D&D 3E/3.5 Players playing 3 or 3.5 E vs 4 E?

[Water Bob]

I'm under the impression from what I've seen on the net that there are more people still playing 3rd edition D&D or 3.5 E, one of its clones d20 clones like Conan, The Black Company, Thieves World, A Song of Ice and Fire, etc., and additive systems like Pathfinder, than the the amount of players who have adopted 4E.

I'm not looking to start a flamewar here, so please don't respond if that is your intent. I'm just curious, and I'm wondering if anyone has some facts about the success of 4E and the continuance of 3/3.5 based d20 games even after most of them have gone out of print.

Anybody know?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't think anyone has a complete set of data. Paizo and WotC both keep their data to themselves. Everyone can only talk about what they see locally, which isn't necessarily indicative of anything.

 

[ThatGuyThere]

On a similar topic, there is a plain, wooden cup I've been looking for. If anyone sees it, please get it to me.

And a large golden box, with two angels on the top. Please do not open it, though.

And three glowing stones. And a crystal skull. And a jewel-encrusted statuette of a falcon. And Marvin Acme's will.

The information you seek might as well be made of solid gold, encrusted with diamonds, and coated with mithril. Everyone on every side of the Edition Wars wants it.

OTOH, if this thread DOES produce it, why, that'd be something.

PS - And a rock He can't lift; I've been looking for that, too.

 

[Dandu]

You'll find it in Atlantis, under the sea.

 

[Jhaelen]

double post

 

[Jhaelen]

I'm under the impression from what I've seen on the net that there are more people still playing 3rd edition D&D or 3.5 E, one of its clones d20 clones like Conan, The Black Company, Thieves World, A Song of Ice and Fire, etc., and additive systems like Pathfinder, than the the amount of players who have adopted 4E.

How did you get that impression?

To me it looks as if the 4e forums on ENWorld are more active than the Legacy forum and the Pathfinder forum combined. The general forum also has its fair share of topics that are actually 4e related.
I guess if you visit the Paizo forums you may get the impression almost everyone is playing Pathfinder...

Then again, 4e is just one of the many editions of D&D, so it wouldn't be _that_ surprising to find that all the previous editions, retro-clones, and d20 spin-offs combined have a higher player total than 4e players. There's also overlap: E.g. I'm playing both 3e and 4e.

Anyway, there's no numbers to prove either way which is played more often. How would you tell?

Sales figures definitely won't show it since groups may play using only the old rulesets they bought decades ago.
And internet activity definitely won't show it, considering the small percentage of players who bother to visit internet forums.

 

[Greenfield]

I've played both, and most of my current group has played both.

I don't know if it's something in the way it's written, or its similarity to WOW, or what, but when I proposed a campaign concept and asked what system they wanted to use, 4e got as many votes as Tunnels and Trolls.

On the other hand, I know several of the players are also currently involved in another campaign that is 4e.

What that tells me is that 4e and "legacy systems" aren't mutually exclusive, and that gamers like and play both. In fact, the gamer who only plays one system seems to be the distinct minority case, at least among the people I know.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

I think that a lot of people did stick with (or moved to) 3rd edition or other d20 legacy games (as mentioned in the OP). Enough that it is not too difficult to find a game of such, particularly on-line where gamers can meet up from far and wide.

I also think that a substantial number of folks moved to (or even started with) 4th edition. Enough that it is not too difficult to find a game of such... etc.

Whether or not I can find a game to play in is really all the data that I care about, so everything seems pretty positive for me, as I enjoy both (many) editions.

 

[airwalkrr]

I will say this about where I live. In San Antonio, it is hard to find a 4e game that isn't Living Forgotten Realms. And the LFR group is tiny. There are about 15 regular gamers, and by about 15 I mean people you can expect to see once a month. We usually only see enough for one table every other week. The Pathfinder Society by comparison is enormous. They could easily field two tables of six gamers each on a weekly basis without trying, and they do.

PF isn't for me, so I haven't participated, but if we take PF out of the equation, there still seems to be a huge favoritism for 3.5/d20 over 4e. The main thing that is hurting 3.5 right now is that it isn't in print. So when you walk into the store and see D&D it has the 4e logo on it and new players assume that is how you play the game. I would say 4e has a lot more new players than any other system. From what I have seen of the 4e crowd a good number of them if not a majority are not 3.5 converts but rather new players trying out D&D for the first time. Virtually all the PF players I have met are 3.5 converts who probably made the switch in large part so they could keep purchasing new stuff for their game.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

What's ironic is that, for my group, converting from 3E to Pathfinder would be almost as problematic as converting to 4E or (my choice) C&C, since the players with the weirdo characters wouldn't be supported under any of the systems, since they went with late-3E classes that haven't been replicated in 4E and especially not in 3E.