D&D General 40 Million People Have Played D&D [UPDATED!]

Tony Vargas · Jul 11, 2019

kenmarable said:
Not in my experience. Vast majority of the gamers I know started with zero experience as players or DM.

When was this, and how many of the 40 million in question did they constitute?

Certain people were interested in DMing, others weren’t. So the DMs just learned as they went. Whether they started D&D with BECMI, 2e, 3e, or 5e, every DM I know started as a DM, not as a player first. Whether someone is regularly a DM or a player, seems to have more to do with personality types than level of experience.

As is typical on the boards, one person's experience is completely at odds with another's. ::shrug::

Whether you struggle to teach yourself DMing, take to it like a duck to water through sheer talent, or - as EGG layed out in the 1e DMG, come to DMing after much experience as a player - DMing is the more challenging role to assume in the game.

That goes for any edition of the game, and, really, almost any RPG. But in games that put a lot of responsibility on the DM, like 5e & the classic TSR eds, or that overload DMing tasks with mechanical complexity, like 3.x/PF, the challenge of DMing is that much greater, the learning curve to acquire the skills is longer, or the level of innate talent greater, to meet that challenge well.

Either way, the result is a relative lack of DMs, especially when the player base is growing rapidly - even to the point of DM's starting to charge for their services.
Which is exactly what we're seeing.

Mistwell · Jul 11, 2019

Scrivener of Doom said:
Pernicious, eh?

Players are fundamentally lazier than DMs. There is far less work to do as a player. There are fewer responsibilities, especially between sessions.

This is not good logic. How lazy you are as a person cannot be measured by whether you choose to play or DM for a game.

kenmarable · Jul 11, 2019

Tony Vargas said:
When was this, and how many of the 40 million in question did they constitute?

As is typical on the boards, one person's experience is completely at odds with another's. ::shrug::

Exactly my point. Just when there’s a universal claim made like what “has always been,” there’s often plenty of experience to the contrary.

Tony Vargas · Jul 11, 2019

kenmarable said:
Exactly my point. Just when there’s a universal claim made like what “has always been,” there’s often plenty of experience to the contrary.

The expectation that DMs acquire long experience through play I first first saw articulated by Gygax in the 1e DMG (it might've been in 0e somewhere, or in a Dragon or Strategic Review article, first - heck, I might be confusing Sorcerer's Scroll with the DMG, he wrote both with much the same tone & authority).
Along with a lot of other 'always been' assumptions and explanations about the game, like the role of magic items in balancing classes, the rationales for hps & saving throws, the handling of exp & leveling, the inclusion of NPCs in the party, and, among others, the obscure player role of Caller...

Not that the game wasn't played differently by everyone - another expectation Gygax openly shared - just that there actually was a game, with stuff in print between it's covers.
::shrug::

JustinCase · Jul 11, 2019

Parmandur said:
Stewart says that is their estimate: they have accurate sales data, and likely have a statistical model based on observation as to how many people are playing per unit sold, on average.

That’s a fair assumption, I think. I’m just curious about their model.

At the number of sales they appear to be dealing with, this is probably quite accurate within an unknown Tonya margin of error: there may be less than 40 million, there be more, but either way it is probably not far off.

I can get behind that logic. It just feels like such a huge number, even with the current popularity of D&D, that I am immediately sceptical.

Regardless, I’m very pleased that so many people are playing!

Parmandur · Jul 11, 2019

JustinCase said:
That’s a fair assumption, I think. I’m just curious about their model.

I can get behind that logic. It just feels like such a huge number, even with the current popularity of D&D, that I am immediately sceptical.

Regardless, I’m very pleased that so many people are playing!

Oh, for sure, knowing what they are working with would be fun: doubt they will open that up for the public in detail, though.

Remember, those numbers are for worldwide: ~40 million out of 7-8 billion is fairly niche. The books are available in several major languages now, with more on the way, outside of the Anglosphere.

Parmandur · Jul 11, 2019

Other than English, D&D is currently in print in four other languages, with four more rolling out about now:

"GF9 partnered with Wizards of the Coast in 2017 to translate Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition into multiple languages and oversee local market partnerships (see “Parlez-Vous 'D&D'?”). The first editions were for French, German, Italian, and Spanish. A Portuguese edition for Brazil was also in the works, but was delayed due to a licensing dispute (see “GF9 Delays Brazilian Language Release of 'D&D'”).

Russian
Now GF9 has partnered with local companies in Poland (Rebel), Brazil (Galapagos Jogos), Russia (Hobby World), and Korea (TRPG Club) to bring the D&D Starter Set, Players Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Masters Guide to players in their native languages. The companies will also oversee translation of GF9’s licensed D&D products including Spell Cards and the Dungeon Master Screen."

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/42125/dungeons-dragons-soon-releases-four-more-languages

Morrus · Jul 11, 2019

UPDATE! WotC's PR agency has reached to note that Bloomberg's figure refers to the number of people who have played the game since 1974, not annually!