Ovinomancer
No flips for you!
The first game I OWNED was D&D. The first game I PLAYED was TMNT and Other Strangeness.LOL.
But, I do think this is a point that gets kind of ignored though. I mean people often lauded the 3pp games for expanding the hobby. Things like Mutants and Masterminds or whatever. Lots of incredibly creative stuff. But, my question was always about that "expanding" part. How many people's first RPG was Mutants and Masterminds (or whatever) and not D&D?
Yes, yes, I know YOU in the back started with some other game. Thank you, you can sit down now.
My point being, nothing draws in new gamers like D&D. Two years of no WotC publications and the gaming market did... nothing. Sat there, coasting on autopilot at around that 10 or 15 million dollars a year mark. It's not like even Paizo was pulling in large numbers of new gamers.
The flow of warm bodies into the hobby goes in one direction only. Pull D&D out of the mix, and the hobby will coast on autopilot for a few years and then die as no new gamers come in. It's a sad truth, but, it's still the truth AFAIC.