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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CarlZog" data-source="post: 1811060" data-attributes="member: 11716">I suppose a lot of this depends on how you define "active players".As we all know, RPGs and D&D, in particular, had a flash of popularity in the 80s that lead to super high public awareness and sales of related material. But I also suspect that the number of people actually participating in some RPG on a regular basis (monthly or better) was probably higher between 2000-2004 than between 1980-1985. I agree with others who have suggested that the average player is older now than in the '80s (based totally on anecdotal evidence.). I think the increased presence of adults probably makes the average player a more committed, stable type of hobbyist now -- less likely than tweens and teens to flit off to the next pop culture fad. Additionally the internet's ability to connect players has had a huge influence on the number of people able to find regular games, and stay involved in the hobby as "active players". I have no hard data to back up these assertions, just a gut feeling after 25 years of play. The marketing guys for WotC/Hasbro are probably the best bet for a detailed understanding of the current gaming demographic, but you probably won't get a look at that until the day you pry the data out of their cold, dead hands.  In the meantime, trade groups like GAMA may have some survey data compiled for press purposes. Carl</blockquote>