D&D 5E How many gamers ACTUALLY play in AL?

[Psikerlord#]

I see AL as basically a recruiting tool for real (non AL) games. It does provide a way to find a group you are interested in gaming with, and does give stores a tool to encourage people to pick up D&D. I don't see it as a long term solution to the "I want to play a Roleplaying Game" problem.

I agree. AL is in my mind for meeting new people, make friends - then turn them into your home group! I don't think the game works well in AL format over the long run. It's strength, to me, is a marketing and "find a group" tool, but not much more than that. I think if you are only playing AL games you probably aren't getting the full 5e experience, coz presumably you cant tailor the game to how you like it (custom rules, custom feats, etc).

 

[fjw70]

I am not sure how many people play in Alabama. I don't even know how many gamers live in Alabama.

 

[MerricB]

I started running public D&D Organised play events regularly in 2010 at my FLGS, when the D&D Encounters program started.

In those days, it was tough going. We'd sometimes have enough players to run a table, and sometimes we'd not. During the third season (Keep on the Borderlands), about Christmas 2010, the numbers dropped enough that I gave up on the program - at least in Ballarat. We weren't going to get the players.

However, despite my stepping out, others stepped in to DM and somehow it managed to get going again in the new year. It took time, but eventually we had a regular table of players again. Unfortunately, what the table didn't have was a regular DM. There are worse things than turning up to a D&D session and finding the DM has had to cancel (again) due to health issues, but it's not something I enjoyed seeing. I stepped back into the DM's chair for Season 6: Lost Heir of Neverwinter (August 2011). And I ran every season from then on. We never had the experience of having to cancel a session again due to lack of players, and slowly - ever so slowly - we began to build the player base.

This really became apparent when the playtest started. The numbers began to build. For the Vault of the Dracolich Game Day event, we had three tables. The following season had two tables on a regular basis. By the time we reached Scourge of the Sword Coast, we had 3 tables. Dead in Thay? The last session had 4 tables, and when Hoard of the Dragon Queen started, we had five tables on a regular basis. That's continued since then, although numbers have dropped back from their high watermark of 42 (second session of Hoard). These days, 30-35 is regularly achieved - although it can take a sharp drop when public holidays mean people are spending time with their families.

I know for a fact that many of the people who play in these events have made friends with other players and have started up home games with them. Some of the players who have dropped out have continued playing the game - in those groups. This is the great strength of having organised play in-store: it allows friendships and groups to form, in the same way that groups often form at universities.

I also know there are a lot of players in Ballarat who don't partipate in OP, but still play the game. How many? No idea.

Part of the point of this is that I've had some of the players participating in this OP group for several years - four or five years in some cases. I'm extremely supportive of how the AL now allows several modes of play: you can play in the long campaigns (Princes, Tyranny), or in the short adventures (Expeditions), or in the small beginning-level games (Encounters). That we can now run extended games is a huge bonus; many of the long-time players were very sick of having every Encounters season being levels 1-3.

AL isn't for everyone, but there's a joy in playing with a wide range of players that you won't get if you're only ever in one small game group. D&D allows a wide range of play-styles; AL is one of those styles, with different strengths and weaknesses from the others.

Cheers!

 

[Iosue]

I play AL here in Japan, but my experience is probably not very typical. We basically have 2 DMs (3 when I have the time) who alternate and cover for each other. We have one table in the hobby store, and generally get 3-5 players every week. As a result, there's less need for the games to be uniform so that one player can go from DM to another. Nor do we play strictly by the rules. Point-buy or array and non-rolled HP are the order of the day, but a lot of our players are most familiar with 4e, so we had flanking long before the DMG came out. One DM uses Inspiration much more liberally than the book-rules. I suspect that if someone wanted to play with an aarakocra or some of the UA stuff, it would be up to the DM running the game, on a case-by-case basis.

A number of players also play in home games with each other and other folks who can't make it to the AL game. I myself also run a home game with my family over the Internet, with a host of non-AL options toggled on (like rolling ability scores and HP) and some houserules (we use side-initiative and my modified B/X Combat Sequence for Fifth Edition).

 

[Talmek]

I was a member of the RPGA for a number of years and was really into the idea of playing in a Living campaign, be it Greyhawk, FR, or Eberron (my personal favorite). Alas, I have yet to ever play in a public setting, be it a convention, FLGS or otherwise. There are four gaming stores within 35 miles of my home; however, none of them have any type of AL program. All four of them do have affiliation with WotC but it's all for MtG programs. This probably also contributes to the problem in my area that we cannot seem to get new gamers (unless we literally grow them, as is the case with my children who all are eager to learn the game).

As far as the original question - It doesn't appear that I will ever be involved in the AL as I can't realistically travel 100 miles one-way for a couple hours session. I'm dedicated to the hobby...but not that dedicated.

 

[Dausuul]

I have never played AL, and have no interest in doing so.

But then, I work in IT, where it's pretty much guaranteed that any job you get, at least one of your co-workers has a game going. I've been spending most of my life living in a gamer's paradise.

 

[Psikerlord#]

The little AL adventures that are used - expeditions or whatever - can anyone get their hands on those? I would like to read them.

 

[MerricB]

The little AL adventures that are used - expeditions or whatever - can anyone get their hands on those? I would like to read them.

No. They're not available generally.

Do you have a local store that supports the AL, though? (Or runs Magic events?) It may be possible to organise something through them.

Cheers!

 

[Psikerlord#]

No. They're not available generally.

Do you have a local store that supports the AL, though? (Or runs Magic events?) It may be possible to organise something through them.

Cheers!

That really sucks.

What good reason could there be for not making them available for free to the community - especially if they are released on a say a 3 month delay (so potential players don't "read ahead" - if you worry about such things).

That would actually be useful content for TRPG... as opposed to Dragon+ etc

 

[MerricB]

What good reason could there be for not making them available for free to the community

The Expeditions adventures are used to support D&D play in public: in conventions and in stores. Or in gaming clubs that are affiliated with a store.

By making them available in such a fashion, they help support local stores, something Wizards considers extremely important.

Note that you can also now play them online as long as the game is streamed so other players can view it. The Facebook group for online play is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/onlineadventureleague/

Cheers!