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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 8982335" data-attributes="member: 7023840">Thank you, and you as well.That said, I'm going to respond in a few ways. The first is by noting something that you haven't really grappled with- time. Regardless of the amount of disposable income you might have, it's practically a truism that, until retirement, must people have declining available time after they are young adults. Little things like "work," and "family," and "oh my god I have to do something about the plumbing before my house floats away," tend to interfere. And this is compounded by the social nature of the game- you're not just dealing with your middle aged schedule, but multiple middle aged schedules. Put another way, the amount of time that I had to play in my teens and early adulthood (junior high, high school, college, graduate school and post-college working)  dwarf the amount of time I have to play now. Next, while you have done a great job of generally supporting the idea that older people have more money than young people (which I personally call the "olds rule, young whippersnappers drool" law) that doesn't really apply to most cases. I can't speak for you, but I managed to get hold of a LOT more playing materials in my youth than I do today. Sure, I can afford more, I guess. Mortgages don't need to be paid, right? But back then, I didn't have to worry about paying for my food, shelter, and so on- it was all discretionary. Yes, I understand that I was privileged, but this is true for a lot of kids- basic needs are being met, so their money is for the things they want, not the things that they need. Not to mention studies of teen income don't take into account other "wealth transfers," like gifts- "Sure, Timmy, we'll get you some D&D stuff for your birthday."Finally, I will point out that I deal a lot with high school kids. And while they don't all come from the same socio-economic backgrounds, I am constantly amazed at what they can afford with their income. Based on your surveys, none of them would have phones. Or cars. Or videogames. Or go out to eat. Or, for that matter, none of them would go to the movies- and yet, if it wasn't for the teens that go there to "hang out," (ahem), our local movie theater would have gone out of business. Again, I appreciate what you're saying- I want stuff that's made for me, too! But the last time D&D was truly marketed for an adult audience was, well, the 70s. I think there's a section in Game Wizards when it's disclosed that TSR learned that a year or so after the Egbert incident, the majority of their sales were to the youth demographic. And it's been like that ever since. If anything, we've been fortunate that a lot of D&D products haven't been catering too extensively to that market, although they have been leaning pretty heavily into the PG-13/PG direction for a while. IMO, YMMV, etc.</blockquote>

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