Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="woodelf" data-source="post: 1463397" data-attributes="member: 10201">And i'll admit that my impressions are certainly colored by my participation in the GPA (where most of the vocal posters on the mailing list seem to be non-D20 System companies) and my personal experiences:I have not, personally, met a single RPer who was "brought back" by D&D3E or D20 System. Every gamer that i personally know was going strong before D20 System. Every gamer i personally know who is playing D&D3E was playing AD&D2 right up until the release of 3E. I also don't know anybody who left gaming "because of " AD&D2--they all simply went to other RPGs. And of those i know who'd given up D&D during the AD&D2 era, i don't think any of them have come back to D&D during the D20 System era. Moreover, i'm starting to see people burn out on D20 System. Just in the last 6mo or so, i've seen several die-hard D20 System-loving gamers decide they're sick of it (and they've said as much--i'm not just inferring). Most of them have simply gone to other RPGs, but a few of them have stopped gaming. Now, some of these are just taking a breather, and they'll be gaming again in a few weeks or months--and maybe even playing D20 System, despite their claims. But some of them haven't gamed for, oh, a year or more now, and have turned down repeated opportunities to do so. So, i haven't seen any 1st-hand evidence that D20 System or D&D3E brought back lapsed gamers or created new gamers, and i have seen 1st-hand evidence that both have driven away gamers (admittedly, in very small numbers). Oh, and i've been creating new gamers right along, for 20 years now, at a pretty steady rate. Some portion of those who try out RPGs don't care for them, or can't afford the time, and never get hooked. But the portion that does seems to vary somewhat with system: the crunchier the system, the smaller the %age of those who're hooked. And i don't think it's purely coincidental, because i've had a fair number of people who were interested in RPGs conceptually but then scared off by the complexity [of something like AD&D2 or D&D3E]--i've never had someone interested in RPGs and then give up on them because their first exposure was too wishy-washy [such as Everway or Dread]. And i've met a fair number of people who like RPing but think they don't like RPGs, again because of the complexity of the only RPGs they've been exposed to (usually D20 System of some flavor, but sometimes Storyteller/WoD)--once i give them a shot at something a lot less crunchy, they love them.To be clear, i'm not disputing the claim that there has been i significant influx of RPG buyers in the last 4 years--not only have i seen it, but i know someone's keeping all those companies afloat, and the FLGS (and it's two relatively-new-yet-apparently-healthy competitors). But i do question the notion that all those new buyers are also new players--i think a lot of them were playing already, just not buying--or that a lot of them are "returning" players--as i've said, my observation is that those who gave up RPGs were unfazed by D20 System.Now, the question of spending is an interesting one. I really have no idea. I suspect that those who play D&D3E [among my friends/acquaintances] *do* spend more on RPGs than those who play other RPGs, and more than those who played AD&D2, back in the day. But i'm not actually sure of this, and of those i know the spending habits for, myself and one friend buy tons of RPG stuff, very little of it D20 System, and always have; two friends buy tons of D&D stuff, and always have (AD&D2, then D&D3E); and most of the rest are the sorts that might own a book or three, total--but maybe that's become a book or five--i just don't know.</blockquote>

Verification