Changeover Poll

[Wulf Ratbane]

The WotC boards dwarf EN World and at this point are probably like 90% 4e players if not higher.

I can't seem to find any 3.5 fans on the NASCAR forums, either.

 

[Pseudopsyche]

It gives us a good idea about how the "regular" posters of ENworld feel. Because lets face it, those who post are those who vote. Question is, are we a good representation of those who play D&D (whatever version) - I doubt it.

Yes, I had assumed from the beginning that the purpose of this poll was to gauge the preferences of EN World members (who participate in the general forum). Clearly, any attempt to generalize the results to the population of gamers across the world is dubious at best.

I'm actually more interested in the preferences of our community, anyway. It helps to know your audience, and it helps to know the leanings of my single greatest source of D&D information! (For example, I may make more of an effort to specify what edition I have in mind when I toss around terminology such as "saving throw" and "diagonal movement".) I have been surprised to see that 4E support is not as widespread as I had assumed, but as others have pointed out, it seems natural that a community of dedicated gamers would have some investment in the previous editions that held sway for decades.

That said, do you think that the biases mentioned so far, including self-selection and the holiday timing, are significant? My hunch is that the current percentages are probably fairly close to the true percentages of active EN World members in this forum.

 

[Maggan]

I can't seem to find any 3.5 fans on the NASCAR forums, either.

I take it they're big on 4e, then.

/M

 

[Ahnehnois]

I took a pretty good look at the 4e books but haven't played it and am not terribly eager to do so. I finished up a 3.5 campaign and ran a little CoC d20 and hopefully a little BSG.

Yes, I had assumed from the beginning that the purpose of this poll was to gauge the preferences of EN World members (who participate in the general forum). Clearly, any attempt to generalize the results to the population of gamers across the world is dubious at best.

Agreed. This poll unscientifically measures the preferences of regular posters at these boards. That is a big deal on some level, because these are big message boards. But it's not market research. In any case, even highly 'scientific' surveys are hardly perfect. Take this poll for what it's worth.

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

That said, do you think that the biases mentioned so far, including self-selection and the holiday timing, are significant? My hunch is that the current percentages are probably fairly close to the true percentages of active EN World members in this forum.

I'll start with the standard caveat that all internet polls are craptacular when it comes to providing any meaningful data. (And yes, Psion, this even applies to polls that display results you don't agree with.)

That said, I bet this poll is fairly accurate when judging the leanings of the EN World community. I suspect this community is the second toughest* one to crack to get people to go with 4e. EN World was, and in many ways still is, a site founded on 3e and dedicated to 3e gaming.

We've seen some astounding numbers from Morrus about new registrations since the 4e launch - something like 20% of our community has joined in the past six months, whereas we've been around 8+ years. I'm sure many of those folks are hapless 4e geeks looking for a home. Whether they stuck around after witnessing the Edition War...who can say?

What is interesting to me is that there seems to be a large portion of gamers who want nothing to do with 3e, yet do not like 4e either. And these folks are heading off into "aberrant" gaming systems. Probably good for our overall hobby, and yet bad for WotC...which could, in turn, be bad for our overall hobby. Hmm...circular logic. The whole thing confuses me.

Anyway, you know what they say about death, taxes, nerd rage, and internet polls.

WP


* The toughest community for 4e to penetrate would be those hardy souls at Dragonsfoot.

 

[Mallus]

Anyway, you know what they say about death...

That it's inevitable?

...taxes...

That they're used to purchase civilization?

...nerd rage...

That it's funny to watch, but in a sad kind of way?

...and internet polls.

Wait, what do people say about internet polls?

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

The toughest community for 4e to penetrate would be those hardy souls at Dragonsfoot.

You know what, I'm going to stoop to a new internet low and actually argue with myself. After re-thinking that statement, I'd like to disagree.

Completely anecdotal here, but there seems to be a decent pro-4e crowd amongst the BECM crew and, to a lesser extent, the 1E AD&D crew. I contend this is due to the similarities between 4e and those systems - mainly the "feel" of the games around the table.

Huh. I actually can be wrong from time to time. Who knew?

Off to the NASCAR forums -

WP

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

Wait, what do people say about internet polls?

I'm not sure. My wit ended before I could add to that enigmatic ending you quote in my former post.

I dig the Burne story hour, btw. Been reading since Destan pointed there in the days of old.

WP

 

[Darkwolf71]

Wait, what do people say about internet polls?

Well, that depends on how the polls line up with their preconcieved opinions, doesn't it.

 

[miscreationist]

I voted Slight Changeover. I previously voted No Change. I'm DMing a modified 3.5e game and playing in one as well. I expect these to continue for some time still because everyone enjoys them immensely. Any future 3.5 style game I run will likely be more heavily modified to include elements of Pathfinder/Book of Experimental Might Series/Book of Iron Might. I really would like to run Castles & Crusades to give it a go as well.

I have gathered a group that I have started DMing 4e for that currently has two players that have played before and the other three have no previous roleplaying game experience. Running it was smooth, but the players haven't had enough time to really understand the mechanics very well yet.

Ask me again in 6 months and I may have a different response. I haven't played enough of 4e to say I want to switch to it completely. I may know more after a few sessions have been completed. I have elements that I like and dislike about 3.x and 4, but I'm willing to give it a shot in play to see if it works for my group. If it doesn't work out, I may just use some elements that I do like in a 3.x style game.