General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
Many of us old timers survive by ingesting young blood. Be sure, please, that it has been chilled.
Chilled?!? Ewwww... 98.6, please.
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My Games
Into the Land of Black Ice (retired) - An arctic PbP adventure in the mysterious frozen lands of Oerth
Penance of the Damned (retired) - A planar chat-based game, set in Hades, where the PCs began as larvae
Beneath the Pinnacles of Azor'alq (retired) - A mid-level PbP campaign set within the Dramidj Ocean Heirs of Turucambi - An entry-level chat-based game set within the waters of Turucambi Reef in the Oljatt Sea Nature of the Beast (in design) - A sylvan adventure where the adventurers are forest animals.
I find the poll results so far kind of surprising. A relative neophyte at only 10 years I think maybe we need some young blood around here.
I'm working to get my players to join (half of whom are 18-24). I know that one of the 18-24 year olds joined to vote in the poll that spawned this one. He is interested enough in the site to lurk, but I don't know about actively participating.
__________________ "The designers of the newest edition built so much reliance on rules right into the game, to make it easier to play. As one of those designers, I occasionally think to myself, 'What have we wrought?' " -Monte Cook
" If the DM has to make a lot of judgment calls, the game is more difficult to learn. However, it's my belief that it's also more satisfying." -Monte Cook
"Don't let rules replace good DMing skills"- Monte Cook
I'm still a tad concerned that we don't have too much new blood.
That's a valid concern, but I don't think its as dire as it looks. Due to the current economy, and my desire to fulfill certain personal goals, I'm back in school at a major university. This happens to be my second time through. I didn't really expect to find very many gamers on the college campuses of today because of this perceived decline in young people playing. What I'm finding, locally at least, is that there actually seem to be more than when I went through the first time. In one of my classes I was required to keep a blog, so in addition to my usual assignments, I would also blog about gaming related topics. One of the guys from my class noticed this. It turns out he's a gamer and he'll be joining my group next semester. When he joins, half my players will be made up of people under the age of 25.
My brother in-law has a group that's been going for a few years that's up to nine players (I have no idea how he can manage a group that size, but that's another thread). I went to the library and saw a few postings for people looking for players for both 4E and 3.5. The main hobby store a few miles away is doing exceptionally well, and there's a gaming section in all three of the major book stores.
I agree with the assessment that it's the gathering of "Alpha gamers" at sites like this where the younger generation might be underrepresented. That isn't to say that the hobby shouldn't be concerned about appealing to the younger generation, but I think it's doing better with that demographic than many people believe.
__________________ Darrin Drader
Freelance Writer/Game Designer
Previously posting as Whisperfoot
I agree with the assessment that it's the gathering of "Alpha gamers" at sites like this where the younger generation might be underrepresented. That isn't to say that the hobby shouldn't be concerned about appealing to the younger generation, but I think it's doing better with that demographic than many people believe.
Yes, we posters may be old, but 3 of my gamers are my kids, ages 12, 15, and 17. So even though they don't come here and post (they post at TLG and AEG's L5R forums) I am aware of their likes/dislikes about RPG's, and so take their thoughts into consideration when I post things. Especially on their thoughts of "It must be easy", so we play primarily play C&C, but they like L5R enough to play it when their sisters wants to run something. Still, my boys refused to even try 4E because it looked too complicated to be worth learning, so only my daughter and I tried 4E for several months.
So only my daughter and I like to try new games, so she also plays Aces and Eights with me. My boys would rather just go off and play X-box rather than learn a new system.
__________________ It is the spirit of the game, not the letter of the rules, which is important. NEVER hold to the letter written, nor allow some barracks room lawyer to force quotations from the rule book upon you, IF it goes against the obvious intent of the game. As you hew the line with respect to conformity to major systems and uniformity of play in general, also be certain the game is mastered by you and not by your players. Within the broad parameters give in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Volumes, YOU are creator and final arbiter. By ordering things as they should be, the game as a WHOLE first, your CAMPAIGN next, and your participants thereafter, you will be playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons as it was meant to be. May you find as much pleasure in so doing as the rest of us do.
27 years here. I was just at my FLGS yesterday and saw a couple kids buying the 4E Basic set (I was there to buy one as well, but that's another discussion )
I think, from what I have seen, 4E is doing OK with the younger crowd (actually, I see more of them playing it than us old timers.) My son and his friends (10-14) all like it, but the crowd I game with veers more toward C&C.
I agree with the assessment that it's the gathering of "Alpha gamers" at sites like this where the younger generation might be underrepresented. That isn't to say that the hobby shouldn't be concerned about appealing to the younger generation, but I think it's doing better with that demographic than many people believe.
Ditto. I teach at a university, and half of my game group are/were recently students. Its more difficult finding folks closer to my age, actually.
__________________ stonegod -- LEB judge and spawn of Khyber since 2005 (Blog)
I just hit my 20-year mark on the day after Christmas. I had gotten a Nintendo for Christmas in 1988, and the very next day my dog knocked it off the shelf and I had to send it in to be fixed. My friend Adam up the street had gotten the Basic and Expert sets for Christmas from his uncle, so I went to check them out with him. His uncle told us that even though we were only 6 at the time, and the boxes said like 10+ or something, he knew we'd get into it. He was an incredible Dungeon Master (DM doesn't convey the gravitas like the full words do), and I still strive to be as good as he was.
As for age ranges, I find players of all ages. My sister's husband busted out his 1e books on me when he came for Christmas this year, and we ended up playing a couple of pickup games of 4e. He's 40, and I'm 26. I've got a couple of teenage nephews of one of my players who want to jump into it, but are both scared of first-time DMing. My group is composed of 25-32 year olds, most of whom have been playing since AD&D or BD&D, one of whom jumped in with 3, but we're all fans of 4e.
__________________ If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him... and take his stuff.
We don't see things as they are. We see things as we are.
1981 or 82 - 4th or 5th grade. We had a snow day keeping us home from school. My neighbor showed me this game his brother got for Christmas but none of them could really figure out. D&D Basic set with the Otus cover. Such awesomeness. 25+ years! Eek!
Hopefully I'll be doing my part for the next generation of gamers - my two girls - 6 and 3 - love playing with "Daddy's playgroup's figures" and rolling d20s to see what happens. It helps Daddy is running a Star Wars game and the girls love Star Wars...
Interestingly (and maybe this is why I turn into the Hulk whenever someone mentions "nostalgia"), my D&D of choice is OD&D (1974). I actually never played it as a youngster, though Moldvay's edition did stick closely to many (though not all) of OD&D's felicitous sensibilities.
__________________ "I despise all weavers of the black arts. Speaking of which, can you pass the gravy?"
Hmm. If ENWorld were really a representative cross-section of the hobby, and if ENWorld polls were really a representative cross-section of ENWorld, I think this poll might be a strong argument that the ≤ 1983 Basic Sets really were a better introduction to the hobby than anything since.
^_^
__________________ (^_^)
Anything I type is only my opinion unless explicitly stated otherwise, which should go without saying. Please assume that I've left out a smiley after every sentence. Thank you.
Hmm. If ENWorld were really a representative cross-section of the hobby, and if ENWorld polls were really a representative cross-section of ENWorld, I think this poll might be a strong argument that the ≤ 1983 Basic Sets really were a better introduction to the hobby than anything since.
^_^
Personally I got into RPGing via Fighting Fantasy and then 1e AD&D, but yes, I think it's undeniable that the 1983 Mentzer Red Box Basic D&D was by far the best introduction to RPGs, and certainly to D&D, ever published.
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