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

[Sacrosanct]

I ask this question because I've seen many statements that infer, imply, or outright state that unless something is officially approved for AL play, then no one will use it or see it. The thread about the most recent survey has statements like this.

But that just doesn't jive with my personal experience, so I'm wondering if I'm an outlier here. In my experience, most D&D players do not play in AL. I've played with probably over a thousand gamers over the past 30+ years (the very high turnover rate in the military is to thank for that), and only a smaller % played in events or tournaments. Almost all it was just local gaming groups.

For the record, I've DM'd AL games before as well, and even now well over half the gamers I game with have never played in AL nor ever want to, and those that have play mostly in local groups with Al play on the side. So it strikes me odd that there is this impression out there that unless something is AL approved and used, it won't be seen by the masses.

 

[Nine Hands]

I just got back from Open Gaming Convention in NH, which my wife and I run and we had probably 25 people playing AL. I also run 2 tables monthly with about 14 players or so. I would say that it is an option for people around here to play and they are taking it. While we have a couple of 5E games that take place at our local gaming store, there is not enough weekly games being run to satisfy the needs of the players, which is why AL seems to be popular.

 

[kbrakke]

I think that the AL membership is much less than overall games, but for a non-trivial percentage of the gaming population AL is their only way to game. So for them fixes like "Just have the DM fix it" or "Have your DM homebrew it" aren't sufficient. For them having many of the fun and cool new things be reliant on a DM makes their experience worse. For these players new options coming out only twice a year isn't as exciting from them.

I am very lucky in that I basically just game all the time. Literally half-a-dozen campaigns at different rates of play. So for me as a DM I can try out new options or homebrews pretty much any time I want. For someone who only plays in the AL, this can be constricting.

I am sympathetic to the AL only players, but given that there have been two seasons, and from my time DMing we are just now a few weeks done with the official PotA adventure, and get to either explore more in PotA (Which is what we are doing) or start on the Expeditions (Which I think are excellent). I honestly don't think that there has been close to enough time to explore all of the options 5e has to offer in two seasons, but it might just be that I have other avenues to explore 5e how I want.

TL;DR: For the people that can only game with AL, having so many new cool things that won't really ever get to use is disappointing. I am sympathetic, but think there is no way they can be done with core 5E yet in two seasons.

 

[Mistwell]

So to be clear people are arguing unironically and simultaneously that Organized Play is wildly popular, and people are frustrated with it due to lack of options. Am I reading that correctly?

 

[greylurk]

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.

 

[SigmaOne]

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.

But does WotC see it that way?

 

[aramis erak]

my FLGS in Anchorage: 4 full tables, usually a 5th... so... 4-5 DMs, 25-35 players.

I'm one of the DM's. My home game sticks to AL rule standards for my sanity.

 

[greylurk]

But does WotC see it that way?

I don't think that matters in the long run. Basically there's a certain number of RPG players. Just on a rough estimate, I'd say that somewhere between 1/3 and 1/5 play Dungeons and Dragons exclusively. Of those who play D&D exclusively, I'd say that probably 1/3 to 2/3 of them play AL exclusively.

However, there's a big long tail of other gamers who play D&D occasionally, and Pathfinder, Fate, 13th Age, Fiasco, World of Darkness, Dark Heresy, Star Wars, and a whole pile of others occasionally. WotC has to know (or at least will find out quickly) that appealing to 5/6 to 9/10 of the gaming market that doesn't exclusively play AL is probably going to win them some sales.

Basically, AL players *will* buy every core book they put out, and about 1/2 of them will probably buy the adventure for the season, and that'll be a constant no matter what they publish. However, there's a huge "dark matter cloud" of gamers out there who either play AL only occasionally, or play more at a private table that isn't AL organized. Ignoring those gamers would be just plain stupid.

 

[steeldragons]

42.

42 people -all of whom seem to be on the internet and very vocal- play AL.

No, you are not the outlier. No, it is not the norm. For some it is, and/or they feel it is, their "only option" and that sucks...for them. But they are hardly in a position to say "because I can only game this way, WotC must A-Z for me!"

 

[not-so-newguy]

In my limited experience with AL, I have to say the system works. It has open up opportunities to play that I have never had. I've played at two stores, although had to drop one of them due to my schedule changing. At the current FLGS, there are two DMs: one that strictly adheres to AL and one that doesn't. The former plays on a grid, while the other plays TotM. Both games are fun.

Here's a pic of the store on a Wednesday night a couple of weeks ago:

https://m.facebook.com/events/695814107215930/

Two of those tables are playing AL, while the rest are playing various board games. On any given Wednesday night 10-14 people will show up and throw down $5 to play.

(I'm in this pic. Right below the guy facing the camera that's standing and drinking a water. I'm sitting in profile, arms folded with a black shirt.)

I actually got some great advice from the folks here when inquiring about AL:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?428959-First-game-at-a-hobby-store-(DnD-Expeditions)