ENWorld’s Hot RPGs – December 2016

Time for another look at at ENWorld’s list of hot RPGs to round off the year. Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				1506
2	Pathfinder RPG				 402
3	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			 290
4	Old School Revival (OSR)		 205
5	D&D 4th Edition				 137
6	World of Darkness			 112
7	Savage Worlds				 101
8	OD&D					  85
9	Call of Cthulhu				  84
10	AD&D 2nd Edition			  77
11	What's OLD is NEW			  76
12	Dungeon Crawl Classics			  67
13	Shadowrun				  65
14	Dread					  63
15	Traveller				  61
16	Exalted					  58
17	RIFTS					  54
18	Dungeon World				  50
19	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	  49
20	GURPS					  45
21	ICONS					  44
22	Gumshoe					  36
23	Apocalypse World			  32
24	Deadlands				  31
25	Warhammer 40K				  30
26	AD&D 1st Edition			  25
27	Stars Without Number			  20
28	Cypher System				  19
28	Earthdawn				  19
30	Castles & Crusades			  18
31	The One Ring				  16
32	Firefly					  15
33	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		  14
34	13th Age				  12
35	Warhammer FRP				  11
35	Iron Kingdoms				  11
37	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	  10
37	Mutant Chronicles			  10
39	CORTEX System				   8
40	BESM					   7
40	d20 Modern				   7
42	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		   6
42	HERO System / Champions			   6
42	True20					   6
42	Fading Suns				   6
42	Eclipse Phase				   6
47	A Song of Ice & Fire			   5
48	Feng Shui				   4
48	Alternity				   4
48	d20 Future				   4
48	Gamma World				   4
52	Star Wars (FFG)				   3
52	DC Heroes				   3
52	Chainmail				   3
55	Hackmaster				   2
55	Other Superhero RPGs			   2
55	Aberrant				   2
58	Ars Magica				   1
58	Ashen Stars				   1
58	Star Trek				   1
58	Colonial Gothic				   1
58	Runequest				   1
58	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			   1
58	TMNT					   1
58	Smallville				   1
66	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			   0
66	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	   0
66	Silver Age Sentinels			   0
66	Brave New World				   0
66	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		   0
66	Star Wars (d6)				   0
66	Villains & Vigilantes			   0
66	FATE					   0
66	Marvel Super Heroes			   0
66	Marvel SAGA				   0
66	Paranoia				   0
66	Rotted Capes				   0
66	Hobomancer				   0
--	Stage					 DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

ENWorld’s Hot RPGs – November 2016

Time for another look at at ENWorld’s list of hot RPGs. So it’s been a good long while since we did this, mostly because as of the last time the chart seemed to have become very same-y, but let’s see if anything substantial has changed in the last 9 months or so.

Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				1172
2	Pathfinder RPG				 325
3	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			 230
4	Old School Revival (OSR)		 163
5	D&D 4th Edition				 122
6	World of Darkness			  89
7	OD&D					  72
8	Call of Cthulhu				  70
9	Savage Worlds				  68
10	What's OLD is NEW			  61
11	Dread					  57
11	Dungeon Crawl Classics			  57
13	Shadowrun				  55
14	Traveller				  53
15	Exalted					  50
16	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	  44
17	Dungeon World				  43
18	ICONS					  40
19	GURPS					  39
20	AD&D 2nd Edition			  37
20	RIFTS					  37
22	Apocalypse World			  30
22	Gumshoe					  30
24	AD&D 1st Edition			  24
24	Deadlands				  24
26	Stars Without Number			  19
27	Earthdawn				  17
27	Warhammer 40K				  17
29	Castles & Crusades			  15
30	Warhammer FRP				  14
30	Cypher System				  14
32	Firefly					  12
32	13th Age				  12
32	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		  12
35	Iron Kingdoms				  11
35	Mutant Chronicles			  11
37	The One Ring				  10
38	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	   9
39	Eclipse Phase				   8
40	HERO System / Champions			   7
40	CORTEX System				   7
40	BESM					   7
43	d20 Modern				   5
43	Fading Suns				   5
43	Gamma World				   5
43	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		   5
47	True20					   4
47	Alternity				   4
47	d20 Future				   4
50	Feng Shui				   3
50	A Song of Ice & Fire			   3
50	Star Wars (FFG)				   3
53	Other Superhero RPGs			   2
53	DC Heroes				   2
55	Chainmail				   1
55	Star Trek				   1
55	Colonial Gothic				   1
55	Hackmaster				   1
55	Ars Magica				   1
55	Ashen Stars				   1
55	Runequest				   1
55	Aberrant				   1
55	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			   1
55	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	   1
55	Smallville				   1
55	TMNT					   1
67	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			   0
67	Marvel SAGA				   0
67	Star Wars (d6)				   0
67	FATE					   0
67	Rotted Capes				   0
67	Villains & Vigilantes			   0
67	Hobomancer				   0
67	Brave New World				   0
67	Marvel Super Heroes			   0
67	Paranoia				   0
67	Silver Age Sentinels			   0
67	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		   0
--	Stage					 DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

