Is D&D 3.5 your first role playing game

[diaglo]

While this poll isn't necessarily representative of the hobby at large, it makes me think that claims of D&D 3.5 brining more new blood into the hobby than any other game past or present may be completely unsubstantiated ad copy. I mean, damn... those numbers on the poll are completely out of whack!

i know that from a small personal sample of gamers (49 gamers).. the 2000ed brought more old timers back to gaming than it did bring new gamers into the hobby. but my personal observation may just be skewed.

 

[jdrakeh]

i know that from a small personal sample of gamers (49 gamers).. the 2000ed brought more old timers back to gaming than it did bring new gamers into the hobby. but my personal observation may just be skewed.

That was my personal experience, as well - but I heard so many claims to the contrary from WotC spokespersons, that I figured there must be some truth to them. That said, I have a really hard time believing that this poll (even if it samples only a small portion of the 3.5 player fanbase) doesn't illuminate the truth a bit, as those numbers are skewed heavily in the the opposite direction of that 'brings in new players' line.

 

[JoeGKushner]

My own experience was that of a player of the original yellow box Marvel Super Heroes. I then moved onto a weird mix of basic D&D from the red set and AD&D with the wizard on the cover and the wizard opening the doors on the PHB and DMG.

 

[fusangite]

I think the numbers would have looked quite different if this had been about 3.x rather than 3.5.

 

[diaglo]

I think the numbers would have looked quite different if this had been about 3.x rather than 3.5.

i'll give you a breakdown on the numbers from my experience.

49 others plus me = 50 gamers
new to gaming and entered with the revision: 0
new to gaming and entered with the 2000ed: 4
new to gaming and entered with OD&D(1974) in the year 2004+ : 3
played previous editions first: 43

 

[jdrakeh]

new to gaming and entered with OD&D(1974) in the year 2004+ : 3

Off-topic, but worth mentioning:

That is incredibly cool!

 

[fusangite]

That was my personal experience, as well - but I heard so many claims to the contrary from WotC spokespersons, that I figured there must be some truth to them. That said, I have a really hard time believing that this poll (even if it samples only a small portion of the 3.5 player fanbase) doesn't illuminate the truth a bit, as those numbers are skewed heavily in the the opposite direction of that 'brings in new players' line.

I think 3.0 had a significant effect in bringing old players back. Of the people who I played 3.0 with when it came out, more than half had played 1E but not 2E.

 

[DragonLancer]

I started with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay back in 1987. Went through Call of Cthulhu, Rolemaster and Runequest before I started D&D with the old red box about a year later.

 

[Desdichado]

Joe, your second and third answers are not mutually exclusive. I could pick both.

 

[Tarangil]

My first experiences were a hybrid of 1E and 2E and Basic D&D which my DM used at the time. It was just after 2E came out.