So the question is, what will bring in actual D&D fans? -snip-
I think the Bg name-recognition and advertising will have the most effect. People are kind of shallow like that.
Exactly this. This partly explains why That Game didn't sell millions of copies; there wasn't the same name recognition OR budget for advertising. If TA had the name recognition as Larian, S*l*s*a had the same name recognition as Baldur's Gate, and TA had the same advertising and development budget, then who knows how many copies it would have sold? I'd wager a comparable number to BG3.
Importantly, for BG3, the name recognition will influence tabletop/BG1&2 fans to buy BG3, but it won't guarantee that they'll love it and play it for coutnless hours.
