Mercurius
Legend
In another thread [MENTION=1266]Abraxas[/MENTION] made the remark "I think 4E will remain the game for the 4E crowd." This got me going on a number of lines of thought that I’d like to share. I wondered: what is the “4E crowd?” Where is the D&D community right now and where is it going? And how will the arrival of D&D Next impact the community and industry? I don’t intend to try to answer these questions, but throw some thoughts out there for possible discussion.
First of all, to reply to Abraxas, I think it depends upon what is meant by "4E crowd." To use myself and my game group as an example, I haven't played 3.5 since 2003 or so and have played 4E exclusively (although relatively infrequently) since late 2008, and my game group - comprised of casual gamers in their mid 30s to early 40s - hasn't played anything else lately either. As relatively casual gamers (I'm the only one who could be considered "serious" or that reads online forums with any regularlity), most of the group is happy to play whatever the DM - almost by definition the most dedicated and serious member of the group - is willing to run. In other words, the other members of the group are really open to whatever I'm willing and wanting to run - any preference they might have is far outweighed by just being able to play D&D in whatever form.
Is my group the exception or the rule or somewhere in-between? I don't know. But I do think we need to differentiate between the "hardcore 4E crowd" and the more casual folks like myself and my game group that have played 4E a fair amount but aren't wedded to it. We're not the "4E crowd" but we are the "D&D crowd" who happens to have only played 4E for the last four years (and most of the rest of the group hadn’t played anything since AD&D days).
On the other side of the spectrum, I work at a small private high school and in my five years here there has always been a small group of dorm boys—maybe a few dozen in my time—who play D&D and they've always, without exception, played 3.5. Just recently I had a conversation with some of them and they voiced extreme distaste for 4E (although most hadn't played it) and also spoke in reverential tones of [notranslate]Pathfinder[/notranslate] (although, again, most hadn't played it). If this was an isolated case I'd chalk it up to small sample size, but it has been by and large the case with every D&D player in the boy's dorm over the last half decade.
Now we could say that because it is a small school with overlapping players each year, that 3.5 is played simply because that’s the lineage. But it is worth mentioning because of the corresponding “anti-4E meme” that exists among some of them.
Having been a D&D player for about thirty years now, I'd say there are about four general groups or types of players, based upon devotion and interest in the game:
Hardcore gamers - these are the folks who might have dedicated game rooms and massive collections, that play as often as possible - sometimes multiple times a week - and spend hours a day in game stores, on discussion boards, reading game books, or doing other RPG-related activities. For hardcore gamers, RPGs are their primary hobby, even activity. GenCon is Mecca - it must happen at least once in life. Hardcore gamers are the “generals” of the RPG army, so to speak. You might not be a hardcore gamer but if you’re reading this, you probably have known at least one.
Serious gamers - these are the folks who really love RPGs but it is one of a few favorite interests, and may not even be their primary or favorite hobby. They probably have a significant collection, play regularly, but probably not a game room or more than one game going at a time. They may or may not engage in RPG activities daily, but certainly weekly. GenCon is a possibility, even an appealing one, but not a necessity. Serious gamers might go years without playing but usually eventually come back to it time and time again. They are the “captains” or “field commanders” of the RPG army in that they are often the folks that run the game.
Casual gamers - These are the folks that really like RPGs, that show up at the game, but don't do much else otherwise. They might make a character at home preparing for a game or occasionally read the Player's Handbook on the toilet, but for them RPGs is something that is located almost entirely during the game session. They probably own a gamebook or two, but nothing more than a PHB and maybe a splat book or two relevant to a character they once played. They are, in a sense, the “grunts” of the RPG army.
Passersby - These are the folks that pass through and try the game out and either stay and become casual gamers (or more), or pass on through. They are, in other words, the “recruits.” These are typically girlfriends (or occasionally boyfriends) or room-mates.
Now I have no way of knowing how many of each category exist out there, but I'm guessing that there is an exponential ratio - something like for every 1 hardcore gamer there are 10 serious gamers, 100 casual gamers, and 1,000 passersby. The exact numbers don’t matter—and are impossible to know—but the important thing, and what I think is probably hard to deny, is the exponential ratio of the different tiers of dedication.
