This is nonsense. The stigma to D&D attached when it was described in the popular press a "game for geniuses" in the wake of
the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III.
When D&D was a "game for genuises" and got TONS of free press in the JDE III case, that was the time that the game never sold more copies and became a cultural phenomenon.
Yet times definitely change and what appeals to those in the past doesn't necessarily appeal to those in the present. First let me say that I'd really like to test your theory that this "game for genuises" slogan is what drove most of the sales of D&D between the late 70's and early 80's. (I know as a kid I started in the 80's and had never heard this "game for genuises" slogan.). Second, sensationalism always causes people to become curious... but the type in the above case is not sustainable.
I imagine a significant number of players from the late 70s and early 80s first heard of D&D because of the covereage of the JDE III case in the mainstream media.
Again, sensationalism and curiosity. How about I just state that it's 2010... 30-40 years later... what does this have to do with now??
It's a fine line between "game for dorks" and "game for geniuses", but that's as good as it gets.
Or you create a new line and redefine yourself...
You are never going to de-stigmatize pretendng to be an elf by rolling odd looking dice is something that isn't nerdy. It simply IS nerdy. Accept it; embrace your inner geek.!
MMORPG's were nerdy, CCG's were nerdy, anime and manga were nerdy... yet somewhere along the line these things became not only popular with kids, but also cool... yet for some reason D&D can never ever hope to achieve this... just because it can't... Not buying it.
The best you can do is to spin the nerdiness and pitch it as a "game for geniuses", where at the least, the player can take solace in his obvious superior intellect. Despite the early success of selling D&D as a "game for geniuses", the game's subsequent owners seem to have felt that the pitch might persuade people to think that the game "is not for them" because they aren't "smart enough for it" -- even though they are.
Or perhaps D&D's success was not wholly created by a three word slogan, I know stranger things have happened. (also as a side note, which are you claiming caused the games popularity, this slogan or the news article? They aren't the same thing.)
Maybe this is just the best you can do since it appeals to your sensibilities, but I highly doubt it is the best marketing that could be concieved of to attract younger generations to D&D.
My guess is that this is retcon marketing spin from somebody who was never the intended audience for RPGs in the first place.
I always thought that D&D as a "game for geniuses" was a master-stroke, as it played upon all adolescent's desire to be somebody "special". They might not be geniuses - but that does not mean that they don't prefer to think of themselves in that way.
Don't turn down the nerdiness - turn it up!
Yep, that'll work... I believe D&D is still considered by the mainstream to be a game for nerds and smart people so anytime soon it should start selling like hotcakes again... or maybe, just maybe that ship has sailed and it's time to build a new one.
