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<blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 1263810" data-attributes="member: 2013">Bingo.Take a look at this poll I did a while back... <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44019" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44019</a>This tells me that while the &quot;bell curve&quot; of the current gamer population is dominated by late-twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings, this is NOT indicative of the age at which most people &quot;discover&quot; roleplaying.&nbsp; That age is rather heavily skewed around the &quot;late elementary school-to-junior high&quot; age.&nbsp; Which, I suppose, makes some sense... that's typically when you're imaginative, and you're still being encouraged to BE imaginative and have fun... and you have LOTS and LOTS of free time.&nbsp; By the time you get to high school, with sports or drama or chess club or band or any of a host of other activities, your free time goes down.&nbsp; You no longer have recess.&nbsp; You're being encouraged to WORK and GET READY FOR ADULTHOOD.The Basic Set was not specifically written for pre-teens, I don't think - but it was comprehensible and accessible for them.&nbsp; By setting up large, expensive, and complex rulebooks, we set the &quot;entry bar&quot; higher.&nbsp; Set the bar too high, and younger folks simply CAN'T clear the bar... and if we set it up to the point that it's highly unusual to see a junior high-schooler who can clear the bar (without experienced help), the hobby loses most of its potential &quot;new blood.&quot;Nobody's suggesting that &quot;since most start playing young, everything should be written so that they can understand it.&quot;&nbsp; Rather, the suggestion is, &quot;if we want new blood in the hobby, SOMETHING has to be written so that they can understand it while they're young.&quot;&nbsp; --The Sigil</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Sigil, post: 1263810, member: 2013"] Bingo. Take a look at this poll I did a while back... [url]http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=44019[/url] This tells me that while the "bell curve" of the current gamer population is dominated by late-twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings, this is NOT indicative of the age at which most people "discover" roleplaying. That age is rather heavily skewed around the "late elementary school-to-junior high" age. Which, I suppose, makes some sense... that's typically when you're imaginative, and you're still being encouraged to BE imaginative and have fun... and you have LOTS and LOTS of free time. By the time you get to high school, with sports or drama or chess club or band or any of a host of other activities, your free time goes down. You no longer have recess. You're being encouraged to WORK and GET READY FOR ADULTHOOD. The Basic Set was not specifically written for pre-teens, I don't think - but it was [i]comprehensible and accessible[/i] for them. By setting up large, expensive, and complex rulebooks, we set the "entry bar" higher. Set the bar too high, and younger folks simply CAN'T clear the bar... and if we set it up to the point that it's highly unusual to see a junior high-schooler who can clear the bar (without experienced help), the hobby loses most of its potential "new blood." Nobody's suggesting that "since most start playing young, everything should be written so that they can understand it." Rather, the suggestion is, "if we want new blood in the hobby, SOMETHING has to be written so that they can understand it while they're young." --The Sigil [/QUOTE]

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