D&D General Why grognards still matter

[nevin]

it's easier to influence the guys spending that much money and boost your income than to influence the 10 pound per year customers who probably can't spend more.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Agreed, there are 3 components to his claim and I dispute the other two. Wealth increases with Age, ok sure I'll bet that's true. Dollars spent increases with Wealth, debatable. Prospensity to prefer older DnD editions increases with Age, I disagree without evidence

I suspect, at best, its focused on people who've stayed in D&D--and nothing but--over time.

 

[SkidAce]

I must be a Grandmaster Immortal Whale*...

(*actually average income to low, but no bills)

 

[SkidAce]

The thing is, there's only so much you can actually spend on WotC products. It's a few books a year, even if you buy all of them. So I'm not sure that much of the higher disposable income of us old-timers is going to make its way to WotC/Hasbro.

I'm going to Gen Con this year. I've got tickets to see the Critical Role show there. I'll likely be backing another Dwarven Forge kickstarter, not to mention the next Dungeons and Lasers one. And I just backed another C'Mon games KS. So I am definitely spending money I didn't have when I was a youth, but little of it is going to WotC. What is going to them is $7/month for DDB and maybe $100 for mostly digital books (well, more last year because I had to have the anniversary OD&D book). I don't think I'm actually giving more to WotC, relative to inflation, than I gave annually to TSR when I was 15 (buying the physical books/modules plus Dragon magazine every month). Probably less!

Edit: writing that made me realize that Hasbro is not wrong to note that D&D is poorly monetized. I'm not saying that's good or bad, but for such a well-recognized brand, there's not a ton to spend your money on, at least when it comes to the people who own the actual brand.

Valid. And mostly had a similar experience in and through all editions.

I can change with the editions, and still reserve the right to grumble about some things.

However, I am concerned...I dont feel a need to transition to 5.5...so maybe I will no longer be a half "hip up to date cat*" and half "grognard", maybe I'll just be a grumpy soldier on the porch.



*dated vernacular for humor and self-awareness

 

[Maxperson]

Well, as a Grandmaster Grognard (as per your list), not sure I think I matter to WotC as a customer anymore, but I sure wish I did!

I want to know if I'm forever a master since I started with 1e, or if I get to join the ranks of the grandmasters once I hit 61.

 

[Maxperson]

The massive error here is assuming people of the same generation share the same opinions and tastes.

They don't matter because they are not a unified group.

So you think!

 

[Maxperson]

Do I have permission as you hath decreed to title myself Grandmaster Grognard?

Better Grandmaster Grognard than Grandmaster Pee.

 

[Maxperson]

Certainly, sir. And of course (as I tired to make clear), the categorizations are just a bit of fun and rather silly.

I mean, I think Luke Gygax is chronologically Master level, but gets honorary Grandmastery. I suppose anyone who was playing D&D before the AD&D books game out probably gets membership.

But more seriously, I think there is a generational difference between those who were cognizant while early D&D was developing and those, like myself, who caught the wave of the early 80s boom when there was already an established tradition of D&D.

Or to put it another way, if you had this you're definitely a Grandmaster:

View attachment 397360

If you had this, you're on the cusp but probably still a Grandmaster:

View attachment 397361

If this is Tomb of Horrors to you, then you're a Master:

View attachment 397363

If it is this, then you're an Expert:

View attachment 397365

If it is this, you're an Apprentice or Novice:

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If I've had three of those, does that just make me confused?

 

[Maxperson]

Repeated: I use grognared only in the most derisive way imaginable, I have not an iota of respect when I use the term

As do some others, but the rest of us grognards don't have to let you guys control the term.

 

[TiQuinn]

As we talk about who’s got the spending power, never underestimate a teenager who’s got Mom and Dad’s credit card.