How popular are RPGs today compared to the 80s?

[MerricB]

G'day people!

Once upon a time, it was the 80s, and AD&D (1E) was at its peak of popularity.

How does that compare to today? Is D&D 3E more popular? Less?

Are RPGs in general more played? the same? less played?

Does anyone have hard data on this?

Cheers!

 

[Macbeth]

I believe D&D is even more popular then the hayday of the eighties, but i don't have any number sto support this, just my feeling.

 

[Dark Jezter]

IIRC, more that one WOTC employee has remarked that more people are playing 3e more than any previous edition of D&D.

 

[Mista Collins]

With the increase in technology (allowing RPG's to be order in the home) and such great communities as this one, I would have to say it has grown and is still growing. Maybe someday we will see a stat somewhere that says "Role-playing Games" have surpassed (insert an extreme sport here) in popularity.

 

[Umbran]

I expect it's difficult to say, as I don't know of any reliable market research from the 80s which gives a good idea of how many people were playing at the time. I'd presume that more people are playing now, based on how diverse a market of products they manage to support.

 

[CCamfield]

D&D had fad status in the 1980s. The industry as a whole is not as big as it was then, by any means. However, from what I understand the industry as whole is growing.

 

[Silver Moon]

D&D had fad status in the 1980s.

That's how I remember it - the years 1981 to 1983 in particular. People who had little interest in the game itself were playing it because it was the popular thing to do. That was when the tie-in toys and a kid's cartoon series were launched, and they even included the scene of kids playing it in the film E.T. I

WOTC is probably right if you go by total dollars spent, and the selling more copies of any book other than possibly the Player's Handbook, as many of the players back then just played the game but didn't buy any of the books (only the DM needed to know that much about it.)

 

[diaglo]

...and they even included the scene of kids playing it in the film E.T.

that was Tunnels & Trolls.


you are thinking of the Taps reference.

 

[johnsemlak]

I'm quite certain more people are playing D&D in Russia than in the early '80s

D&D has probably expanded lately to many other countries too.

Anyway, I must be just impossible to compare D&D in the 80's with D&D now. There's so much more to complete with, but on the otherhand more stuff that's potential crossover.

Official D&D computer games.
CCGs
D&D Fantasy Novels

Today I assume loads of people are brought into D&D after playing Baldur's Gate, reading Rob Salvatore, or playign Magic the Gathering.

 

[berdoingg]

Our D&D group has halved in size over the last 10 years, but that might just be that we're getting older, more crotchity and less welcoming as the years go by. I hope not though

It feels to me like there are fewer players out there, but that might just be because we hang out at hobby stores less often these days. It would be interesting to know how many people cross over to table top from Computer games - Baldur's Gate sold millions of copies, you've got to think there were a few converts there.