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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mercurius" data-source="post: 6366190" data-attributes="member: 59082">"Too cool" for books? Phaw! I remember ignoring my friends' calls during the summers of high school so I could read novel after novel.On the other hand, I think 12 is the age RPGs are geared out, it is the "golden age of scifi" after all, at least for boys and hopefully girls if they don't get pulled into web of tweening.Yeah, but I think it is more integrated into the younger generations. I hope so!Or a misunderstanding in what I was saying or at least meant to say! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />I somewhat agree with you, certainly with the idea that kids are naturally imaginative, that they crave imaginative experience. But I think imagination can be stifled  and the pre-generated content can, if not "stop" the free flow of imagination, it can fill it and thereby give easier forms to attach onto.Here's an easy example. If you watch Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies before reading the books, if and when you read the books it will be hard not to imagine Viggo Mortenson as Aragorn. Yet if you read the books first, your imagination is free to come up with your own image.D&D content is less specific, less domineering than movies and video games if only because it is largely in text and secondarily in static images. Or compare Tolkien's evocative, but very sparse, description of the Balrog to what Peter Jackson presented. Jackson showed you what to imagine; in truth, he gave you the image so all your imagination has to do is recall the image, while Tolkien gave seeds from which your imagination can grow its own forms.I hear what you are saying but again, I think there is a further differentiation; it isn't just "horizontal diversity" (options), it is also "vertical depth" (the degree to which those options tickle or inspire the child's own imaginative juices.Yes, I think your perspective is accurate, although the whole notion of a "greying market" means that the bulk of players, the "center of gravity" if you will, is aging. That is all well and good. But the big question is what the ratio is between new players coming in and old players dropping out. We won't have to worry about it for another 20-30 years, and who knows what the RPG market (and world!) will look like then, but when Gen Xers start dying off in larger numbers. I just don't see as large a group of players in Gen Y. "Gen Z" would be those kids born in the 21st century, and this is the group that is just coming of age to play D&D.Some might take issue with this, but I think another way to describe the difference between MMOs and TTRPGs is that the former are more akin to mass media, while the latter is more of a refined taste. Think pop music vs. jazz (or perhaps compare commercial smooth jazz to more avant garde stuff). There's always going to be a kind of pyramid, with fewer people enjoying the more refined stuff.I think what you point out here is that core fan base is pretty diehard, and not just "lifestyle gamers" with dedicated game rooms, but also folks who might not even be actively playing but love RPGs and buy books to read and maybe play at some point.I was showing a good friend my new home den and he noticed the rather large bookshelf and a half of RPG books, maybe about 500 items in total. He asked a question that I had a hard time answering: "Do you use all of these to play?" I probably will! Although it might be more like six months and then twelve, then 30...By "online roleplaying" are you talking about MMOs or play-by-post? Because I wouldn't include the former in what we're talking about, which is "tabletop RPGs."Anyhow, I think you're right that the hobby is far more diversified now, with a wealth of options - games of anything you could possible imagine. This is partially due to the "Indie Revolution" of the last 15-20 years. But in terms of total number of people playing tabletop RPGs? The early to mid 80s still represents the high water mark, when D&D was not only a household name but in many, if not most, middle class American (white) homes. I do think nostalgia has a lot to do with it, at least for myself. But again, we're talking about total numbers. I don't think the rumors can really be backed up, but allegedly there were about 20 million D&D players at the high point in the 80s, which dwindled down to 5-6 million by the late 90s, according to a Ryan Dancey survey. I remember reading an article from the early 00s that said there were 3-4 million D&D players. Now? Who knows. But I'm fairly certain there aren't 20 million.</blockquote>

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