D&D Resurgence
 

I saw an article about D&D making a resurgence. As D&D goes, so goes the industry - so has SJG noticed anything on this front? Is GURPS doing better the last year?

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

I'd be interested to hear about this too, though I'd imagine COVID-19 introduced a number of wildcard factors, both good and bad.

I could imagine impulse purchases from folks down at the gaming store would be pretty uncommon, but then interest in digital RPG materials while in quarantine would be higher.

Hopefully the KS project has worked out well for SJG and the GURPS line, and presents a stable alternative source of income stream as well as product promotion.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

I wonder how much of any resurgence is due to the fact that I'm seeing a "D&D Essentials Kit" on the shelves at Target, exposing it more widely to a mass-market audience. (Or is it showing up on Target's shelves BECAUSE it is enjoying a resurgence?)

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

I think it's necessary to recognize that D&D is on an entirely different level from every other RPG on the market, because of almost half a century's history and because for many people who only casually know about the industry, roleplaying and D&D are basically synonyms. There is no meaningful way to compare D&D with GURPS, or FATE, or Savage Worlds, or even Pathfinder; there's D&D and there's everyone else, and they aren't running in the same circles.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

Andrew Hackard, slayer of hopes, defeater of dreams. (j/k)

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

A lot of folk watch people play D&D on the internet.

I think that a little more footage on Youtube of people playing GURPS might attract players.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

One thing to keep in mind with all the Live Play games being popular right now is that the big one (Critical Role) and quite a few of the others, aren't just people playing the game. The people playing are seasoned actors as well.

Even some of the smaller live plays that I personally know people in are headed up by community or professional theater actors, directors, and producers. The ones that are successful aren't just treating this as an exercise in playing their game with cameras on. These are productions designed to entertain, and more goes into that than just getting streaming set up.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

I think these are very good points. GURPS can't hope to compete online with D&D. Something as slick and popular as Critical Role isn't on the cards. Having said that that, much less impressive productions are also much easier. If you can get all the players in on a Zoom session, that's pretty much all you need. Fans could do it (and some have, bless 'em). And if SJG is looking to put on demo games anyway, it might be good to have some available online.

I recognize that I'm speculating. I have zero experience in the game industry.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

Sure, people can just put their Zoom sessions online. The point I'm trying to make though is that normal tabletop RPG sessions aren't that entertaining to watch for those that are not involved in the game. Most of us probably wouldn't even be particularly interested in re-watching our own sessions. It takes a degree of showmanship and performance to make that sort of thing into entertainment that others are going to be interested in tuning in for. And marketing and promotion on top of that to get people there in the first place.

We experimented with the format ourselves last year, with our Live in the Labyrinth show, using the people and setup we had on hand. We learned a lot in the process, and have used that to improve our in-house studio and streaming. But nearly a year later, less than 350 people have actually watched through to the final episode, so I'm not sure I'd say we were very successful with the format.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

D&D is bigger than it's EVER been. Yes, bigger than the craze of 1981 or the height of 3.X.

My understanding is that there's been only a small flow-on to other tabletop RPGs. And what there is, is fragmented among vastly more systems than in the past.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

Hopefully, the flow into other RPG's will occur after D&D makes some decision that turns people away and they start looking at other games, or when the current crop matures a little.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

You could have said that 25 years ago…

D&D 4e put off a lot of people. But they're mostly playing Pathfinder, not GURPS.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

The decline of the FLGS doesn't help. There isn't really any automatic method that would cause people dissatisfied with D&D (but still interested in RPGs; a lot of people who are dissatisfied will just stop playing) to encounter alternatives.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

For what little anecdotal evidence it's worth, I came to GURPS 4E right after D&D made the transition from 3.5E to 4E.

It takes some degree of mental distancing to step back, critically examine the assumptions of your gaming rules, and also critically examine your own desired mechanics in an RPG system.

Even when I knew D&D 3.5 wasn't doing it for me, I spent a couple of years trying to convert it into a points-buy system. At one point I owned every single hardback 3/3.5E non-campaign book they'd put out, I was so desperate to find the "one supplement that fixes everything to my liking".

It's several important mental steps to expect of a gamer who's only ever known one system (and in fact for whom that single system may be a metonym for the entire hobby as a whole). Not everybody will have time to barricade themselves in a gaming store for two days like me, reviewing game systems.

If GURPS could advertise more on digital platforms, to spread the word of its strengths and flexibilities, it might reach more folks. Certainly these days, FLGS aren't doing so well and many people are trying stuff out online.

Has SJG ever gotten ad pixels on the big RPG sites? On Discord? etc.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

D&D 5E is probably the best researched RPG in terms of market research. 5E design process was heavily built on regular surveys about the latest drafts.

Add to that the advertising, the fact that it's the best known and best supported game...

Don't hold your breath waiting for D&D's new audience to go looking. Most who like D&D will stay playing it. It's the ones who try it, like the idea but not the rules, and goes looking for better rules... there's always that component, and the market overall seems to be growing, but not at the expense of D&D nor Pathfinder....

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

Most of the RPG market in North America is people who start out with some version of D&D but get bored with its limits and try something else. At some point, D&D 3e's marketing philosophy was based around entertaining players from about the age of 14 to 22 because so many people stop playing as much as their career and family lives get busier. In North America, as versions of D&D go so does the industry because people who like the basic idea of tabletop roleplaying are more likely to try a new system or product.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

Perhaps the options, resources, and communities on Roll20 and the rest will help.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

No, Most of the RPG market is D&D. Period. More units of D&D 5E core have sold than all other D&D editions combined, which is a frighteningly large market share.

I suspect you mean "Most of the non-D&D RPG market is ..." but even there, that's probably still wrong, because a lot of people playing other games aren't done with D&D.

Re: D&D Resurgence
 

I think Kromm said a while back that 90% of the RPG market is D&D, and 90% of the rest is other dungeon bashing games. (If I got this wrong I apologise; that's the way I remember it.) Those of us who play other stuff are weirdoes even by RPG-er standards.