficult in comparison to other languages.

 

[Reynard]

According to a quick google search of the most difficult languages to learn for non-English speakers, English is in the top 10, but it's last in the list.

1. ARABIC
2. RUSSIAN
3. MANDARIN
4. GERMAN
5. DUTCH
6. SWAHILI
7. SPANISH
8. FRENCH
9. HINDI
10. ENGLISH

Since that list pretty much covers languages spoken by the majority of people on the planet, I wouldn't say English is particularly difficult in comparison to other languages.

I imagine it is highly dependent on what your native language is. Are there structural similarities? Are they members of the same family? Do they have borrowed words from one another due to cultural contact?

 

[Oofta]

I imagine it is highly dependent on what your native language is. Are there structural similarities? Are they members of the same family? Do they have borrowed words from one another due to cultural contact?

Sure. If Spanish is your native tongue, Italian will be relatively easy to pick up.

On the other hand, while english did show up on the top 10 languages difficult to learn, it wasn't near the top as the most difficult to learn of all languages on earth.

 

[Reynard]

On the other hand, while english did show up on the top 10 languages difficult to learn, it wasn't near the top as the most difficult to learn of all languages on earth.

I wouldn't expect it would be, given its ubiquity.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The goal of 5E was to keep the brand alive so they could use the IP to sell other products. Fortunately we got a good game that surprised them by exploding in popularity. Meanwhile they've continued to invest money in surveys and analyzing feedback on what the majority of people want out of the game.

While a product with a lot of desirable qualities isn't guaranteed success, they are more likely to be commercially successful. Especially when the product has been running on fumes for the previous several years (and editions) like D&D was.

The only people who thought that 4e's profits were "running on fumes" worked for WotC/Hasbro.