D&D 5E Halflings are the 7th most popular 5e race

[billd91]

Considering that gaming is probably one of the cheapest hobbies out there, I really doubt it's money that's holding people back.

A hundred bucks and you've got entertainment for five people for a year. Core three and an adventure path module. That's all it takes.

Where does this notion come from that gaming needs a bunch of money?

A hundred bucks sitting in my pocket when I was in high school or college? Or even as a young married man with a kid? When I've got other things that are calling for it from food, to rent, to day care, to gas, or a more attractive video game that I don't need to get a group together for?

The truth is the value of RPGs over time is something recognized over time, not when I'm speculatively buying the new game that I might not be able to recruit anyone to play and looking at the sticker price.

 

[Oofta]

A hundred bucks sitting in my pocket when I was in high school or college? Or even as a young married man with a kid? When I've got other things that are calling for it from food, to rent, to day care, to gas, or a more attractive video game that I don't need to get a group together for?

The truth is the value of RPGs over time is something recognized over time, not when I'm speculatively buying the new game that I might not be able to recruit anyone to play and looking at the sticker price.

You can start playing for free and if you find a group then everyone can chip in if money is an issue.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

People age 12-19 are too busy with school and too strapped for cash

But hopefully their parents buy them stuff. Mine did.

 

[Hussar]

A hundred bucks sitting in my pocket when I was in high school or college? Or even as a young married man with a kid? When I've got other things that are calling for it from food, to rent, to day care, to gas, or a more attractive video game that I don't need to get a group together for?

The truth is the value of RPGs over time is something recognized over time, not when I'm speculatively buying the new game that I might not be able to recruit anyone to play and looking at the sticker price.

Yes, but, when we were in high school, mammoths roamed the earth.

Let's be honest here. A hundred bucks, split five ways, is a dinner. Good grief, even when I was in college, and that's a long time ago, it wasn't hard blowing a hundred bucks in an evening. Take a girl to the movies and that's a good dent in a hundred. Like you said, it's the price of a video game. Yet, surprisingly, lots of people buy video games. Lots of young people manage it somehow.

Gaming is a ludicrously cheap hobby.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Seems to me that targeting a game at people who have time to play games (and access to money to spend on them) is a sensible business decision.

People aged 20-50 are too busy working and too strapped for cash to spend much money on games (unless they are for their kids).

This just isn’t true. People in that age group drop a lot on hobby spending.

A hundred bucks sitting in my pocket when I was in high school or college? Or even as a young married man with a kid? When I've got other things that are calling for it from food, to rent, to day care, to gas, or a more attractive video game that I don't need to get a group together for?

The truth is the value of RPGs over time is something recognized over time, not when I'm speculatively buying the new game that I might not be able to recruit anyone to play and looking at the sticker price.

Eh, IME people make room in thier budget for their hobby. I work in autoparts, and some of these guys I work with who are real obsessive car guys, even the ones with kids, drop at least 1k a year on project car stuff. Is it financially responsible? Maybe not, I don’t know their whole budget, but they pay their bills and buy stuff for thier kids, so I ain’t gonna call them out.

 

[billd91]

Yes, but, when we were in high school, mammoths roamed the earth.

Let's be honest here. A hundred bucks, split five ways, is a dinner. Good grief, even when I was in college, and that's a long time ago, it wasn't hard blowing a hundred bucks in an evening. Take a girl to the movies and that's a good dent in a hundred. Like you said, it's the price of a video game. Yet, surprisingly, lots of people buy video games. Lots of young people manage it somehow.

Gaming is a ludicrously cheap hobby.

And game books were closer to $10. Now they're $50-75 and minimum wage isn't keeping up. And sure, kids do buy video games - most of which start giving you the dopamine hits right away, without having to invest the time and energy in finding a group. And if you're cheap, you can buy many of the console variety used or later when the price is WAY down. And movies may be pretty expensive, but many theaters have a $5 night once a week, and streaming media/piracy is cheaper.

Sure, gaming is cheap per hour if you hit on a game that keeps getting played - but comes with an initial hump to get over. And everyone who touts its overall cheapness seems to forget what it's like to be looking at a game book and deciding if they'd rather buy that or, you know, have less credit card debt that they'll be paying off for the next 30 years.

 

[Scribe]

My son is 19, his hobby is guitar. He makes that work. Buying a few books isn't going to make a dent lol.

This isn't the GW Hobby.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

And game books were closer to $10. Now they're $50-75 and minimum wage isn't keeping up. And sure, kids do buy video games - most of which start giving you the dopamine hits right away, without having to invest the time and energy in finding a group. And if you're cheap, you can buy many of the console variety used or later when the price is WAY down. And movies may be pretty expensive, but many theaters have a $5 night once a week, and streaming media/piracy is cheaper.

Sure, gaming is cheap per hour if you hit on a game that keeps getting played - but comes with an initial hump to get over. And everyone who touts its overall cheapness seems to forget what it's like to be looking at a game book and deciding if they'd rather buy that or, you know, have less credit card debt that they'll be paying off for the next 30 years.

Nah man. I ain’t forgot a damn thing, I promise you that.

I bought 3.5 Unearthed Arcana when I was so broke I had to hang out at the 7-11 and ask the clerk for the food he was gonna throw away, because a lot of us need stupid fun things to survive that kind of desperation. It doesn’t just come natural to keep going.

But extreme examples aside, most people in the 18-40 age category aren’t broke and on the verge of homelessness or already there. An unacceptable number are, sure, but most of us aren’t.

And none of your arguments change the fact that young adults to early middle age folks buy a lot of hobby stuff. This is still a fairly small hobby compared to things like video games, but I’ve seen no evidence that suggests that it’s significantly different in terms of who is spending the money money.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

But hopefully their parents buy them stuff. Mine did.

And what age group would those parents be in?

20-50. (Well, realistically more like 30-50, but the point stands.)

The exact group we were told is too strapped for money and time to ever buy at all.

 

[Scribe]

What a weird tangent. Are we honestly suggesting that the say, 25-40 bracket isnt the one with prime buying power?