How Dungeons And Dragons Somehow Became More Popular Than Ever

[Spence]

5 hours ago, Cassandra said:

Geeks had to end up somewhere now that Star Trek and Star Wars are no longer cool.

 

Thank you, Discovery.  Thank you Rey.

 

 

Harsh......but not wrong

[wcw43921]

What--no one thinks Picard will make Star Trek cool again?

[Cassandra]

19 hours ago, wcw43921 said:

What--no one thinks Picard will make Star Trek cool again?

 

Not even the return of Seven of Nine will do that.  If they had focused on Ryker commanding The Titan with a few characters from Deep Space Nine and Voyager it would have kept the franchise going, especially if they skipped Enterprise and Star Trek Nemesis.  What we get now it Zombie Entertainment.  The mindless body of our beloved Series and Movies hungering for rating or box office only to be shot in the head by the utter indifference of the audience.

 

 

[Spence]

1 hour ago, Cassandra said:

 

Not even the return of Seven of Nine will do that.  If they had focused on Ryker commanding The Titan with a few characters from Deep Space Nine and Voyager it would have kept the franchise going, especially if they skipped Enterprise and Star Trek Nemesis.  What we get now it Zombie Entertainment.  The mindless body of our beloved Series and Movies hungering for rating or box office only to be shot in the head by the utter indifference of the audience.

 

 

Wow, your appreciation of is far greater than mine. 

Compared to my opinion, you are practically a Picard cheerleader.....

[Cassandra]

On 1/2/2020 at 12:28 PM, Spence said:

Wow, your appreciation of is far greater than mine. 

Compared to my opinion, you are practically a Picard cheerleader.....

 

Which is ironic because I never cared for Patrick Stewart.  His only good role was in Dune which was a terrible movie.  And he was way to old to be Professor X.

[Greywind]

[zslane]

13 hours ago, Cassandra said:

And he was way to old to be Professor X.

 

And Ian McKellan was way too old to be Magneto.

[pinecone]

Maybe a suprise casting, Annd a gender swap...Milie Cyrus!

[Cassandra]

4 hours ago, zslane said:

 

And Ian McKellan was way too old to be Magneto.

 

But he was perfect as Richard III.

[Cassandra]

2 hours ago, pinecone said:

Maybe a suprise casting, Annd a gender swap...Milie Cyrus!

 

Sh'e d be better as Rogue given her recent behavior.  Her or Amanda Bynes.

[Cassandra]

I'm surprised Dungeons and Dragons didn't have a revival in the 1990s when Hercules and Xena were on.

[tkdguy]

AD&D came out with 2nd Edition in the 1990s. TSR was going through a lot of changes, most notably getting rid of Gary Gygax. Other rpgs such as the World of Darkness series flourished at that time. Then Magic: The Gathering made its appearance, and rpg sales began to decline.

 

Yes, I'm oversimplifying it, but that's basically the story in a nutshell.

[Greywind]

Started development in '87. Released in '89.

[tkdguy]

I stand corrected, but 2E was still in its heyday until the later part of the 1990s. And it remains my favorite edition aside from B/X.

[zslane]

2 hours ago, Cassandra said:

I'm surprised Dungeons and Dragons didn't have a revival in the 1990s when Hercules and Xena were on.

 

Just like we're all surprised that superhero RPGs haven't seen a boom in the last ten years while the MCU has dominated cinema. Or surprised that the massive popularity of Star Wars in the late '70s and early '80s didn't help sci-fi/space opera RPGs roll past fantasy RPGs (D&D in particular) in the marketplace.

 

There just doesn't seem to be any correlation between what is popular on tv or in the movies and what is selling big in the TTRPG industry. I don't think there ever has been, to be honest.

[Greywind]

Well, yeah, but 3e didn't come about until 2003. 2e suffered from "toomanybookitis".

 

[Tjack]

8 minutes ago, Greywind said:

Well, yeah, but 3e didn't come about until 2003. 2e suffered from "toomanybookitis".

 

  
  And now unfortunately, the country suffers from “toostupidtoreadabookitis”.  

[tkdguy]

There was a Hercules & Xena rpg, although it didn't do well at all. Here's a brief review of the product. There was also Legacy: War of Ages, which was basically Highlander with the serial numbers filed off and a few elements from the World of Darkness and Cyberpunk genres. It didn't do well either, although at least one supplement was published.

 

As for all the books in D&D 2E, none were necessary apart from the core books. 3E eventually did the same thing.

