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<blockquote data-quote="Neonchameleon" data-source="post: 7950072" data-attributes="member: 87792"><p>Because that's a proportion with little market presence.</p><p></p><p><em>Most</em> over 35s are happy playing the game they already have. They already have a favourite system and a shelf full of books to go with it. They don't particularly want to spend the time and effort to learn a new system. And this does double for anything outside core. I can imagine you buying the core three books of each new version of D&D. But I simply <em>can't </em>imagine you, with your stated tastes buying any source material in e.g. the Realms or Eberron. Or the Critical Role setting. You've got your own setting.</p><p></p><p>In general, roleplaying being an exceptionally cheap hobby, over 35s have everything they need or even want including a stable location to play.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Of course. One thing to remember about when it happened is that the least financially successful version of D&D was 2e, not 4e. It both got overtaken in sales by a rival (the World of Darkness) and was so unprofitable (unlike 4e which was raking in about six million dollars a year through DDI even after the launch of 5e) that it helped drive TSR to bankruptcy. WotC might have bought the biggest brand in tabletop roleplaying, but it had been an utter mess for years.</p><p></p><p>People who'd stuck with 1e through 2e were people (like yourself) who'd probably stay with 1e going forward. They were happy with their game. And the 2e fans who bought everything would probably keep doing so as long as there weren't massive changes.</p><p></p><p>But the other <em>huge </em>issue WotC had was that in the late 90s D&D was the old person's RPG. The popular RPG among teenagers and 20-somethings was Vampire: the Masquerade. WotC's two goals were to keep the 2e spenders (they spent money) and to win back the teenagers and 20-somethings (they spent money). They had data on what sold for 2e (player facing splatbooks) but needed more on what people were playing instead of D&D.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>They didn't. They wanted accurate data that represented <em>the segment of the market likely to spend money</em>.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In part they did that. I don't know if the over 35s cutoff came before or after an initial scan of the results.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That's ... not my experience. But I live in London, and people move around in London. A year or two is normal and people move away for jobs. Also a group I was part of that lasted 25 years had campaigns for a couple of years.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And because 1e sets things up for the very long haul that way. Apocalypse World sets itself up for 6-12 session campaign - with significant character arcs in that time and possibly rewriting the world (which was created fresh and collaboratively for the campaign). In Pathfinder it took us about a year to get up to a level in the mid teens. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Financially</em> if you are still playing 1e <em>you are</em>. It's a game that has been basically out of print for 30 years (yes I know about the recent deluxe editions). WotC is a business.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Neonchameleon, post: 7950072, member: 87792"] Because that's a proportion with little market presence. [I]Most[/I] over 35s are happy playing the game they already have. They already have a favourite system and a shelf full of books to go with it. They don't particularly want to spend the time and effort to learn a new system. And this does double for anything outside core. I can imagine you buying the core three books of each new version of D&D. But I simply [I]can't [/I]imagine you, with your stated tastes buying any source material in e.g. the Realms or Eberron. Or the Critical Role setting. You've got your own setting. In general, roleplaying being an exceptionally cheap hobby, over 35s have everything they need or even want including a stable location to play. Of course. One thing to remember about when it happened is that the least financially successful version of D&D was 2e, not 4e. It both got overtaken in sales by a rival (the World of Darkness) and was so unprofitable (unlike 4e which was raking in about six million dollars a year through DDI even after the launch of 5e) that it helped drive TSR to bankruptcy. WotC might have bought the biggest brand in tabletop roleplaying, but it had been an utter mess for years. People who'd stuck with 1e through 2e were people (like yourself) who'd probably stay with 1e going forward. They were happy with their game. And the 2e fans who bought everything would probably keep doing so as long as there weren't massive changes. But the other [I]huge [/I]issue WotC had was that in the late 90s D&D was the old person's RPG. The popular RPG among teenagers and 20-somethings was Vampire: the Masquerade. WotC's two goals were to keep the 2e spenders (they spent money) and to win back the teenagers and 20-somethings (they spent money). They had data on what sold for 2e (player facing splatbooks) but needed more on what people were playing instead of D&D. They didn't. They wanted accurate data that represented [I]the segment of the market likely to spend money[/I]. In part they did that. I don't know if the over 35s cutoff came before or after an initial scan of the results. That's ... not my experience. But I live in London, and people move around in London. A year or two is normal and people move away for jobs. Also a group I was part of that lasted 25 years had campaigns for a couple of years. And because 1e sets things up for the very long haul that way. Apocalypse World sets itself up for 6-12 session campaign - with significant character arcs in that time and possibly rewriting the world (which was created fresh and collaboratively for the campaign). In Pathfinder it took us about a year to get up to a level in the mid teens. [I]Financially[/I] if you are still playing 1e [I]you are[/I]. It's a game that has been basically out of print for 30 years (yes I know about the recent deluxe editions). WotC is a business. [/QUOTE]
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