Are kids playing tabletop D&D these days?

[Arkhandus]

Ehh, dunno. And depends on what you mean by 'kids'.

There's a 13 year old (give or take a year) who plays in my Thursday night D&D 3E campaign, at the local game store (from around 6:30 to 10:30). He also plays (or at least has briefly tried) D&D Online, and continues playing World of Warcraft, Magic: the Gathering, the WoW CCG as well, and an RTS game called Supreme Commander or somesuch. So I know that he's not really playing D&D instead of video games or card games, just in addition to.

 

[jdrakeh]

I tried WoW on free trial recently - it seemed incredibly tedious, all the starting quests were "collect 10 pieces of wolf meat" or "kill 5 troll-thingies", which involved risk-free combat against brainless monsters, that didn't even gang up on me, while I regenerated all damage in a few seconds. Totally dull. In terms of plot and interest made 'Warlock of Firetop Mountain' (my dungeon-crawl Fighting Fantasy gamebook intro to fantasy gaming ca 1983) look like 'Lord of the Rings'.

I'm not a huge fan of video games, either but video games outsell tabletop RPGs like crazy because they're:

(a) More accessible than tabletop RPGs in terms of retail exposure (you can buy video games at nearly any retail outlet, whereas tabletop RPGs are still largely confined to specialty stores).

(b) More accessible than tabletop RPGs in terms of overall complexity (you need only learn which buttons to press in order to play a video game -- no mental math and very little memorization are involved).

(c) More accessible than tabletop RPGs in terms of preparation time (you only have to plug in a console, press the power button, and go -- rather than read a pile of book, internalize the rule systems, and then create an entire world or adventure from whole cloth).

(d) More accessible than tabletop RPGs in terms of $$$ (a video game costs about $30 - $40 on average, while the core books required to play many RPGs will run you at least that much, and possibly up to or upwards $100).

Really, in terms of easy accessibility, tabletop RPGs have some insane competition in video games.

 

[DragonLancer]

Some are. That said, I do not believe them to compose a majority. I think that, as a hobby, tabletop RPGs are becoming increasingly more obscure.

And thats a real shame. I really do believe that if RPG's are to survive that new players need to be drawn away from the computer or console and brought into tabletop roleplaying. Theres so much more to the gaming experience when played socially, than there is when playing online.

 

[Rechan]

Before the FLGS here was floundering and then bought out by a big video game/wargame store, I would see some teens-20somethings playing, usually.

It was usually the older guys who were into wargaming like Warhammer and the lot. I can't imagine kids getting into that, given how much $$$, time and effort it takes into tending to minis.

I honestly think M:TG was sort've a gateway game into D&D. But I think the M:TG took a life of its own. But that's just my suspicion.

 

[Rechan]

And thats a real shame. I really do believe that if RPG's are to survive that new players need to be drawn away from the computer or console and brought into tabletop roleplaying. Theres so much more to the gaming experience when played socially, than there is when playing online.

As someone who has gamed almost exclusively online (Pen and Paper via the internet), I can't agree more.

Recently, I joined a face to face game. And while I think the campaign is subpar, and I don't like the personalities at the table, I have to say I Only go to it for the socialization, and there it is satisfying.

Even more recently, I started playing an online game that used voice chat, and that was a blast. It's not as social as the face to face, but it's moreso than pure text.

 

[beldar1215]

I have been running a game for almost three years at my FLGS. I currently have 9, yes I said 9, kids in the group ranging from 10-18. I know that is probably to many, but I have a hard time turning kids away who want to play. I actually have 3 others who want to play but I don't have room. It's been a great experience for me. I think it makes my GMing better. It can be really hard to deal with that many kids at one time, but they all look very forward to playing.

Beldar

 

[Panamon Creel]

Originally quoted by Arkhandus
Ehh, dunno. And depends on what you mean by 'kids'.

I guess I meant mainly teenagers.

Originally Posted by jdrakeh
Some are. That said, I do not believe them to compose a majority. I think that, as a hobby, tabletop RPGs are becoming increasingly more obscure.

Originally quoted by Dragonlancer
And thats a real shame. I really do believe that if RPG's are to survive that new players need to be drawn away from the computer or console and brought into tabletop roleplaying. Theres so much more to the gaming experience when played socially, than there is when playing online.