ENWorld’s Hot RPGs – February 2016

It’s time for another look at at ENWorld’s list of hot RPGs.

Happily, since last time ENWorld seem to have done some spring-cleaning of the page and the underlying systems – maybe they read one of my posts where I complained about some of the oddities. For instance, they are no longer claiming to be tracking the Paizo and WotC forums – a practice they actually stopped pretty soon after they started. They have also added a caveat that their system is no longer actually tracking the ENWorld forums any more, because the closure of Wizards of the Coast’s own forums prompted that community to migrate en mass to ENWorld – now that it’s become a quasi-official discussion forum for D&D, they’ve decided it is unfair to track it whilst at the same time excluding the official fora of other games.

On the one hand, this shows commendable even-handedness on ENWorld’s part. On the other hand, I think their practice of not tracking official fora is inherently flawed. Surely the point of these charts are to track how much discussion is happening concerning a particular game, regardless of where that discussion takes place? If a popular game has an official forum which is widely used, that game will be hampered compared to other games due to a lot of discussion happening on the official forum rather than elsewhere. If a popular game’s official forum is not widely embraced by its community, for whatever reason, then tracking it won’t make much difference either way. I say track all the fora – and if there’s a forum which doesn’t provide an RSS feed, notify the forum owners that they aren’t being tracked and they can choose whether or not to provide a feed.

Other positive steps have been taken to rationalise the game categories. The Strange and the Cypher System are no longer being tracked separately, for instance – and at long last, Stars Without Number has been removed from the list of games tracked under the OSR banner, so the numbers for the OSR category might be a bit more trustworthy now.

Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				1193
2	Pathfinder RPG				  95
3	World of Darkness			  73
4	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			  66
5	Exalted					  65
6	Old School Revival (OSR)		  56
7	D&D 4th Edition				  50
8	Savage Worlds				  46
9	What's OLD is NEW			  30
10	GURPS					  27
11	Gumshoe					  21
11	Call of Cthulhu				  21
13	Shadowrun				  20
14	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	  18
14	Warhammer 40K				  18
16	Dungeon World				  17
16	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		  17
18	Traveller				  16
19	Feng Shui				  11
20	13th Age				  10
21	CORTEX System				   9
21	OD&D					   9
21	The One Ring				   9
24	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	   8
24	ICONS					   8
24	d20 Modern				   8
24	RIFTS					   8
28	Stars Without Number			   7
28	Warhammer FRP				   7
28	Mutant Chronicles			   7
28	Eclipse Phase				   7
28	Cypher System				   7
33	AD&D 2nd Edition			   6
33	Firefly					   6
33	Apocalypse World			   6
33	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		   6
37	Ars Magica				   5
37	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	   5
37	Star Wars (FFG)				   5
37	Alternity				   5
41	Dungeon Crawl Classics			   4
41	Gamma World				   4
41	Deadlands				   4
44	AD&D 1st Edition			   3
44	DC Heroes				   3
44	Castles & Crusades			   3
44	Earthdawn				   3
44	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			   3
44	Dread					   3
50	Marvel SAGA				   2
50	Colonial Gothic				   2
50	Smallville				   2
50	Iron Kingdoms				   2
50	Chainmail				   2
50	HERO System / Champions			   2
56	Other Superhero RPGs			   1
56	Star Wars (d6)				   1
56	True20					   1
56	FATE					   1
56	A Song of Ice & Fire			   1
56	BESM					   1
56	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			   1
56	Runequest				   1
56	Rotted Capes				   1
65	Fading Suns				   0
65	Hackmaster				   0
65	d20 Future				   0
65	Villains & Vigilantes			   0
65	Ashen Stars				   0
65	TMNT					   0
65	Star Trek				   0
65	Hobomancer				   0
65	Aberrant				   0
65	Brave New World				   0
65	Marvel Super Heroes			   0
65	Paranoia				   0
65	Silver Age Sentinels			   0
65	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		   0
--	Stage					 DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

