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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 8008130" data-attributes="member: 2525">The full answer (which is not, but the way, that it's 5/50 now):Question: Along with the sales data released last year, it was also revealed that 39% of the D&D player base is now women, and that's a pretty big leap from the days when the game was considered to be a bit of a boy's club. What do you think has caused such a drastic shift in interest in the game?Answer: That data is from a few years ago so I think it's potentially trending toward 50/50, which is our goal. We've been collecting survey data on that now and I don't think we'll be satisfied until it is up to what the population numbers actually are. And I think it has to do with a lot of factors, I think that you mentioned the boys club attitude that has been eroding over time with the more mainstream acceptance of the game as a whole. Folks like Joe Manganiello who has been very vocal about "hey he's a jock, he's a gym brat", but he likes playing Dungeons & Dragons and I think that broke down that barrier and I think that a lot of women are seeing themselves on streaming shows like Critical Role, I think it was really instrumental in showing role-players, you know, people who enjoy different facets of the game, can find the appeal in it and if you enjoyed playing with dolls as a child, you're kind of gonna like playing D&D. I think a lot of that had been ignored by women for a long time and now that they got to see they can do that as adults and as kids, but especially adult women are seeing the joys and beauty of the game and spreading it and playing it with their children, I think all of those factors contributed to the growth of the player base and not just women. I'm also seeing a huge increase in people of color who are wanting to join this game, and not to get to treacly about this, but I think that more people playing D&D and putting themselves in the shoes of others can do a lot for how people are approaching hot topics about racism right now. It's really encouraging to see people who have experimented with playing different characters, and different ways of experiencing the world and having their eyes opened and to saying "I've never really realized this is what people were feeling" and it's really eye-opening to think that the more it's done, it can help the world as a whole.</blockquote>

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