LONDON - iSportsWire -- The OGL controversy and subsequent U-turn caused a lot of stress for Dungeons and Dragons fans, but a new survey from geek goods retailer Merchoid shows that it hasn't exactly hampered interest in the upcoming D&D movie release.

In a survey of over 2,500 self-proclaimed D&D and Stranger Things fans, Merchoid learned that:

• Fans are divided over their expectations of "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves", with 50% expecting it to be 'terrible', 'meh' or 'disappointing' - or saying they don't know what to expect - and 50% expecting it to be 'great', 'ok' or 'good'
• Despite this, around 76% of D&D fans overall are planning to watch the movie when it comes out
• D&D fans who watch Stranger Things are more likely to watch than those who don't - 80% of those who are fans of both franchises plan to watch Honor Among Thieves, compared to 68% of those who only like D&D

Michelle Kelly, e-commerce manager at Merchoid (https://www.merchoid.com), thinks the divided expectations are mainly due to Hollywood's poor track record at adapting the source material. "The 2000 Dungeons & Dragons film provided a stacked cast of talented actors, but thanks to a poor script and lacklustre effects, the film was poorly received by critics and audiences, with two following straight-to-TV adaptations also failing to impress."

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That said, the survey did also find that 1 in 10 D&D fans had no idea there was a new film coming...

While Wizards of the Coast will likely need longer to earn back their fanbase's trust, their u-turn on the OGL controversy has cleared some negative sentiment from the air. Traffic to Dungeons & Dragons pages on the Merchoid site doubled in the first few days after the OGL u-turn was announced, following a steady decline that had taken place after the initial news was leaked.

Another interesting finding was that the success of Stranger Things' Hellfire Club appears to have inspired a wave of new players. 15% of Stranger Things fans now want to play D&D or have already started playing, purely because of the show.

"We always wanted to play D&D but never got to it. After the Demogorgon in S01 of Stranger Things, we got to it." One respondent said. Roughly 50% of Stranger Things fans are planning to watch the new D&D movie when it comes out in a few weeks time.

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Whether the film will be a smash-hit or not remains to be seen, but it may just inspire a wave of new players...

Find out more in the original post, "What we learned from 2,588 D&D and Stranger Things fans (https://www.merchoid.com/uk/blog/post/what-we-learned-from-2-588-d-and-d-and-stranger-things-fans/)".