Why are games like dnd 5e and pathfinder as successful? what

Cultural inertia.
Armies of fanatical grognards always ready to proselitize.
All of momma Hasbro's money to advertise and bribe.

>>54412114
cause if you can sell an idea for money, you can sell fucking anything.

>>54412197
which is the irony, since nobody will buy an idea for money.

>>54412114

>Why are carbonated beverages like Coca-Cola and Pepsi so successful? What needs do they fill that other sodas can't fill?

Same principle. Brand recognition.

>>54412159
Approachability. DnD/Pathfinder are pretty generic in their settings, which allow players to easily approach them. On top of this being the two most well known allows people to at least recognize them.

It also helps that they're both old as fuck.

>>54412114
Because despite their (many) flaws they are actually good.

>>54412114
>marketing
>production values
>setting niche

Mostly the first two.

>>54412259
>Same principle. Brand recognition.
This. They stay on top by dint of being on top.

Same way GW is the big player in war gaming despite having notoriously terrible mechanics and overpriced models for decades.

>>54412332
There are other good games that don't do nearly so well.

Ffg star wars, for instance.

>>54412114
>what needs do they fill that other games don't?

being popular. sounds circular but it's true. it's a niche hobby and people crowd around the game that everyone around the table can be reasonably expected to understand and accept. people really don't like to learn new systems. and even in hobbies which demand much less work from their audience, people tend to stick with recognisable franchises.

>>54412518
That's more about familiarity than popularity.

IE: they need to somehow make more people familiar with their product before they try to play it.

>>54412159
This.