D&D General Shocked how hard it is to get new players now-a-days

[tetrasodium]

As was said earlier, a lot has changed over the years.

It used to be easier to get games going through a gaming store - but that assumed the gaming store had any interest in having gaming on premises. Anecdotally, I've seen more than a few game stores that were pretty unwelcoming to new people, or to having games, or having games that involved more than the regulars.

This so much. I pass three different FLGS on the drive to the one I frequent & it's only a 10.0 mile drive according to google. One of them is pretty much a postage stamp of a store that sells comics in a walkable downtown area (and probably online/mail), I'm pretty sure that a second one is literally a converted bingo hall that sells tcg packs & soda but not much else. There's a third as well but it really only has one "table "with two chairs & it's barely enough for two people to share

 

[cranberry]

I connected with my current group (8 years ago) on meetup.org.

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www.meetup.com

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

I'd like to echo those who say playing online is too distracting.

At the table yeah people still check their phones but online people are browsing the internet or playing WoW or whatever.

Even i am guilty of this when I am a player. No one can see you (more or less) so why not scroll ENWorld while the Elf looks for secret doors or the Dragonborn makes his 3 attack rolls with advantage etc.

Plus, I really don't have a set up to play online for 3 hours comfortably. I dealt with it during Covid but with a small house and a family etc it's barely doable. I'd do it as a last resort but ugh in person is so much more fun. Minis, and hand drawn maps, and Dice and socialization! I sit at home enough.

I don't know that this, like any other take, is universally true.

I think the issue is engagement. I've played some Roll20 D&D with randos and the story just wasn't captivating - we were supposed to go investigate this other kingdom, but every other session, we'd get clobbered so hard by that kingdom's patrols, we would have to retreat home. After the third time (six sessions), I decided that was enough. ... we'd even tried going other, riskier ways, to the same end.

Contrast that with an online Traveller game I'm in. The only person in the game I don't know personally is the GM. The material this man produces and puts out there for us on Roll20 - utilizing all the tools like the dynamic lighting and opening/closing doors for concealment, etc - we should be paying this guy. But he does it for free, and at least on my end... I'm not multitasking on other things, or reading. Maybe that also has to do with the lethality of the system, but I feel it's genuinely because we are out in the wild open of a game that's essentially sandbox BSG/Firefly.

 

[DrJawaPhD]

My theory is the DM is typically the one person in the group who has definitely decided to make gaming a priority in their life.

Yeah exactly my thoughts as well. If you REALLY love DnD then you're always going to want to DM. People will mainly prefer playing is if they are brand new (spotty stick rate) or they are experienced but don't have much time to dedicate to the hobby (can be spotty attendance, but also can be the dedicated unicorn type)

My FLGS has more DMs + aspiring DMs than we could ever hope to find players for. Most of the players are people who are trying to break into being a DM but haven't gotten a consistent shot yet

 

[MGibster]

I think the issue is engagement. I've played some Roll20 D&D with randos and the story just wasn't captivating - we were supposed to go investigate this other kingdom, but every other session, we'd get clobbered so hard by that kingdom's patrols, we would have to retreat home. After the third time (six sessions), I decided that was enough. ... we'd even tried going other, riskier ways, to the same end.

I do not believe online gaming is as good as, and certainly not a suitable replacement for, face-to-face gaming. I recognize the benefits and others have pointed them out in this thread and others. But I find the majority of personal social events are less satisfying than spending actual time with people.

My FLGS has more DMs + aspiring DMs than we could ever hope to find players for. Most of the players are people who are trying to break into being a DM but haven't gotten a consistent shot yet

I don't exactly have my pulse on the finger of my gaming community, but they never have difficulty finding enough GMs to run games on their open game days.

 

[R_J_K75]

Covid changed a lot.

I've seen this a number of times in this thread, is COVID still a thing? Do people still care and treat it any more than a flu?

 

[payn]

I've seen this a number of times in this thread, is COVID still a thing? Do people still care and treat it any more than a flu?

Most consider it in the rear-view mirror. Though, the effects of living through it still linger on many aspects of life. YMMV.

 

[tetrasodium]

I've seen this a number of times in this thread, is COVID still a thing? Do people still care and treat it any more than a flu?

It caused a lot of stable communities made up of regulars to shatter. Without the critical mass of regulars sustaining the minimum baseline needed for someone to casually show up and spun something new up it raises the bar. In many cases the bar got raised so high that trying to spin things up again requires someone to do the work of spinning up and stabilizing a local community again, but that requires regular GM's who feel supported and 5e has never been gm friendly and 2024 very much looks like being gm friendly or supportive of them as anything but an adversary &ai scripting life support is an afterthought

 

[R_J_K75]

It caused a lot of stable communities made up of regulars to shatter. Without the critical mass of regulars sustaining the minimum baseline needed for someone to casually show up and spun something new up it raises the bar. In many cases the bar got raised so high that trying to spin things up again requires someone to do the work of spinning up and stabilizing a local community again

I wasnt making fun, I just didnt realize how much it affected some aspects of lives. After 3 months of D20 we quit for a month and then just started in person again June-ish of 2020. There are definitely pre-and-post COVID things that have changed. @DarkCrisis just keep looking, and thankyou for making me know how fortunate I am for having the group I have.

 

[Zardnaar]

Building a group from scratch no idea how to do that. Closest was probably 2019. Even then an anchor player turned up and brought a friend, another anchor player and one of the new players became an anchor player.

2 anchor players are nice, three is great.