Wizards of the Coast, publishers of the world's top role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, has just announced new products and programs designed to boost interest and pull in new, younger players. The announcements came at the D&D Experience convention (DDXP) being held this weekend in Ft. Wayne, IN.
As reported by the RPG review site Critical Hits, one of the 2010 initiatives is "D&D Encounters," a weekly "mini-campaign" of one or two D&D combat sessions that would take place in local gaming stores around the country. Players would be able to jump in and out of the campaign on a weekly basis as they desire. Although this sort of focus on isolated combat versus the storytelling of a typical RPG campaign would seem to be a bad idea at first glance, it does present some interesting advantages: Not only is it an ideal way for D&D "newbies" to learn about the game, it creates a venue to local gamers to meet and possibly set up their own gaming groups, and it drums up support for the local gaming stores, which would love the extra attention in the current economy.
For more information on D&D Encounters, see Critical Hits' report from DDXP.
The other piece of big D&D news on the first of DDXP was the announcement of "Dungeons & Dragons Essentials," a small line of product releases for the 4th quarter of 2010, also aimed at newer players. The "4e Red Box" will repackage the basic 4th edition rules, enabling a few people who have never played D&D to hit the blood-splattered ground running. Again according to Critical Hits' reporting, the new package wouldn't be a "dumbed-down" version of the 4e rules, just a different presentation ... and since it will incorporate all the errata and updates made since the 4e core books came out in Spring 2008, it might even end up on veteran players' bookshelves.
Certainly, it's easy to see the reason for these new products. Although the 4th edition books have sold well, the average age of D&D players is increasing. Younger people in the "Facebook Generation" often look for different, more immediately accessible and interactive types of entertainment, and so an old-style tabletop game like D&D doesn't strike them right away as something that could be interesting. But any game -- whether it's D&D or Battleship or poker -- needs to add new players in order to survive.
While longtime gamers (such as yours truly) intend to pass their love of D&D on to their children, Dungeons & Dragons -- and tabletop RPGs in general -- will have a better chance of continuing their success if brand-new players pick up the longsword and start hacking orcs.
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