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<blockquote data-quote="Pickaxe" data-source="post: 2746257" data-attributes="member: 10812">3 points1) To paraphrase an acquaintance on why he tended to play basketball rather than softball:&quot;If you schedule a full court basketball game and 4 people show up, you can still play a game of two-on-two basketball. If you schedule a softball game and 4 people show up, you can still play a game of two-on-two basketball.&quot;D&amp;D is designed for multiple players. It's unlikely that someone will buy the latest edition of D&amp;D without already having a group with which to play. Yes, Magic requires other players, but you can buy cards, build a deck, and show up at a tournament, whereas there are fewer venues where you can show up with a character and jump into an adventure. Chances are that the vast majority of us did not get into this hobby to do that sort of thing anyway.2) From the opening to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina:&quot;Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.&quot;In the D&amp;D world it's:&quot;Happy gaming groups are all alike; every unhappy gaming group is unhappy in its own way.&quot;Groups work, flourish, and endure when the participants get along, have fun, and don't have life-altering events that change their time commitments. Groups disintegrate for all sorts of reasons, because a lot of stars must align for them to succeed. I didn't play for about a decade, because I couldn't find a group.3) My understanding is that TSR expanded its marketing during the second edition era. This resulted in things like replacing demons and devils with tanar'ri and baatezu, in order to avoid upsetting conservative parents. My feeling is that this hobby attracts pretty much all of the people who want to be in it. If they can find a group, they stay in it. I don't think there's a population out there saying, &quot;I'd like to play D&amp;D, but I just like Madden 2005 better.&quot; Just about everyone knows about D&amp;D, and either it intrigues them as something fun to do or repels them as something that (ironically) antisocial uncool people do.--Axe</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Pickaxe, post: 2746257, member: 10812"] [b]3 points[/b] 1) To paraphrase an acquaintance on why he tended to play basketball rather than softball: "If you schedule a full court basketball game and 4 people show up, you can still play a game of two-on-two basketball. If you schedule a softball game and 4 people show up, you can still play a game of two-on-two basketball." D&D is designed for multiple players. It's unlikely that someone will buy the latest edition of D&D without already having a group with which to play. Yes, Magic requires other players, but you can buy cards, build a deck, and show up at a tournament, whereas there are fewer venues where you can show up with a character and jump into an adventure. Chances are that the vast majority of us did not get into this hobby to do that sort of thing anyway. 2) From the opening to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." In the D&D world it's: "Happy gaming groups are all alike; every unhappy gaming group is unhappy in its own way." Groups work, flourish, and endure when the participants get along, have fun, and don't have life-altering events that change their time commitments. Groups disintegrate for all sorts of reasons, because a lot of stars must align for them to succeed. I didn't play for about a decade, because I couldn't find a group. 3) My understanding is that TSR expanded its marketing during the second edition era. This resulted in things like replacing demons and devils with tanar'ri and baatezu, in order to avoid upsetting conservative parents. My feeling is that this hobby attracts pretty much all of the people who want to be in it. If they can find a group, they stay in it. I don't think there's a population out there saying, "I'd like to play D&D, but I just like Madden 2005 better." Just about everyone knows about D&D, and either it intrigues them as something fun to do or repels them as something that (ironically) antisocial uncool people do. --Axe [/QUOTE]

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