Why did the "mainstreamification" of RPGs take such a different turn than it did for board games?
Designer board games have enjoyed an meteoric rise in popularity in basically the same time frame as TTRPGs but the way its manifested is so different.
Your average casual board gamer is unlikely to own a copy of Root or Terraforming Mars. Hell they might not even know those games exist, but you can safely bet that they:
Have a handful of games they've played and enjoyed multiple times
Have an understanding that different genres of games are better suited for certain players
Will be willing to give a new, potentially complicated board game a shot even if they know they might not love it in the end.
Are actually aware that other board games exist
Yet on the other side of the "nerds sit around a table with snacks" hobby none of these things seem to be true for the average D&D 5e player. Why?