D&D is an Adult Game?

[jaerdaph]

I always felt bad for this kid - immortalized for all time wearing goofy overalls because the photo shoot for this ad was done in the same week they were briefly popular.

I wonder if his overalls were OshKosh B'gosh, another company from Wisconsin like TSR? It's hard to tell what the label says, but they look like they might have been Lee's...

 

[Raven Crowking]

How about Heavy Metal or Epic Illustrated? Any ads in those would constitute marketing to adults.

I would consider posters or other flyers and materials in game and hobby stores as marketing to adults.

Not that I recall, but I could easily be wrong.


RC

 

[Raven Crowking]

I always felt bad for this kid - immortalized for all time wearing goofy overalls because the photo shoot for this ad was done in the same week they were briefly popular.

They were popular!?!?!?!

 

[jaerdaph]

Going through the First Edition MM I count:
8 fully exposed female breasts
6 somewhat obscured female breasts
2 depictions of female pubic hair
1 Centaur penis

They need to put on some overalls....

 

[billd91]

BTW, Lanefan, do you know why they put the cut off at 35 for 3e? It's because their research showed that after 35, the vast majority of players stop spending money on the hobby. Yes, I know some are the exception, but, this is what they found out. After 35, it doesn't matter what your game looks like, people don't spend money on gaming. So, 3e was designed for people who were going to buy a new game. Playstyles and whatnot had very little to do with it at all. It was all about the money.

If that's what you think, you might want to read this: Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0 -- Wizards of the Coast

To add an excerpt:

This data seems to validate the theory that young gamers, while very active,
donít spend a lot of money. (The following data is reported by for RPG
expenditures) The big dollars come from adults...

Total spending by age:
12-17: $297
18-24: $850
25-25: $2,213 [looks like they mean 25-35]

And, the longer they stay in the category, the greater their total
outlays...
Play <=1 Year: $116
Play 1-5 Years: $562
Play >5 Years: $2,502

 

[DaveyJones]

If that's what you think, you might want to read this: Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0 -- Wizards of the Coast

To add an excerpt:

i was an avid purchaser of WotC and regularly filled out the survey cards.

i got over 100+ post cards from Charles Ryan.

since i stopped buying from WotC. i have paid off my mortgage. bought and paid cash for 2 brand new cars. remodelled my house. taken several vacations overseas. and more...

 

[jaerdaph]

since i stopped buying from WotC. i have paid off my mortgage. bought and paid cash for 2 brand new cars. remodelled my house. taken several vacations overseas. and more...

LOL - That's awesome!

 

[Desdichado]

Well, I'd say it was marketed for teens when the ads are on the back of comic books. Is that marketing to adults? You even admit that cartoons are not marketing to adults. So, which part are you not understanding?

Throwing contradictory and confusing evidence up doesn't mean that your case is stronger, it just means that it's more confusing.

Umm, as far as the novels go, I go to the local library and they're all sitting right there in the young adult section. Same as they were twenty years ago when I went to other libraries as well.

Your library is weird. No publisher, distributor, or bookselling outlet considers D&D fiction to be YA fiction. They're two completely different subsets. I've never seen a library that did it either.

So, ok, let me reverse the question. What about D&D is directed at adults? I mean, if the themes are all PG-13 or younger, there is little or no content which is not readily available in the same, so, what about the game is being directed at adults?

Well, that's kind of a ridiculous and irrelevent question if you reverse it. That's like saying, "what about Lord of the Rings is directed at adults if 1) it happens to be popular with kids, and 2) there's nothing offensive in it that would preclude children from reading it?

And Lord of the Rings is just one example. You might as well say "what about Tide with Bleach is marketed towards adults. Why can't teenagers do their own laundry?"

Heck, even look at most hobby stores. You've got D&D sitting beside CCG's and comic books. I'll buy that comic books might be an older hobby now, considering the price, but CCG's?

In my hobby store, it sits next to model trains and wargaming miniatures. My hobby store doesn't sell comic books. I've never seen a hobby store anywhere that sells comic books, for that matter.

:shrug:

See, I look at something like White Wolf and think, yeah, that's directed at an older audience. You have some mature themes there that probably aren't all that much of a good idea for a 13 year old to be exploring.

But, I cannot think of a single thing about D&D that would even remotely give me pause handing to someone that age.

See, there you go again. "If it doesn't have sex and violence, then it can't be for adults." You're basically just rephrasing that same completely fallacious argument.

 

[Desdichado]

In my experience, D&D has always been played by adults or, in a (significant) minority, by teens that would probably be considered exceptionally mature (in a non-value-judgment sense) in intellect, creativity, and taste.

I'd say the opposite is true now; D&D is primarily played by adults who refuse to completely mature.

 

[Mark]

ICv2 - GE Ad Features D&D PHB

I wonder if they thought that teens were also buying GE appliances?