ENWorld’s Hot RPGs – January 2016

Right, New Year, new month, new look at at ENWorld’s list of hot RPGs.

Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

Incidentally, the ENWorld site claims that they’re tracking posts on the Wizards and Paizo forums and giving separate scores for them, but this is utter bullshit – they did that briefly as an experiment and then stopped. All the figures on the chart do not include official publisher forums – and I think some of the changes this time around may have something to do with that, as you’ll see.

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				1233
2	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			 198
3	Exalted					 123
4	D&D 4th Edition				 108
5	Pathfinder RPG				 102
6	World of Darkness			  83
7	Old School Revival (OSR)		  56
8	Savage Worlds				  44
9	Shadowrun				  26
10	Call of Cthulhu				  20
10	GURPS					  20
12	Warhammer 40K				  19
13	What's OLD is NEW			  18
14	Dungeon World				  17
15	Gumshoe					  16
15	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		  16
17	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	  15
18	AD&D 2nd Edition			  13
18	Traveller				  13
20	The One Ring				  12
21	The Strange				  11
22	Cypher System				   9
23	ICONS					   8
23	Stars Without Number			   8
25	OD&D					   7
25	Firefly					   7
25	Dread					   7
25	Feng Shui				   7
29	13th Age				   6
29	CORTEX System				   6
29	Ars Magica				   6
29	RIFTS					   6
29	Eclipse Phase				   6
34	d20 Modern				   5
34	AD&D 1st Edition			   5
34	Star Wars (FFG)				   5
34	HERO System / Champions			   5
34	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	   5
34	Castles & Crusades			   5
40	Deadlands				   4
41	Apocalypse World			   3
41	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			   3
41	Star Wars (d6)				   3
41	Mutant Chronicles			   3
41	Warhammer FRP				   3
41	Dungeon Crawl Classics			   3
47	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		   2
47	Smallville				   2
47	Hackmaster				   2
47	True20					   2
47	Gamma World				   2
47	DC Heroes				   2
47	Colonial Gothic				   2
54	Other Superhero RPGs			   1
54	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			   1
54	Runequest				   1
54	Earthdawn				   1
54	Alternity				   1
54	Aberrant				   1
54	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	   1
54	Ashen Stars				   1
54	Chainmail				   1
54	BESM					   1
54	Iron Kingdoms				   1
65	Fading Suns				   0
65	d20 Future				   0
65	A Song of Ice & Fire			   0
65	Star Trek				   0
65	FATE					   0
65	Paranoia				   0
65	Brave New World				   0
65	Marvel Super Heroes			   0
65	Marvel SAGA				   0
65	Rotted Capes				   0
65	Silver Age Sentinels			   0
65	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		   0
65	Villains & Vigilantes			   0
65	TMNT					   0
65	Hobomancer				   0
--	Stage					 DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

Note that yet again the OSR score includes a contribution from Stars Without Number, which is also tracked separately, and so the OSR score should not be trusted.

