Actual age of the 4th edition player base

[gothmaugCC]

I guess the big point of this question is the premise that the target market of 4e is something other that current players.

I really, really disagree with that. I mean, no doubt WotC would love to recruit new players and have strategies in place to assist with that goal, but honestly, this whole thread seems like a backhanded slam at WotC with the implication that 4e is "out of touch" with the current userbase. Just because you may not like some aspect of 4e that you've gotten a whiff of doesn't mean that someone else that otherwise fits your demographic doesn't like it. WotC would be stupider than words can express if they weren't first and foremost interested in having 4e mostly make conquest sales of existing 3.5 players.

Please tell me I'm reading too much into this. However, given the tenor of discussion here, I really don't think I am.

Yeah your reading too much into this. I was simply wondering if people though WoTC was targeting a younger crowd (15-20 instead of the 18-25 demographic) with the new edition. Because in all honesty, they KNOW we're gonna buy it (meaning existing player base). Yeah we may complain and whine about the changes, but when all the shiny new stuff for the game is released in 4.0, the existing player base will jump on the wagon. So they really DONT need to market toward thier older audience, acutally it may make more sense to market to a younger audience and try to draw in a new generation of DnD players.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how that works. Looking at the posts, almost everyone here picked up the game through someone else. With a few rare exceptions, no one picks up DnD on thier own (think about the number of gamers you know, and how many of them started without outside influence). So specfically targetting a younger crowd may not be the best way to go, considering new recruitment comes through the previous gamer generation. This is very differnt from what you see for such things as computer games, where recruitment is often at a much younger level than DnD, and alot easier to pick up and start on your own.

*shrug* just thinking out loud

 

[JRRNeiklot]

1) 35
2) 12
3) Friend

 

[Korgoth]

1) What do you think is the average age of the majority of current DnD players?

2) What age bracket do you think WoTC is targeting with the new edition?

3) How were YOU brought into the game? (Friend's, older relative, picked it up on your own, etc)?

1) 30-35
2) 13-22
3) Friend

I think Hasbro may be about to miss the mark entirely. They made an interesting mistake with the Axis & Allies collectible miniatures... they seemed to think it was Magic: tG. But for the most part, the people buying WWII miniatures aren't the same as MtG kids. The approach to the sets, miniature scale, rarity and most of all the gonzo approach to powers appeared to be geared for the MtG crowd, which meant they really didn't know their audience.

I'm close to postulating the existence of a theoretical entity (you know, like black holes and neutrinos used to be) at Hasbro Central: we'll call him the MtG-Pattern Executive. Suppose that the MtG-PE is a guy with a fair amount of clout (though it is not absolute) who has seen that WOTC actually makes money with this mystifying product called Magic. And other things like Yugi-Oh and Pokemon, which follow the same pattern, have also made money. So the key, thinks the MtG-PE, is for WOTC products to all be MtG: to shoot for that age group, and to follow a collectible model as much as possible. If such an person exists, I think it would explain a lot.

 

[Clavis]

1) 30-40
2) 14
3) I heard about it from a councilor at summer day camp when I was 10. My parents bought it for me after much begging.

 

[TerraDave]

I guess the big point of this question is the premise that the target market of 4e is something other that current players.

I really, really disagree with that. I mean, no doubt WotC would love to recruit new players and have strategies in place to assist with that goal, but honestly, this whole thread seems like a backhanded slam at WotC with the implication that 4e is "out of touch" with the current userbase. Just because you may not like some aspect of 4e that you've gotten a whiff of doesn't mean that someone else that otherwise fits your demographic doesn't like it. WotC would be stupider than words can express if they weren't first and foremost interested in having 4e mostly make conquest sales of existing 3.5 players.

Please tell me I'm reading too much into this. However, given the tenor of discussion here, I really don't think I am.

The normal strategy for many products is to lock in consumers when young, and keep selling it to them over their lifetime. This is why advertisers pay a premium to reach younger viewers.

For many of us Enworlders, we started pretty young and continue to play at our advanced age. So the model would seem to apply. That doesn't mean that Wotc will have any success with those younger players. But they have to try.

 

[Szatany]

1. Observing my environment (a large city) I'd venture a guess of 20.

2. 15-30

3. a friend

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Looking at the posts, almost everyone here picked up the game through someone else. With a few rare exceptions, no one picks up DnD on thier own (think about the number of gamers you know, and how many of them started without outside influence).

I learned from someone else at summer camp, but D&D isn't typhoid: It's simply not possible that everyone who plays it learned from someone else, otherwise it would still mostly be a Midwestern phenomenon and would never have made the international inroads it has. Heck, one of the meatiest 4E spoilers we have to date is from an Israeli translator of the game, talking about what books to expect in 2008. There are players in Brazil, southeast Asia and elsewhere.

While it's not the conventional route, it's clearly possible for folks to learn on their own. If 4E is going to try to bring in new and younger players -- as it has to, to survive the coming wave of heart disease and cancer that will start culling the older players en masse over the next few decades -- they have to design at least a basic game that people can pick up, figure out and create a new D&D infection site, all on their own.

 

[hazel monday]

If 4E is going to try to bring in new and younger players -- as it has to, to survive the coming wave of heart disease and cancer that will start culling the older players en masse over the next few decades --

Seriously, the way that some gamers I've met eat, it ain't gonna be easy finding a new group of veteran players in the near future.
Gamers: Please take care of yourselves. Don't drop dead. It's hard enough finding a group after a move to a new town without having to compete with the grim reaper.

 

[w_earle_wheeler]

1) What do you think is the average age of the majority of current DnD players?

I couldn't even begin to guess. One group I DM for has an average age of 31 (33, 33, 30, 28). Another group I DM for has an average age of 23 (33, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21). There's a group that games in the back of the FLGS on Wednesdays -- there are about seven of them and they range in age from 14 to 18. On Fridays, another group meets back there, and they range in age from 19 to 42.

Most of the people I see coming into the store to buy D&D products are either high school students or grown men in their early 30s, very little in between. Most of the college students I know don't buy hardcopies of books in brick-and-mortar stores.

2) What age bracket do you think WoTC is targeting with the new edition?

I have no fr*kking clue. I thought I was on target with discontent for the changes to the core fluff of D&D, but the polls here on EN world show I'm in the minority. I really don't know what WotC is trying to do.

3) How were YOU brought into the game? (Friend's, older relative, picked it up on your own, etc)?

Older brother, when I was 8 years old. It was the Moldvay Basic Box Set, then we graduated to the Advanced hardbacks.

 

[Gundark]

1.) What do I think the average age of the D&D player is? tough decision. I know of 2 home groups (mine and one other). Both the average age is probably around the early 30s.
However the local RPGA have recruited a lot of younger players, so their average is probably around mid to later 20s (some older players in the RPGA have brought up the average a bit).

2.) what should WotC's target audience be? 15+.

3.) I started at 12 after watching kids at school play it.