[Cassandra]

5 hours ago, zslane said:

 

Just like we're all surprised that superhero RPGs haven't seen a boom in the last ten years while the MCU has dominated cinema. Or surprised that the massive popularity of Star Wars in the late '70s and early '80s didn't help sci-fi/space opera RPGs roll past fantasy RPGs (D&D in particular) in the marketplace.

 

There just doesn't seem to be any correlation between what is popular on tv or in the movies and what is selling big in the TTRPG industry. I don't think there ever has been, to be honest.

 

I guess that means that the nations supply of pale lonely virgins is in short supply.

[Duke Bushido]

1 hour ago, Cassandra said:

 

I guess that means that the nations supply of pale lonely virgins is in short supply.

 

 

That was beautiful.     

 

Dear _God_ but that was beautiful.

 

I'm going to have to hunt down a few other of your posts and rep them till I run out, because one doesn't seem to really express how beautiful that was.

 

 

Thank you.  I really needed a good laugh.  
 

 

[Cassandra]

4 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

 

 

That was beautiful.     

 

Dear _God_ but that was beautiful.

 

I'm going to have to hunt down a few other of your posts and rep them till I run out, because one doesn't seem to really express how beautiful that was.

 

 

Thank you.  I really needed a good laugh.  
 

 

 

I really appreciate that.

[Duke Bushido]

20 hours ago, zslane said:

There just doesn't seem to be any correlation between what is popular on tv or in the movies and what is selling big in the TTRPG industry. I don't think there ever has been, to be honest.

 

 

I have no proof, but I've never thought there was a strong connection, either.  At the end of the day, there are two totally different things going on:

 

Sitting on your butt, flattening a few brain waves, and being spoon fed a story-- every image, action, detail of that story---  and getting together with friends or at least like-minded people, and creating your own story.

 

There may be overlap in themes or genres of the story, but at the end of the day, they are two completely different activities.  There may be overlap in the two markets as well.  Ultimately, though, not everyone who likes one activity is going to like the other.

[zslane]

Oh, I think you're absolutely right, Duke.

 

When I think back on who the main audience was for D&D when it first came out, it was avid sci-fi/fantasy (book) readers. RPGs were written by, and for, those who loved the literary works of Tolkien, Howard, Leiber, Asimov, Moorcock, LeGuin, etc., and wanted to create similar adventures for themselves in game form. In fact, I suspect that RPGs are how many, if not most, designers and GMs scratch their writing itch.

 

In effect, TTRPGs resonate most with those with an affection for literature. Most movie-goers and tv-watchers don't read much, and so I'm not surprised they aren't inspired to play RPGs.

[Duke Bushido]

I'm out of rep for the day (spent it rewarding Cassandra's _hilarious_ one liner ), but I very much agree.  Granted:

 

My players and I are really the only thing I have as a case study

I am not objective with regard to my friends; I don't believe anyone is

 

 

One of the things that I have noticed, though, is the bug-eyes I get when someone asks me if i've watched this or that or the other thing or played this or that video game and I reply with "I haven't owned a television in seven or eight years.  I read a lot when I'm caught up with life."

 

However, I can't say that anymore.    Caving to peer pressure (and the needs of a mother-in-law we moved in with us a few years ago who is becoming more and more house-bound), Santa brought a television this year.    The damned thing hasn't been TURNED OFF even _once_ since it got plugged in!     Eight hundred bucks _gone_, and I freaking _hate_ the results.  Go figure.

 

(Side question:  since when have you been able to get the internet on televisions?!)

 

 

[Spence]

 

1 hour ago, Duke Bushido said:

--snip--

Sitting on your butt, flattening a few brain waves, and being spoon fed a story-- every image, action, detail of that story---  and getting together with friends or at least like-minded people, and creating your own story.

 

There may be overlap in themes or genres of the story, but at the end of the day, they are two completely different activities.  There may be overlap in the two markets as well.  Ultimately, though, not everyone who likes one activity is going to like the other.

 

Very true IMO.  And you can pick out TTRPG players sourced from the two groups. 

 

The game/movie/TV types are usually (not always of course) locked into making the biggest most powerful whats'it in the game and not only expect, but demand the GM and the other players are there not to play but support their personal game experience. 

 

The rare reader tends to want to be part of a cool story.

 

The hybrid is somewhere in the middle.

 

1 hour ago, zslane said:

--snip--

In effect, TTRPGs resonate most with those with an affection for literature. Most movie-goers and tv-watchers don't read much, and so I'm not surprised they aren't inspired to play RPGs.

 

Sad, but true as far as I can tell.  I still read A LOT.  I go through fiction fast (plus audible versions on the commute) because I am not trying to really retain anything.  Good interesting non-fiction is another story as a good books can turn into a research project really fast.