Note also that there has been a bit of a tweak to the chart this time – the Numenera category has been renamed the Cypher System category. This is a bit of a misnomer: whilst the system used in Numenera is known as the Cypher System, and is intended to be used by Monte Cook Games for a range of different game and has a setting-neutral rules set out for it, not all the Cypher System games are included under this category: The Strange, which had its own separate category, really ought to be folded into this one and it hasn’t been. I do wonder how long it will take ENWorld to notice this gooftastic botch on their part and sort it out; given that they still claim to be tracking the official Wizards of the Coast and Paizo forums on the charts, even though they stopped that experiment months ago and the Wizards forums were disbanded a little while back, I suspect we might be watching this particular screwup perpetuate itself for a while.

For the purpose of the charts, I am treating the Cypher System category as a new entry to the chart, since it will mix up discussion of the generic Cypher System rulebook with discussion of Numenera itself.

ENWorld’s Hot Roleplaying Games – December 2015

For the last go-around this year, let’s look at ENWorld’s list of hot RPGs.

Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

Incidentally, the ENWorld site claims that they’re tracking posts on the Wizards and Paizo forums and giving separate scores for them, but this is utter bullshit – they did that briefly as an experiment and then stopped. All the figures on the chart do not include official publisher forums – and I think some of the changes this time around may have something to do with that, as you’ll see.

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				1426
2	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			 222
3	D&D 4th Edition				 165
4	Pathfinder RPG				 124
5	Exalted					 114
6	World of Darkness			  91
7	Old School Revival (OSR)		  67
8	Savage Worlds				  34
9	Shadowrun				  30
10	Call of Cthulhu				  28
11	Warhammer 40K				  23
12	GURPS					  22
12	Traveller				  22
14	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	  21
15	AD&D 2nd Edition			  19
16	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		  18
16	Dungeon World				  18
18	The One Ring				  16
19	Gumshoe					  14
19	What's OLD is NEW			  14
21	The Strange				  13
21	Feng Shui				  13
23	OD&D					  11
24	Eclipse Phase				  10
24	Stars Without Number			  10
26	13th Age				   8
26	Warhammer FRP				   8
26	Dread					   8
29	Deadlands				   7
29	Numenera				   7
29	Mutant Chronicles			   7
32	Star Wars (FFG)				   6
32	AD&D 1st Edition			   6
32	ICONS					   6
32	HERO System / Champions			   6
36	True20					   5
36	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	   5
36	CORTEX System				   5
36	Firefly					   5
36	RIFTS					   5
41	Star Wars (d6)				   4
41	Castles & Crusades			   4
41	Gamma World				   4
44	BESM					   3
44	Dungeon Crawl Classics			   3
44	Ars Magica				   3
44	d20 Modern				   3
44	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			   3
49	Hackmaster				   2
49	Other Superhero RPGs			   2
49	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		   2
49	Colonial Gothic				   2
49	Fading Suns				   2
49	Iron Kingdoms				   2
49	Apocalypse World			   2
56	Villians & Vigilantes			   1
56	Aberrant				   1
56	Alternity				   1
56	Earthdawn				   1
56	Smallville				   1
56	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	   1
56	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			   1
56	Ashen Stars				   1
64	Star Trek				   0
64	A Song of Ice & Fire			   0
64	Chainmail				   0
64	Silver Age Sentinels			   0
64	Brave New World				   0
64	DC Heroes				   0
64	FATE					   0
64	Hobomancer				   0
64	Paranoia				   0
64	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		   0
64	Marvel SAGA				   0
64	TMNT					   0
64	Runequest				   0
64	Rotted Capes				   0
64	Marvel Super Heroes			   0
64	d20 Future				   0
--	Dnd/Pathfinder				 DNC
--	Stage					 DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

Note that yet again the OSR score includes a contribution from Stars Without Number, which is also tracked separately, and so the OSR score should not be trusted.

ENWorld’s Hot Roleplaying Games – November 2015

It’s that time of the month again when I like to look at ENWorld’s list of hot RPGs.

Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

Incidentally, the ENWorld site claims that they’re tracking posts on the Wizards and Paizo forums and giving separate scores for them, but this is utter bullshit – they did that briefly as an experiment and then stopped. All the figures on the chart do not include official publisher forums – and I think some of the changes this time around may have something to do with that, as you’ll see.

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				1307
2	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			 236
3	D&D 4th Edition				 154
4	Pathfinder RPG				 117
5	World of Darkness			  93
6	Exalted					  71
7	Old School Revival (OSR)		  61
8	Shadowrun				  36
9	Warhammer 40K				  35
10	Savage Worlds				  34
11	Call of Cthulhu				  30
12	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		  27
13	Traveller				  25
14	GURPS					  22
15	AD&D 2nd Edition			  20
16	Numenera				  19
17	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	  16
17	Feng Shui				  16
19	Eclipse Phase				  15
19	What's OLD is NEW			  15
21	Stars Without Number			  14
22	OD&D					  12
23	The One Ring				  11
24	Dungeon World				  10
24	The Strange				  10
24	13th Age				  10
27	ICONS					   9
27	AD&D 1st Edition			   9
27	Deadlands				   9
27	Gumshoe					   9
31	Mutant Chronicles			   8
31	Dread					   8
33	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	   7
33	Warhammer FRP				   7
35	HERO System / Champions			   6
35	Castles & Crusades			   6
35	Apocalypse World			   6
35	Star Wars (FFG)				   6
39	RIFTS					   5
39	Ars Magica				   5
39	Firefly					   5
42	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			   4
42	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		   4
42	True20					   4
42	Gamma World				   4
42	CORTEX System				   4
47	Fading Suns				   3
47	Hackmaster				   3
47	BESM					   3
50	Star Wars (d6)				   2
50	Dungeon Crawl Classics			   2
50	d20 Modern				   2
50	Other Superhero RPGs			   2
50	Iron Kingdoms				   2
50	Aberrant				   2
56	Alternity				   1
56	Colonial Gothic				   1
56	Star Trek				   1
56	Villians & Vigilantes			   1
56	Ashen Stars				   1
56	Earthdawn				   1
56	Smallville				   1
63	Brave New World				   0
63	DC Heroes				   0
63	A Song of Ice & Fire			   0
63	Silver Age Sentinels			   0
63	Marvel Super Heroes			   0
63	Hobomancer				   0
63	Rotted Capes				   0
63	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	   0
63	d20 Future				   0
63	Paranoia				   0
63	FATE					   0
63	TMNT					   0
63	Marvel SAGA				   0
63	Runequest				   0
63	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		   0
63	Chainmail				   0
63	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			   0
--	Dnd/Pathfinder				 DNC
--	Stage					 DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

Note that yet again the OSR score includes a contribution from Stars Without Number, which is also tracked separately, and so the OSR score should not be trusted.

ENWorld’s Hot Roleplaying Games – October 2015

I’m a little late this month but it’s still worth taking a look at ENWorld’s list of hot RPGs because some interesting things are going on in the chart at the moment.

Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

Incidentally, the ENWorld site claims that they’re tracking posts on the Wizards and Paizo forums and giving separate scores for them, but this is utter bullshit – they did that briefly as an experiment and then stopped. All the figures on the chart do not include official publisher forums – and I think some of the changes this time around may have something to do with that, as you’ll see.

