Keldryn
Adventurer
If D&D Next is to be successful, it needs to appeal to both dedicated gamers as well as casual gamers.
The primary criteria by which I am defining "casual" gamers is whether or not they are invested enough in the game to spend time and effort outside of the gaming session engaged in gaming-related activities: reading the books, learning the rules, developing characters, etc. Casual gamers don't spend much time outside of the game session even thinking about the game, and most likely don't own any books.
Dedicated gamers are vital to the game's success, as they are the ones who actually buy the books and provide revenue to WotC. They also play a key role in recruiting new players to the game. But people don't always learn to play D&D by joining an existing group; I learned it on my own when I bought the Mentzer Basic Set, then got some friends to play it with me.
Casual gamers may become dedicated gamers (and thus customers) in time. Even if they don't, they are often necessary in order to have enough people to play the game. Casual gamers often make the difference between playing a (semi-) regular game and not playing at all, especially for working adults.
In my experience, casual gamers are typically spouses/partners of a dedicated gamer, lapsed gamers who played when they were in high school, or people who play video games but have never played a pencil & paper game. Most casual gamers that I play with have little or no interest in tactical combat or optimizing characters.
My own gaming group tends to have a roughly 50/50 split between dedicated and casual gamers. If the balance skews in one particular direction, it's usually towards casual gamers. I like gaming with my friends, and while I've made many good friends through gaming activities, I've met far more gamers who I frankly don't want to associate with at any time. While casual gamers may not be buying D&D books, I won't be spending nearly as much money on D&D if I can't get casual gamers to join my game.
I frequently argue for D&D Next to be approachable to the casual gamer first and foremost. The core rules should be a complete game with character options focused on common fantasy archetypes, without an overwhelming number of decisions to make. The expansion modules can add the options and details that many dedicated players enjoy.
Some will suggest a comprehensive core rulebook that features flexible character creation and many options, with default "starting packages" for new or casual players. This might meet the needs of new players who will become dedicated players, but it fails to meet the needs of casual players who just aren't interested in learning all of the details of the game. Casual players don't want to put much effort into playing a game; they will often have a great time while playing and make valuable contributions to the game, but anything that feels like work will be a barrier to their enjoyment of the game.
The simple starter set approach fails the needs of casual gamers as well, because at some point players are expected to graduate to the full game; again, new players are expected to become dedicated players if they keep playing.
The 4e Essentials line had the right approach in many ways, but unfortunately worked its way backwards to get there. Essentials had the difficult task of streamlining a complex game while remaining totally compatible with it. It was still too fiddly for my casual players to enjoy (and combat still took too long).
This is just my take on the subject; I've read posts from other gamers who more or less state that they expect new players to become invested enough in the game to put some effort into it or else they'll get dropped from the game. The Wizards of the Coast editions of D&D have not worked particularly well for me when I've had more casual players in my group; they need to make a lot decisions without understanding the implications and the speed of play tends to be very slow, causing them to lose interest in the game.
What do the rest of you think? Do you typically play with casual gamers? Are your experiences different than mine? Do you have a different opinion as to what the needs of casual gamers are? Do you not give a flying flumph what casual gamers like?
And yes, I realize that this post is not accessible to casual gamers.
EDIT: There are of course dedicated gamers who prefer a lighter, simpler rules system. Like me. I've played D&D since 1987, and while there was a time that 3e's level of complexity was awesome to me, it's just too much. 4e wasn't just too cumbersome for my players, it was for me too.
The primary criteria by which I am defining "casual" gamers is whether or not they are invested enough in the game to spend time and effort outside of the gaming session engaged in gaming-related activities: reading the books, learning the rules, developing characters, etc. Casual gamers don't spend much time outside of the game session even thinking about the game, and most likely don't own any books.
Dedicated gamers are vital to the game's success, as they are the ones who actually buy the books and provide revenue to WotC. They also play a key role in recruiting new players to the game. But people don't always learn to play D&D by joining an existing group; I learned it on my own when I bought the Mentzer Basic Set, then got some friends to play it with me.
Casual gamers may become dedicated gamers (and thus customers) in time. Even if they don't, they are often necessary in order to have enough people to play the game. Casual gamers often make the difference between playing a (semi-) regular game and not playing at all, especially for working adults.
In my experience, casual gamers are typically spouses/partners of a dedicated gamer, lapsed gamers who played when they were in high school, or people who play video games but have never played a pencil & paper game. Most casual gamers that I play with have little or no interest in tactical combat or optimizing characters.
My own gaming group tends to have a roughly 50/50 split between dedicated and casual gamers. If the balance skews in one particular direction, it's usually towards casual gamers. I like gaming with my friends, and while I've made many good friends through gaming activities, I've met far more gamers who I frankly don't want to associate with at any time. While casual gamers may not be buying D&D books, I won't be spending nearly as much money on D&D if I can't get casual gamers to join my game.
I frequently argue for D&D Next to be approachable to the casual gamer first and foremost. The core rules should be a complete game with character options focused on common fantasy archetypes, without an overwhelming number of decisions to make. The expansion modules can add the options and details that many dedicated players enjoy.
Some will suggest a comprehensive core rulebook that features flexible character creation and many options, with default "starting packages" for new or casual players. This might meet the needs of new players who will become dedicated players, but it fails to meet the needs of casual players who just aren't interested in learning all of the details of the game. Casual players don't want to put much effort into playing a game; they will often have a great time while playing and make valuable contributions to the game, but anything that feels like work will be a barrier to their enjoyment of the game.
The simple starter set approach fails the needs of casual gamers as well, because at some point players are expected to graduate to the full game; again, new players are expected to become dedicated players if they keep playing.
The 4e Essentials line had the right approach in many ways, but unfortunately worked its way backwards to get there. Essentials had the difficult task of streamlining a complex game while remaining totally compatible with it. It was still too fiddly for my casual players to enjoy (and combat still took too long).
This is just my take on the subject; I've read posts from other gamers who more or less state that they expect new players to become invested enough in the game to put some effort into it or else they'll get dropped from the game. The Wizards of the Coast editions of D&D have not worked particularly well for me when I've had more casual players in my group; they need to make a lot decisions without understanding the implications and the speed of play tends to be very slow, causing them to lose interest in the game.
What do the rest of you think? Do you typically play with casual gamers? Are your experiences different than mine? Do you have a different opinion as to what the needs of casual gamers are? Do you not give a flying flumph what casual gamers like?
And yes, I realize that this post is not accessible to casual gamers.
EDIT: There are of course dedicated gamers who prefer a lighter, simpler rules system. Like me. I've played D&D since 1987, and while there was a time that 3e's level of complexity was awesome to me, it's just too much. 4e wasn't just too cumbersome for my players, it was for me too.
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