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

[EzekielRaiden]

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.

Minimum-wage jobs can no longer afford rent prices in most places by themselves. You either need a financially bound couple splitting the cost, or roommates. And this isn't just in the megacities. It's everywhere, including the Midwest.

"On the verge of homelessness if it weren't for three roommates pooling their resources" isn't great, chief. It isn't absolute poverty, but yeah, dropping $100 on a new hobby? One that they may not even find a group to play with? Fat chance. Many folks have to decide which 1 or 2 video games they will buy all year.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

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

That is the claim, yes, as ridiculous as it sounds.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

A lot of people buy RPG books that never get played. It's just part of the hobby.

 

[Lanefan]

And yet, time and again, the largest proportion of gamers is that 18-25 crowd. Heck, going by WotC's own stats, something like only 10% or 15% of gamers are over 40. Why on earth would you market your game to 10% of the consumer base?

The point is not what % of your current consumer base that cohort represents, it's how many people within that cohort currently play as a % of how many there are in total, and then marketing so as to grow that %-age.

In other words, the main point of marketing is to turn non-customers into customers, with a secondary goal of keeping existing customers as customers.

Why is it that people just absolutely refuse to believe that the overwhelming majority of gamers are young? It's utterly baffling to me. This has been true for decades now. WotC showed it back in the 90's, then in the Oughts, then again recently. How many times do they have to tell us that gamers are generally pretty young - as in the under 30 crowd? Why do people seem to absolutely refuse to believe them?

All that tells me is that there's a really big opportunity to increase the player (a.k.a. customer) base among soon-to-be retirees who heard of and-or played the game when they were young, in the 1e era, and might want to get (re)involved now; and who are about to have much more time with which to do so.

 

[Neonchameleon]

And the other part of the buying argument is that by the standards of almost literally any other hobby TTRGs cost almost nothing.

I mean how much do you actually need to spend? $10 will get you about five sets of dice. The PHB on Amazon is currently $26. You only need one for the table. Beyond that if you're economising you don't want a flipmat but a pad of grid paper; $4 for 100 sheets on Amazon. You don't need a DMG, and there are enough monsters free online that you don't need a MM.

That's $40. For an entire table of five people for at least an entire campaign. This isn't the literal cheapest hobby in the world at the low end; a basketball or soccer ball is about $20 from Amazon (although clothing damage might push that up) and some things like singing are actually free.

Does this mean that you can't spend more? I took at least £200 of kit to run a session earlier today (mostly because I have a folder full of Skinny Minis; for a DM who travels to a session a folder full of good quality standees is amazing) and one of the newbies I was teaching had turned into a dice goblin after the first session. But if you are short of money one of the advantages TTRPGs have is that the minimum cost is very very low. So talking about groups with disposable income really misses one of the advantages TTRPGs have.

 

[Lanefan]

$10 will get you about five sets of dice.

Where?

Round here dice are $10 (Cdn.) a set, if not more.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Where?

Round here dice are $10 (Cdn.) a set, if not more.

Amazon. (All the prices I listed were checked with Amazon US)

 

[Scribe]

That is the claim, yes, as ridiculous as it sounds.

I just dont get it, never have.

My gaming group spent embarrassing sum's on 40K...when we were all in our early to mid 30's. The fact we were all working, married, with kids, and 'established' certainly contributed to that.

To do that as a young (16-20) adult? Absolutely zero chance unless one is already

1. Working full time.
2. Living at home.
3. Financially independent somehow.
4. (EDIT Add) Grossly mismanaging their financial future.

 

[Oofta]

Where?

Round here dice are $10 (Cdn.) a set, if not more.

If money were an issue, I'd look into pound o' dice. It's $20 (US) but you get several sets. If you have several people chip in, it's quite cheap.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Minimum-wage jobs can no longer afford rent prices in most places by themselves. You either need a financially bound couple splitting the cost, or roommates. And this isn't just in the megacities. It's everywhere, including the Midwest.

"On the verge of homelessness if it weren't for three roommates pooling their resources" isn't great, chief. It isn't absolute poverty, but yeah, dropping $100 on a new hobby? One that they may not even find a group to play with? Fat chance. Many folks have to decide which 1 or 2 video games they will buy all year.

You say all that, and it makes sense, but much like impractical armor worn by people who actually fought in battles, people do things that don’t make sense.

Like I know too many people who absolutely have done exactly what you describe.

Like idk where you think you get any justification to talk at me like I don’t live here in the crap with everyone else, but buddy, I’ve been “buy ramen with the food stamps or they won’t stretch far enough” poor for most of my life.

So find someone else to talk down to from your high horse.