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				1182
2	Pathfinder RPG				 109
3	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			 104
4	D&D 4th Edition				  97
4	World of Darkness			  97
6	Old School Revival (OSR)		  58
7	Exalted					  40
8	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		  39
8	Savage Worlds				  39
10	Warhammer 40K				  38
11	Traveller				  36
12	GURPS					  30
13	Shadowrun				  28
14	Call of Cthulhu				  26
15	Numenera				  23
16	Feng Shui				  19
17	AD&D 2nd Edition			  18
18	Stars Without Number			  17
18	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	  17
18	ICONS					  17
21	What's OLD is NEW			  16
22	Dungeon World				  15
23	Eclipse Phase				  14
24	Gumshoe					  11
24	13th Age				  11
26	Apocalypse World			  10
26	OD&D					  10
28	Mutant Chronicles			   9
28	The Strange				   9
28	AD&D 1st Edition			   9
28	Warhammer FRP				   9
32	The One Ring				   8
32	Firefly					   8
34	Deadlands				   7
34	Gamma World				   7
36	RIFTS					   6
37	Star Wars (FFG)				   5
37	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	   5
37	Castles & Crusades			   5
40	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			   4
40	Ars Magica				   4
40	CORTEX System				   4
40	Dread					   4
40	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		   4
45	Smallville				   3
45	True20					   3
45	Fading Suns				   3
45	BESM					   3
45	Colonial Gothic				   3
50	Earthdawn				   2
50	Dungeon Crawl Classics			   2
50	d20 Modern				   2
50	Star Wars (d6)				   2
50	Iron Kingdoms				   2
50	HERO System / Champions			   2
50	Aberrant				   2
57	FATE					   1
57	Hackmaster				   1
57	Star Trek				   1
57	Other Superhero RPGs			   1
57	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			   1
57	Runequest				   1
57	TMNT					   1
57	Villians & Vigilantes			   1
65	Rotted Capes				   0
65	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	   0
65	A Song of Ice & Fire			   0
65	DC Heroes				   0
65	Alternity				   0
65	Ashen Stars				   0
65	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		   0
65	Silver Age Sentinels			   0
65	Hobomancer				   0
65	Brave New World				   0
65	Marvel SAGA				   0
65	Marvel Super Heroes			   0
65	Paranoia				   0
65	Chainmail				   0
65	d20 Future				   0
--	Dnd/Pathfinder				 DNC
--	Stage					 DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

Note that yet again the OSR score includes a contribution from Stars Without Number, which is also tracked separately.

ENWorld’s Hot Roleplaying Games – September 2015

It’s the start of a month and the start of GenCon, so this is an interesting time to check in on ENWorld’s list of hot RPGs. The last month saw GenCon and a number of other major conventions happening, so it’ll be particularly interesting to see how the buzz from that affects the charts this time.

Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				989
2	Pathfinder RPG				226
3	World of Darkness			160
4	Old School Revival (OSR)		152
5	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			139
6	D&D 4th Edition				 78
7	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		 77
8	Savage Worlds				 74
9	Call of Cthulhu				 61
10	Shadowrun				 49
10	Traveller				 49
12	Warhammer 40K				 48
13	GURPS					 46
14	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	 42
15	Dungeon World				 39
16	ICONS					 36
17	Stars Without Number			 34
18	Numenera				 33
19	Dread					 32
19	Exalted					 32
21	13th Age				 21
22	What's OLD is NEW			 20
22	Gumshoe					 20
24	Apocalypse World			 16
25	The Strange				 15
25	Feng Shui				 15
27	OD&D					 14
27	Deadlands				 14
29	AD&D 2nd Edition			 13
30	RIFTS					 12
30	Firefly					 12
32	Eclipse Phase				 11
32	Warhammer FRP				 11
34	The One Ring				 10
34	AD&D 1st Edition			 10
36	d20 Modern				  9
37	Dungeon Crawl Classics			  8
37	CORTEX System				  8
39	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		  7
39	Gamma World				  7
39	Ars Magica				  7
42	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			  5
42	Castles & Crusades			  5
42	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	  5
42	Iron Kingdoms				  5
46	Star Trek				  4
46	HERO System / Champions			  4
46	A Song of Ice & Fire			  4
49	Earthdawn				  3
49	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			  3
49	TMNT					  3
49	Star Wars (FFG)				  3
49	Smallville				  3
49	Hackmaster				  3
55	Aberrant				  2
55	FATE					  2
55	Runequest				  2
55	Mutant Chronicles			  2
55	Fading Suns				  2
55	Colonial Gothic				  2
55	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	  2
55	BESM					  2
63	Paranoia				  1
63	Silver Age Sentinels			  1
63	Marvel SAGA				  1
63	Other Superhero RPGs			  1
67	Ashen Stars				  0
67	Rotted Capes				  0
67	Star Wars (d6)				  0
67	True20					  0
67	Hobomancer				  0
67	d20 Future				  0
67	Alternity				  0
67	Brave New World				  0
67	DC Heroes				  0
67	Villians & Vigilantes			  0
67	Marvel Super Heroes			  0
67	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		  0
67	Chainmail				  0
--	Dnd/Pathfinder				DNC
--	Stage					DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

