WotC WotC reported 50% growth over 2020!

[MGibster]

For a game I've been purchasing versions of since the first Bush was president, I find I don't really care all that much about canon. Even among the handful of settings I actually like, Ravenloft & Dark Sun, I don't really care about canon. Hell, it's been a long time since I played them so I can't even remember specifics at this point. I'd be totally fine with a Dark Sun release without psionics but that's outright heresy to some.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I reeeeeally don't get the "zero to hero" complain. Not every game has to be that. DnD is not that for DECADES. In fact it has not been that for more time than it was that at this point. Not every game has to be like that, and there are plenty of games out there the fit that sort of story. Clearly more people like what the game is now than it was 20 years ago.

I find it funny that in the same thread people complain that:

1- D&D dominates the market and doesn't let other games thrive.

2- D&D is not the exact game they want, when they could play other games that fit that playstyle perfectly.

A lot of new players have no real knowledge or desire to play anything else. When I started playing D&D back in the 90s as far as I was concerned it was the only game and it did ever thing I needed it to do.

Im sure a lot of the new players (which make up more than 50% of the base now) feel the same way. Especially when a lot of the top streaming games are 5E D&D IE Crit Role.
I love D&D (and the D20 system) for what it does and I don’t fault it for what it doesn’t. A lot of people have no desire to look further, and as someone who took awhile to find a whole universe of games out to there I try to spread that message. “Try other games, find one that fits what you want instead of shoehorning D&D into it.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

As player in the tabletop the canon may be totally destroyed, among other reasons, to can cause surprise for players who have read too much fandom. But as reader of fiction I would rather enough coherence.

And even the "canon" can be too different if we talk about videogames and media productions. If there is a future Dragonlance videogame we will see some radical changes, but if it is also adapted to some animated serie, also with its own retcons. And these are the main goal, but need a lot of time and money. And the reboot of the action-live productions, with different casts for the same characters.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

For a game I've been purchasing versions of since the first Bush was president, I find I don't really care all that much about canon. Even among the handful of settings I actually like, Ravenloft & Dark Sun, I don't really care about canon. Hell, it's been a long time since I played them so I can't even remember specifics at this point. I'd be totally fine with a Dark Sun release without psionics but that's outright heresy to some.

I think for those of us who came in at the bottom, homebrew settings where always the main thing. It was pushing Forgotten Realms, and especially the tie-in novels, in the late 80s/early 90s that got people hooked on the canon drug.

 

[Lyxen]

Thanks to all who replied about running D&D in a MtG setting, it seems that there are at least a few of you out there.

Apart from that, for as long as I can remember (and it's a long time now), there have been people who have hated D&D for being too mainstream, and overshadowing other games that were, in their eyes, more perfect and therefore "objectively" better. For me, it does not work that way, a game matches your tastes and expectations, it's good for you, and that is all that there is to it. I've tried tons of other games throughout the decades, some for long campaigns, others for shorter ones, some that played really well for us and others that did not, but always came back to D&D like most of the people in the groups that we play with, sometimes with good results and sometimes with only OK results (2e and 4e were not good for us, for various reasons, when 3e and 5e really worked for us, again for various reasons).

But in terms of settings, none of us are really MtG players, and from the little playing that I've seen, it's always been fairly technical and actually the lore mattered extremely little to the people I played with, so I have absolutely no attachment with the settings, whereas I've had incredible adventures in Mystara, Greyhawk, Planescape, Spelljammer, Dark Sun, etc., adventures that were mostly shared with people in our groups so this is also why we come back to them and they feel comfortable and exciting.

 

[overgeeked]

I reeeeeally don't get the "zero to hero" complain. Not every game has to be that.

No, but the game that started it all should be.

DnD is not that for DECADES.

More’s the pity.

Clearly more people like what the game is now than it was 20 years ago.

The awesome that is RPGs, plus a lighter edition than D&D has had in decades, plus streaming games like Critical Role, and the absence of controversies like the Satanic Panic...means we have the most popular edition ever.

I find it funny that in the same thread people complain that:

1- D&D dominates the market and doesn't let other games thrive.

2- D&D is not the exact game they want, when they could play other games that fit that playstyle perfectly.

One prevents two. Finding players for games that are not D&D 5E is a nightmare. Roll20 and other VTT makes things way easier, but about 60% of all games on Roll20 are D&D 5E...all other games combined fit into that 40%, with an ever shrinking player base as people either stop trying or migrate to D&D 5E because that’s where the games and gamers are.

 

[Bravesteel25]

One prevents two. Finding players for games that are not D&D 5E is a nightmare. Roll20 and other VTT makes things way easier, but about 60% of all games on Roll20 are D&D 5E...all other games combined fit into that 40%, with an ever shrinking player base as people either stop trying or migrate to D&D 5E because that’s where the games and gamers are.

And heaven forbid you try to get gamers at your local store to try an RPG that isn't available right on the FLGS' shelf. I vastly prefer OSR games, but no one wants to give them a chance because nowadays a game's worth is judged by whether it is on the shelf.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

OSR isn't on the shelf because it isn't very good and no one who isn't wearing rose tinted nostalgia glasses would want to play it.

Back in 1982 I realised Basic D&D wasn't very good, and moved on to AD&D. Then a year or two later I realised that wasn't much better and moved on to Traveller.

D&D didn't become good until 5e. It's no wonder it's the most successful edition.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

And heaven forbid you try to get gamers at your local store to try an RPG that isn't available right on the FLGS' shelf. I vastly prefer OSR games, but no one wants to give them a chance because nowadays a game's worth is judged by whether it is on the shelf.

To be fair, I've seen Old School Essentials and Dungeon Crawl Classics on the shelf of my LGS.

Dungeons & Dragons is so popular because of its brand more than anything else, and because it's player base is already large. Popularity begets popularity.

 

[J.Quondam]

OSR isn't on the shelf because it isn't very good and no one who isn't wearing rose tinted nostalgia glasses would want to play it.

This conflates "OSR" with the original editions, but those are not the same thing. There are plenty of games today that have been updated with modern design, and yet also fall under the OSR banner.

And of course, there's nothing actually wrong with the older editions themselves, except maybe that they're rougher versions than what we've got today... which, obviously, lots of gamers see as a point in their favor.