I fully agree. The other posts have also confirmed my suspicions regarding the current young generation.

I personally don't care for computer games. (Baldur's Gate 2 was ok; didn't like NWN). However, I fully understand why they are so popular and why the current generation of teenagers would choose video games over tabletop RPGs (time constraints, ease of play, cool graphics, no books and hundreds of minis, popularity and accessability). That being said, I agree that when done right the tabletop game is vastly superior in play experience and fun. I remember great moments from table top games from years ago; not so with computer games. I also have met a lot of friends at the game table.

This also makes me much more sympathetic towards 4E if the designers are trying to introduce elements to appeal to the younger generations. I'm sure it is not an easy task for the designers to balance the tastes of existing gamers and young potential gamers.

Originally quoted by beldar1215
I have been running a game for almost three years at my FLGS. I currently have 9, yes I said 9, kids in the group ranging from 10-18. I know that is probably to many, but I have a hard time turning kids away who want to play. I actually have 3 others who want to play but I don't have room. It's been a great experience for me. I think it makes my GMing better. It can be really hard to deal with that many kids at one time, but they all look very forward to playing.

Good for you!

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

What I have seen at several local shops is kids who are interested in D&D but get sticker shock at the price or are completely turned off by the sheer number of pages in the three core books. We have a group of younger kids I started a game with using the Labrynth Lord rules. They're free, based on the best/most concise version of D&D out there Moldvay/Cook B/X (IMHO), and the rules can be learned in minutes allowing for new kids to join in immediately. The upcoming C&C Basic Set might also be a good tool to get younger kids into tabletop RPGs when it comes out. Right now, the current D&D basic set is not a good deal for kids in my opinion. $30 for three levels of play isn't much of a value.

 

[Imaro]

I just wanted to say jdrakeh and Rechan made some good points as far as videogames vs. tabletop.

Something their comments made me think about is one factor that is the wildcard as far as videogames vs. tabletop rpg's go...the GM. I play both and the main difference I see is, with a videogame you can do a little research on the internet and basically know what your experience will be. They have a standard play experience. TT rpg's on the other hand have common rules but a totally variable play experience depending on who is DM'ing.

Your first game could easily be something that hooks you for life or that totally turns you away, and most of it is dependant upon the GM. Majority of people are players, as evidenced by PHB sales vs. DMG sales...the problem with this is it makes the GM pool even smaller as far as really good DM's go.

This is something I wonder about the DDI, will there be enough people willing to make the investment of a DM (which as far as D&D goes is substantially larger than a player...3 corebooks, virtual minis, adventures, subscription fee, etc.) to first provide enough games vs. number of players to make the gametable viable for someone just looking for a game, and second to provide an experience good enough to hook people. I have played WoW and for me it's not better than the really good D&D games I've been in...but it's not worse than the relly bad games I've been in. The factor that favors WoW is that it is always available and I don't have to search for a game or depend on someone to take up the mantle of GM.

Honestly with WotC trying to push the DDI I would hope they gear themselves to be more accomodating and even encouraging to people who are interested in trying to DM. I think the way the corebooks are a detriment with their current 3 book model and 3x the price for a DM. I guess in the end I feel that getting people to play grows the hobby...but getting more people interested in running games would better help facilitate that growth.

 

[BryonD]

I think that the huge drops in P&P gamers are done.
I don't think that a recovery to old levels is coming, but I expect a fairly stable level is in place.

I don't think tabletop has lost players to computers so much as people who would have preferred computer games all along played tabletop in the past because that was what was there. Now the computer games are solidly in place and the (very significant) fraction of gamers who prefer that have pretty much gone there. As other said, some decrease comes from total switch to other games and some comes from divided time.

But either way, there will remain a core level of gamers who want either the more developed social interaction or the more completely open ended experience of gaming in a world limited only by the imaginations of the people at the table. (or, often, both) So far computer games can not really do this, so tabletop will remain safe for the time being. But it isn't going to grow to anywhere near the old days. Not remotely.

I think a lot of people see "roleplaying" as more a chance to vicariously experience being a powerful person in a fantasy world. And for many of the old kick in the door gamers, WoW and the like offer this alter-ego empowerment in spades. I'm in the camp that fully agrees that WoW isn't roleplaying in the traditional sense. But the traditional sense isn't very relevant to the debate.