Note that yet again the OSR score includes a contribution from Stars Without Number, which is also tracked separately.

ENWorld’s Hot Roleplaying Games – August 2015

It’s the start of a month and the start of GenCon, so this is an interesting time to check in on ENWorld’s list of hot RPGs. (It’ll be particularly interesting to see how the buzz from GenCon affects the discussion landscape in the next month or so.) Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				1086
2	Pathfinder RPG				 357
3	Old School Revival (OSR)		 241
4	FATE					 237
5	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			 181
6	World of Darkness			 177
7	D&D 4th Edition				 126
8	Savage Worlds				  93
9	Call of Cthulhu				  83
10	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		  72
11	Traveller				  70
11	Shadowrun				  70
13	Dread					  63
14	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	  59
14	GURPS					  59
16	Dungeon World				  55
17	ICONS					  54
18	Stars Without Number			  47
19	Numenera				  37
19	Warhammer 40K				  37
21	Exalted					  32
22	The Strange				  29
23	Apocalypse World			  23
24	13th Age				  20
25	Deadlands				  19
25	What's OLD is NEW			  19
25	Gumshoe					  19
28	Dungeon Crawl Classics			  18
29	OD&D					  17
30	Warhammer FRP				  16
31	Firefly					  15
32	d20 Modern				  14
32	RIFTS					  14
34	Feng Shui				  13
34	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			  13
36	The One Ring				  12
37	AD&D 1st Edition			  11
37	AD&D 2nd Edition			  11
39	Iron Kingdoms				  10
40	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	   9
40	HERO System / Champions			   9
40	A Song of Ice & Fire			   9
40	CORTEX System				   9
44	Hackmaster				   8
44	Earthdawn				   8
46	Ars Magica				   7
46	Eclipse Phase				   7
48	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		   6
48	Gamma World				   6
50	Star Trek				   5
51	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			   4
51	Star Wars (FFG)				   4
51	Other Superhero RPGs			   4
54	TMNT					   3
54	BESM					   3
54	Castles & Crusades			   3
57	Smallville				   2
57	Ashen Stars				   2
57	Aberrant				   2
57	Runequest				   2
57	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	   2
57	Colonial Gothic				   2
57	Rotted Capes				   2
64	Star Wars (d6)				   1
64	Fading Suns				   1
64	Mutant Chronicles			   1
64	Paranoia				   1
64	Silver Age Sentinels			   1
64	Marvel SAGA				   1
70	True20					   0
70	Hobomancer				   0
70	d20 Future				   0
70	Alternity				   0
70	Brave New World				   0
70	DC Heroes				   0
70	Villians & Vigilantes			   0
70	Marvel Super Heroes			   0
70	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		   0
70	Chainmail				   0
--	Dnd/Pathfinder				 DNC
--	Stage					 DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

Note that yet again the OSR score includes a contribution from Stars Without Number, which is also tracked separately.

ENWorld’s Hot Roleplaying Games – July 2015

Another month, another check in on ENWorld list of hot RPGs. Usual reminder applies: RPGs are scored on the chart based on what’s being actively discussed on as wide a pool of internet fora and blogs as ENWorld can find RSS feeds for. It isn’t tracking sales, and it isn’t even tracking popularity (because conceivably a game could get onto the chart if there were a sufficiently virulent negative reaction to it). What I present here are the scores assigned to each game, not the percentages (which can tend to obscure whether there’s been a recent explosion of RPG discussion – for example, as associated with the D&D 5E release – or whether things are comparatively quiet on the RPG talkosphere).

