That old WotC survey of gaming habits...

[Arnwyn]

I first said:

In fact, none of the WotC conclusions matched my experiences. Not even one.

But then RyanD reminded me:

How about "most players of D&D are older than 18?"

How about "people who DM spend more money than people who just play?"

How about "people who play with miniatures spend more money on the RPG hobby than people who do not?"

How about "more people play with homebrew settings & campaigns than use prepackaged D&D worlds?"

How about "more men than women play D&D?"

- Yes, we are all older than 18.
- Yes, the DM (me) spends more money than the players.
- "No" for the miniatures question, though.
- Also "no" for the homebrew question.
- Yes, more men play, IME.

Thanks for pointing those out, RyanD. I exaggerated a bit - I knew I shouldn't have said "not one". But, without a doubt, most of the survey results did not fit my experiences. (Thanks for the link!)

 

[Storminator]

Anyway, even though I disagree with some of the conclusions drawn from it, I'd still like to give a big thanks to Ryan for providing this link (and condusting the survey in the first place ). I'd be interested to see a new survey like this done in the 3E/d20 and D&D Miniatures Game environment so see how things might have changed.

I notice that you are trying to refute the conclusions based on the data presented in the webpage. I think you're making some faulty extrapolations/interpolations. The intro says that there is a lot more data that WotC holds close to the vest, and also that the conclusions are consistent with that withheld data.

Might want to factor that into your critique.

PS

 

[ejja_1]

Just to chime in.
Not surveyed.
Between 6 and 10 players with campaigns averaging 8 months to 2 years depending on the players job/marital status and the number of children if any of the average player.
Some extra information for entertainment purposes.
Every group I have dm'd has at least one gamer who is disruptive.
This has lead to standing house rules of no drinking or partying of any kind during gaming.
These players usually last a maximum of two sessions before I or the players ask them to leave.
All parties have had at least one female gamer involved, whether it was someones girlfriend or a just a friend.
The female gamers tend to be more cautious and thusly seem to survive longer than the males characters.
And strange but not so surprising, the females have never been the disruptive element. Attention getting, grandstanding and generally showing off sure, but never to the detrement of the game itself.
More odd factoids.
At least one player always has to play toy soldiers with the minis, this is a pet peeve of mine.( spend 3 to 4 hours painting and basing a mini and then have someone bend the sword until it breaks off, youll understand.)
Even when announced with threats of bodily harm that this action will not be tolerated, someone still has to act like they are 3 years old.
Male players with thier girlfriends playing have a tendency to try to roleplay thier respective charcters into a sexual situation with thier SO's character. Even when it is completely unlikely thay would entertain this in character. IE: male player playing 4th lv 1/2 ord barb, constantly hits on the girlfriends female gnome wizard. Does it constantly even when the other players object, and actually gets upset with the rest of the group when they complain telling them it's between them and to mind thier own business.
Groups have stopped gaming over smoking non smoking prefrences.
Im an ex smoker, so I am a little more forgiving when players request a smoke break. But the non smokers have been known to complain about it taking up game time, and one or two have actually stopped coming to gaming just for that reason.
And finally, all my players are very anal about other players using thier dice. One player has even been known to throw dice in the trash if the other players have touched them, becuase it's now infested with the other players ju ju.

 

[caudor]

One player has even been known to throw dice in the trash if the other players have touched them, becuase it's now infested with the other players ju ju.

Just a suggestion to save your players some cash: if you soak the dice in pickle juice for 72 hours, it will remove the ju ju Of course, they must then avoid eating the pickles.

As for myself, never surveyed. I usually play with groups of two, although sometimes solo that player when the other can't play. We play on no particular schedule or pattern. I just get adventures ready and we play.

Sometimes I'm lucky and can get a group of four together for a couple hours.

 

[grodog]

* Were you one of the players surveyed?

Yes, during the initial survey conducted through National Family Opinion.

* Do the above conclusions match your experiences of D&D?

Absolutely not. My campaigns usually either wither on the vine within 3-6 sessions or they last 18-42 months. There is some in-between wiggle room there, for mini-campaigns and such, but not a ton, really when I'm DMing. I've also gamed for groups as small as 3 players, to groups as large as 12 players, with an average being in the 6-8 range.

If there's interest, I could try to dig up my photo copy of the original NFO survey and scan it (or at least reproduce the questions; it was long, though IIRC). I think it's saved in a box of old materials from our old gaming company.

 

[MerricB]

Just a couple of questions for those who play in long-standing campaigns:

How much of those campaigns have you played with the same characters? Have you ever started new characters at 1st level?

Cheers!

 

[diaglo]

How much of those campaigns have you played with the same characters?

most of the campaign was played with long standing characters. but players had other standby characters as well.

Have you ever started new characters at 1st level?

always started new characters at 1st lvl. there is no other way.

 

[danzig138]

I was not surveyed.
In the 16 years I've been playing, I've only been in a few campaigns that lasted a year a more, and a couple of those did so only because we took breaks that lasted for several months. Of the games I've been running for 15 years, I've never run a campaign that lasted a year. 6 months tops. I get bored after a while. My gaming group has ranged from 3 - 10, but the average size, including myself is 6.

 

[Davelozzi]

If there's interest, I could try to dig up my photo copy of the original NFO survey and scan it (or at least reproduce the questions; it was long, though IIRC). I think it's saved in a box of old materials from our old gaming company.

I'd be interested if it's not too much hassle.

 

[Arnwyn]

Just a couple of questions for those who play in long-standing campaigns:

How much of those campaigns have you played with the same characters?

It varies - a lot. A few characters can last for years... but some don't even survive their first session.

Have you ever started new characters at 1st level?

Is there any other way?