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General Tabletop Discussion
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Understanding History: Why Serious Scholarship of D&D Matters
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<blockquote data-quote="haakon1" data-source="post: 9080157" data-attributes="member: 25619"><p>Math please? To my understanding, AD&D 1e (I just call it AD&D since that was the name at the time) was the first peak of D&D popularity, ~1983, when it was on TV, a cover story of Newsweek which mentioned 4 million players, caused the Satanic Panic, and was in a popular mainstream movie (ET). There’s a reason Stranger Things shows a version of that game.</p><p></p><p>I’d have to go check Ben Riggs book, but I think 2e was lower in sales than AD&D 1e - oddly enough, I think he said Basic (which no one I knew played) outsold both editions of AD&D. 2e did have the books and computer games, but to my mind (which, yeah is your point, but “I was there man!”) 2e era D&D (1988-1999) lacked the mass cultural phenomenon of the earlier period. </p><p></p><p>(I think 3x was more popular than 2e, and be shocked if the hype that 4e was a low ebb and 5e is by far the most popular aren’t true. My guess is 2e had the fewest or second fewest players, sitting alongside 4e. Hoping for a Ben Riggs sequel to tell us.)</p><p></p><p>As for AD&D 1e players being dead now - “the grim math of the actuarial table” - starting at 12 years old in the AD&D era (1977-1987) = Gen X. My original and college gaming groups are all still alive. Admittedly, health issues are real for several of us in our 50’s, and I did lose a Millennial friend from the 3e era, but it’s not like there’s been a mass extinction of the AD&D 1e/Basic generation.</p><p></p><p>I can see the confusion though, as WotC famously in charts about who plays left a blank space for born 1965-1981. No one’s ever heard of them. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="haakon1, post: 9080157, member: 25619"] Math please? To my understanding, AD&D 1e (I just call it AD&D since that was the name at the time) was the first peak of D&D popularity, ~1983, when it was on TV, a cover story of Newsweek which mentioned 4 million players, caused the Satanic Panic, and was in a popular mainstream movie (ET). There’s a reason Stranger Things shows a version of that game. I’d have to go check Ben Riggs book, but I think 2e was lower in sales than AD&D 1e - oddly enough, I think he said Basic (which no one I knew played) outsold both editions of AD&D. 2e did have the books and computer games, but to my mind (which, yeah is your point, but “I was there man!”) 2e era D&D (1988-1999) lacked the mass cultural phenomenon of the earlier period. (I think 3x was more popular than 2e, and be shocked if the hype that 4e was a low ebb and 5e is by far the most popular aren’t true. My guess is 2e had the fewest or second fewest players, sitting alongside 4e. Hoping for a Ben Riggs sequel to tell us.) As for AD&D 1e players being dead now - “the grim math of the actuarial table” - starting at 12 years old in the AD&D era (1977-1987) = Gen X. My original and college gaming groups are all still alive. Admittedly, health issues are real for several of us in our 50’s, and I did lose a Millennial friend from the 3e era, but it’s not like there’s been a mass extinction of the AD&D 1e/Basic generation. I can see the confusion though, as WotC famously in charts about who plays left a blank space for born 1965-1981. No one’s ever heard of them. :) [/QUOTE]
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