(By the way, I’d categorize myself as a “serious gamer” and everyone else in my group as “casual gamers.”)
How is this relevant to my rambling post? Let’s go back to Abraxas’ comment. Just as a person’s overall dedication to RPGs as a whole can be ranked in tiers, so can one’s dedication to a specific game or edition. The “4E crowd” includes 4E players of varying degrees of dedication; hardcore 4E players might always stay with 4E—“from my cold, dead hands”—whereas the serious 4E players might be willing to try something else, depending upon “where the game is at,” while the casual 4E players will play whatever is before them.
One more final thought to explore. How will D&D Next impact the D&D community as a whole? And who is it going to be marketed to? That is, which tier of dedication are they going to try to grab?
An important thing to note about RPG fans is that a small group of fans are responsible for the vast majority of purchases. Perhaps every casual gamer will own a PHB, but only serious gamers will own a bunch of splats, and only hardcore gamers will purchase most everything they can afford. So in a sense, if you’re WotC, you have to look at all levels and try to both please the hardcore and serious base – the two groups which are going to keep the ship afloat – but also find a way to get casual gamers more serious and create more casual gamers.
But the thing is, while you might be able to appeal to hardcore gamers or hardcore D&D players, you won’t necessarily be able to grab hardcore 4E players or hardcore [notranslate]Pathfinder[/notranslate] players – nor, perhaps, would you want to. Competition and a number of thriving games is good for the community (gamers) and industry (rpg companies).
In conclusion, one of the things I’ve danced around but haven’t outright said is that I just don’t believe that there are many seriously dedicated 4E fans. There are some, but not nearly as many as the 3.5 and/or [notranslate]Pathfinder[/notranslate] crowd, and when it comes to older, less popular, versions of of the game, while the total numbers might be lower, the ratio of dedication is much more weighted towards hardcore and serious than casual.
Most of the 4E fan-base, I would guess, would be happy to move on to whatever the match du jour is or – as is the case with my group – whatever the DM is willing to run. For whatever reason, 4E has not inspired the same degree of dedication as other iterations of the game, and it has also inspired far more ire. In other words, the “4E crowd,” I’m afraid is rather small at its core, with most of its number ready and willing to follow a different Path or move on to what is Next.
First of all, to reply to Abraxas, I think it depends upon what is meant by "4E crowd." To use myself and my game group as an example, I haven't played 3.5 since 2003 or so and have played 4E exclusively (although relatively infrequently) since late 2008, and my game group - comprised of casual gamers in their mid 30s to early 40s - hasn't played anything else lately either. As relatively casual gamers (I'm the only one who could be considered "serious" or that reads online forums with any regularlity), most of the group is happy to play whatever the DM - almost by definition the most dedicated and serious member of the group - is willing to run. In other words, the other members of the group are really open to whatever I'm willing and wanting to run - any preference they might have is far outweighed by just being able to play D&D in whatever form.
Is my group the exception or the rule or somewhere in-between? I don't know. But I do think we need to differentiate between the "hardcore 4E crowd" and the more casual folks like myself and my game group that have played 4E a fair amount but aren't wedded to it. We're not the "4E crowd" but we are the "D&D crowd" who happens to have only played 4E for the last four years (and most of the rest of the group hadn’t played anything since AD&D days).
On the other side of the spectrum, I work at a small private high school and in my five years here there has always been a small group of dorm boys—maybe a few dozen in my time—who play D&D and they've always, without exception, played 3.5. Just recently I had a conversation with some of them and they voiced extreme distaste for 4E (although most hadn't played it) and also spoke in reverential tones of [notranslate]Pathfinder[/notranslate] (although, again, most hadn't played it). If this was an isolated case I'd chalk it up to small sample size, but it has been by and large the case with every D&D player in the boy's dorm over the last half decade.
Now we could say that because it is a small school with overlapping players each year, that 3.5 is played simply because that’s the lineage. But it is worth mentioning because of the corresponding “anti-4E meme” that exists among some of them.
