D&D 5E D&D and who it's aimed at

[MGibster]

And for our bonus round: lots of folks like to talk about how they got into D&D 40 years ago at the age of 12 or however old they were. When they were kids. Kids have always played D&D, and many of them stay playing D&D until they can complain that kids are playing D&D. Hey, last D&D book I bought was about 3 years ago. I'll be buying Dragonlance though, that's for sure!

I don't think AD&D's target demographic was twelve year old kids though. At least I don't believe the authors' would have included the infamous harlot table in AD&D if their target demographic were adolescent males. But then Predator wasn't marketed for my eleven year old self in 1987 but I absolutely loved it!

 

[Vaalingrade]

At least I don't believe the authors' would have included the infamous harlot table in AD&D if their target demographic were adolescent males.

Those are the only people who would have appreciated it!

 

[MGibster]

Nobody has to earn the right to have an opinion. Those you get to have whoever you are, and there's no right of passage involved.

I wish you told me that before the hazing.

Because I feel Wizards absolutely aims at a demographic that I have aged out of?

I feel the same way. Not just about D&D but about a lot of other things. I'm no longer a prime demographic save for catheters, pharmaceuticals, and reverse home mortgages. I'm cool with that. I feel like D&D is much more family friendly today than it was in 1982. Is this Disneyfication? I'll leave it up to others to figure that out. I still think 5th edition is the best edition, but unlike the 1990s, I really haven't bought that many D&D books.

 

[MGibster]

Those are the only people who would have appreciated it!

I sometimes joke about all the new vocabulary words I learned from role playing games. That table alone gave my doxy, trollop, and trull to add to my vocabulary. But in truth, there were a lot of other words I learned from reading AD&D books before encountering them elsewhere. It's hard for me to judge D&D 5th edition, but would twelve year old me learn as many words from the latest edition of the game as I did from 1st edition?

 

[Scribe]

I'm 51, and I don't feel I've aged out of the demographic being aimed at.

Very cool for you. I hope you enjoy the books.

 

[Composer99]

To the (very) limited extent that D&D could be said to be aimed at a specific demographic, I'd almost go so far as to say it's mine: late 30s into early 40s. Just the right mix of nostalgia (Spelljammer, Ravenloft, Dragonlance) and novelty (Strixhaven, Witchlight, Tasha's).

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I make no claim at sophistication, in fact if we wanted to boil it down, I probably want what would be perceived as less sophisticated by today's standards.

I mean, okay, but like...what about your age makes it such that you cannot enjoy positivity, bright colors, peaceful solutions, ultimately good things coming to good people, and small entities with large eyes/heads and small limbs (among other neotenous features)?

I'm very much of the C.S. Lewis mindset on this stuff. A critic that uses the word "adult" as a form of praise or any form of "this is for children" as criticism has fallen short of maturity themselves.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I sometimes joke about all the new vocabulary worlds I learned from role playing games. That table alone gave my doxy, trollop, and trull to add to my vocabulary.

Just for the deviltry of it, I named the giant turtles that make up the staple meat source of a swathe of my world 'trull'.

Ten playtest groups in and no one has noticed.

But in truth, there were a lot of other words I learned from reading AD&D books before encountering them elsewhere. It's hard for me to judge D&D 5th edition, but would twelve year old me learn as many words from the latest edition of the game as I did from 1st edition?

The weird high-falutin language is now basic RPG parlance now. There's no other reason for anyone to know what Constitution, Fortitude (I guess that's gone until 6e fixes it), Charisma, Arcane, Eldritch, or any of the 1000 defunct weapons mean.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I mean, okay, but like...what about your age makes it such that you cannot enjoy positivity, bright colors, peaceful solutions, ultimately good things coming to good people, and small entities with large eyes/heads and small limbs (among other neotenous features)?

Our society is broken.

We assume and normalize darkness and cynicism as somehow connected to maturity and maturity with managing not to die for a certain period of time (which is largely more a function of a woeful lack of tigers in modern society).

 

[jasper]

• Candlekeep Mysteries ....teens +
• Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft...adults
• Wild Beyond the Witchlight .....kids +
• Fizban's Treasury of Dragons... dragon lovers only
• Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos.... teens
• Call of the Netherdeep... critters
• Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel... looks like teens+
• Spelljammer: Adventures in Space...old farts (me) and anime fans
• Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen / Warriors of Krynn... dragonlance fans only