Are there any real DnD newbies?

[MeepoTheMighty]

I think this board gives a distorted picture of the gamer demographics. I know I've seen several young'ns at my FLGS making their parents buy books for them. I'm sure if you spend time at the WOTC boards there's a lot more young people there.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

Did anyone ever learn this way? All the "old school" players in my group learned it from a friend or an older sibling. (Well, all except the dude who claims to have lived next door to Gygax, but that's a different story entirely.)

I learned it from the books. I had a whole bunch of books before I ever managed to find anyone to play with, and my first few attempts at playing were incredibly embarassing. I remember my friend, whose last name was Smith, made a character called "King Smithius of Smithland" who had 18's in every stat except charisma, where he had a 30.

 

[diaglo]

I learned it from the books. I had a whole bunch of books before I ever managed to find anyone to play with, and my first few attempts at playing were incredibly embarassing. I remember my friend, whose last name was Smith, made a character called "King Smithius of Smithland" who had 18's in every stat except charisma, where he had a 30.

I think I've gamed with your friend Smith.

 

[shadoe]

I also learned from the books first, then found a group. My younger brother actually bought the Basic set when he was about 8, and then decided that he didn't want it after he opened the box, so I got it from him. To this day I still don't know what he thought he was getting when he picked it up. Anyway he picked up gaming a couple of years latter from me.

 

[smetzger]

I'd also like to add that I think even more young people would get interested in D&D if there were an entry level "Basic" set again. There was talk around GAMA of such a thing, but WotC pulled it off this year's schedule, so who knows? Anyway, I just think it's harder for an 8 - 15 year old to get into gaming now because of the expense. 90 bucks is a nice chunk of change for someone that old (heck, even for me as an adult, but I am hooked) to have to convince their parents that A) that it won't be like the dog/fish/cat/karate lessons, they were interested but stopped playing with it after a couple of weeks, B) tey'll be able to read and grasp a game that has no playing board and takes place mostly in the mind, and C) that not buying 45 pounds of ground round beef on sale for the $90.00 is a better investment in their child's future. A game for between 10 - 20 dollars is much easier to convince Mom to buy than three big books for 90 dollars.

Only 1 in 5 people(the DM) need all 3 books. Players only need the PHB.

 

[Dextra]

Reading a few posts talking about new editions/vile content/ combat vs skill being good for gaming or bad for gaming has made me think - are there any real newbies playing DnD?

Yeah- my kids. But even they played 1st Ed.

 

[AereonBlaze]

I can attest to the fact that there are indeed some D&D newbies who got into the game without being introduced to it by a fellow gamer. I should know, because I'm one of 'em.

About three years ago, when I was 14 (I'm 17 now), I had gotten the 3E core books mostly because I had heard them briefly mentioned by others before, plus it just seemed like a fun idea (Years prior to that I had actually played a type of PnP game with a friend where we just made up rules as we went along, etc., so I also figured it would be nice to learn an actual ruleset.).

In any case, a few months after I had the books, I had found out that a few friends online had also recently bought them, so we started gaming online (we still do). Around a year later, I found out a few friends at my school had started playing but needed a DM. I stepped in. Two years and several hundred dollars worth of books later, I'm here lurking on ENWorld daily.

 

[johnsemlak]

I think I remember a stat somewhere that about 80% of D&D gamers are under 20. Could be wrong, but it makes sence in general.

 

[Harlock]

Only 1 in 5 people(the DM) need all 3 books. Players only need the PHB.

True enough, but to get into gaming (a kid who heard about D&D from the movies or discovered this website or just saw the books or played Baldur's Gate for example) you'd have to buy all three unless you knew someone in your area to show you. That's pretty inhibitive.

 

[Furtive Noise]

These boards aren't that representative of the gaming population as a whole. Many new people I play with are casual gamers who don't care much about different editions or rules. I think almost everyone gets involved in the game through a friend who has played before, but many are familiar or interested in it beforehand.

I think video and computer games bring recognition of D&D to a lot of new people. Instead of associating roleplaying with geeks in a basement they can think of hours of fun they've had playing something like Baldur's Gate. Sometimes I think these games bring in new blood more so than people reading a lot of fantasy stories or something.

When I was a little kid I actually tried to learn the old rules by myself and get others to play. At holidays I would annoy relatives trying to get them to play a cleric. It never worked and I sure did play that single person adventure in the old red box a lot. Not until I was a young teen did I finally get into a game with other established players. It is hard to imagine someone just starting the game off by themselves and a few clueless friends, 'off the rack.' But also fun because you have no built in pre conceptions.