Having been a D&D player for about thirty years now, I'd say there are about four general groups or types of players, based upon devotion and interest in the game:
Hardcore gamers - these are the folks who might have dedicated game rooms and massive collections, that play as often as possible - sometimes multiple times a week - and spend hours a day in game stores, on discussion boards, reading game books, or doing other RPG-related activities. For hardcore gamers, RPGs are their primary hobby, even activity. GenCon is Mecca - it must happen at least once in life. Hardcore gamers are the “generals” of the RPG army, so to speak. You might not be a hardcore gamer but if you’re reading this, you probably have known at least one.
Serious gamers - these are the folks who really love RPGs but it is one of a few favorite interests, and may not even be their primary or favorite hobby. They probably have a significant collection, play regularly, but probably not a game room or more than one game going at a time. They may or may not engage in RPG activities daily, but certainly weekly. GenCon is a possibility, even an appealing one, but not a necessity. Serious gamers might go years without playing but usually eventually come back to it time and time again. They are the “captains” or “field commanders” of the RPG army in that they are often the folks that run the game.
Casual gamers - These are the folks that really like RPGs, that show up at the game, but don't do much else otherwise. They might make a character at home preparing for a game or occasionally read the Player's Handbook on the toilet, but for them RPGs is something that is located almost entirely during the game session. They probably own a gamebook or two, but nothing more than a PHB and maybe a splat book or two relevant to a character they once played. They are, in a sense, the “grunts” of the RPG army.
Passersby - These are the folks that pass through and try the game out and either stay and become casual gamers (or more), or pass on through. They are, in other words, the “recruits.” These are typically girlfriends (or occasionally boyfriends) or room-mates.
Now I have no way of knowing how many of each category exist out there, but I'm guessing that there is an exponential ratio - something like for every 1 hardcore gamer there are 10 serious gamers, 100 casual gamers, and 1,000 passersby. The exact numbers don’t matter—and are impossible to know—but the important thing, and what I think is probably hard to deny, is the exponential ratio of the different tiers of dedication.
(By the way, I’d categorize myself as a “serious gamer” and everyone else in my group as “casual gamers.”)
How is this relevant to my rambling post? Let’s go back to Abraxas’ comment. Just as a person’s overall dedication to RPGs as a whole can be ranked in tiers, so can one’s dedication to a specific game or edition. The “4E crowd” includes 4E players of varying degrees of dedication; hardcore 4E players might always stay with 4E—“from my cold, dead hands”—whereas the serious 4E players might be willing to try something else, depending upon “where the game is at,” while the casual 4E players will play whatever is before them.
One more final thought to explore. How will D&D Next impact the D&D community as a whole? And who is it going to be marketed to? That is, which tier of dedication are they going to try to grab?
An important thing to note about RPG fans is that a small group of fans are responsible for the vast majority of purchases. Perhaps every casual gamer will own a PHB, but only serious gamers will own a bunch of splats, and only hardcore gamers will purchase most everything they can afford. So in a sense, if you’re WotC, you have to look at all levels and try to both please the hardcore and serious base – the two groups which are going to keep the ship afloat – but also find a way to get casual gamers more serious and create more casual gamers.
But the thing is, while you might be able to appeal to hardcore gamers or hardcore D&D players, you won’t necessarily be able to grab hardcore 4E players or hardcore [notranslate]Pathfinder[/notranslate] players – nor, perhaps, would you want to. Competition and a number of thriving games is good for the community (gamers) and industry (rpg companies).
In conclusion, one of the things I’ve danced around but haven’t outright said is that I just don’t believe that there are many seriously dedicated 4E fans. There are some, but not nearly as many as the 3.5 and/or [notranslate]Pathfinder[/notranslate] crowd, and when it comes to older, less popular, versions of of the game, while the total numbers might be lower, the ratio of dedication is much more weighted towards hardcore and serious than casual.
Most of the 4E fan-base, I would guess, would be happy to move on to whatever the match du jour is or – as is the case with my group – whatever the DM is willing to run. For whatever reason, 4E has not inspired the same degree of dedication as other iterations of the game, and it has also inspired far more ire. In other words, the “4E crowd,” I’m afraid is rather small at its core, with most of its number ready and willing to follow a different Path or move on to what is Next.