First up, let’s get the rankings and absolute scores:

RANK	GAME					SCORE
1	D&D 5th Edition				1231
2	Pathfinder RPG				 446
3	Old School Revival (OSR)		 383
4	FATE					 310
5	D&D 3rd Edition/3.5			 232
6	World of Darkness			 219
7	D&D 4th Edition				 173
8	Savage Worlds				 140
9	Call of Cthulhu				 108
10	Shadowrun				  94
11	Dread					  89
12	Traveller				  79
13	Mutants & Masterminds/DC Adventures	  72
14	Dragon Age/Fantasy AGE/AGE		  68
15	ICONS					  64
16	GURPS					  63
17	Dungeon World				  59
18	Stars Without Number			  55
19	Numenera				  44
20	Dungeon Crawl Classics			  42
21	Warhammer 40K				  41
22	The Strange				  37
23	Warhammer FRP				  35
24	Gumshoe					  30
25	OD&D					  28
26	Apocalypse World			  25
27	13th Age				  22
28	RIFTS					  21
28	d20 Modern				  21
30	Deadlands				  20
31	Exalted					  19
32	Iron Kingdoms				  16
33	All Flesh Must Be Eaten			  14
33	Doctor Who: Adventures in Time & Space	  14
33	The One Ring				  14
36	Firefly					  12
36	AD&D 1st Edition			  12
36	A Song of Ice & Fire			  12
39	HERO System / Champions			  11
40	Ars Magica				  10
41	AD&D 2nd Edition			   9
42	Marvel Heroic Roleplaying		   8
42	Feng Shui				   8
42	Hackmaster				   8
42	Eclipse Phase				   8
42	CORTEX System				   8
47	BESM					   7
47	Earthdawn				   7
49	Castles & Crusades			   6
49	Gamma World				   6
51	Star Trek				   5
52	Other Superhero RPGs			   4
52	Star Wars (SAGA/d20)			   4
54	Star Wars (FFG)				   3
54	TMNT					   3
54	Godlike / Wild Talents / NEMESIS	   3
57	Rotted Capes				   2
57	Smallville				   2
57	Ashen Stars				   2
57	DC Heroes				   2
61	Fading Suns				   1
61	Star Wars (d6)				   1
61	Paranoia				   1
61	Runequest				   1
61	Silver Age Sentinels			   1
61	Marvel SAGA				   1
61	Alternity				   1
61	Aberrant				   1
69	Hobomancer				   0
69	Colonial Gothic				   0
69	d20 Future				   0
69	True20					   0
69	Marvel Super Heroes			   0
69	Brave New World				   0
69	Villians & Vigilantes			   0
69	Golden Heroes / Squadron UK		   0
69	Chainmail				   0
69	Mutant Chronicles			   0
--	Dnd/Pathfinder				 DNC
--	Stage					 DNC
*DNC = Did Not Chart

Note that according to the chart page a 0 score doesn’t mean nobody’s mentioned a particular game – a statistically significant sample has shown up but no more than that. For sanity’s sake I’m only tracking zero-scores which previously scored. Games which did not chart presumably either failed to even yield a statistically significant sample or have had their categories retired from the chart (as appears to be the case with the redundant Dnd/Pathfinder category). At least, that’s according to the ENWorld writeup – though since I’ve not seen a game drop off the chart since the Dnd/Pathfinder and Stage categories dropped off, I’m sceptical about that. Note also that the “OSR” entry should be taken with a pinch of salt – it’s the accumulated score of a whole bunch of OSR games, but this includes Stars Without Number which also has its own, separate entry, as well as systems not based on old school D&D like ZeFRS and, bizarrely, BRP.

In short, it’s a farce as huge as combining all the Narrativist-influenced games into a Forge category and simultaneously giving them individual listings anyway. I really don’t know why they do it.