What are the most played roleplaying systems anymore?

[Agamon]

Why such confidence in the claim that gamers at conventions in no way is reflective of gamers in general?

Go to a Con on Sunday and poll how many gamers have showered in the past 48 hours, then do it on a random day at a random game store. Bet you get different answers...

 

[RFisher]

Why such confidence in the claim that gamers at conventions in no way is reflective of gamers in general?

Anecdotal as it is...

Possibly the greatest differences I’ve seen in approaches to the hobby among the gamers I’ve known tend to fall along the lines of those who frequently attend conventions vs. those who almost never attend conventions.

 

[Jhaelen]

I'm pretty sure the most popular rpg here in Germany is DSA - Das Schwarze Auge. I guess it's not relevant on a global scale but here it's most probably the number 1.

While I don't have any numbers to prove it, I've encountered a lot more people playing DSA than people playing (or even knowing) D&D.

Others:
Vampire (WoD) is still strong, especially the LARP variant.
Shadowrun is still popular.
GURPS, Earthdawn, Call of Cthulhu, etc. are still played, but rarely.

Generally, a good translation is crucial for wide-spread success here in Germany. There aren't many players willing (much less enjoying) to read English rulebooks.

 

[Betote]

Generally, a good translation is crucial for wide-spread success here in Germany. There aren't many players willing (much less enjoying) to read English rulebooks.

The same thing happens in Spain. For example, RuneQuest had always been a bigger game than AD&D up until 3e, just because it was one of the first rpgs widely published here. That's the same reason we don't really have a 1e nor a GURPS crowd.

These days, D&D, Call of Cthulhu and oWoD are, I think the top three games. There's always a sizable amount of us who still play Aquelarre (a soon no more out-of-print Spanish game based on the Spanish Middle Ages), and even EXO (another Spanish game, this one a space sci-fi one).

Apart from Spanish games, we have very few rpgs edited here, mainly because one of the top Spanish rpg publishers gave up rpgs almost entirely and focused on fiction. We have D&D, M&M, WHFRP, Conan, Trail of Cthulhu and, now and then, a CoC reprint or the odd trendy game. There are sayings about a possible translation of Cthulhutech, but I couldn't care less about that game

 

[Hella_Tellah]

Apart from Spanish games...

Man, I'd love to see what kind of games are being made in Spain right now. I would give my right eye to play a game set in Sevilla during the Siglo de Oro, or something about the Reconquista.

 

[Scribble]

Most gamers don't go to conventions. So, like EN World, gamers at conventions only represent a minority of gamers - so polls conducted there or here are only of limited use.

My question though, is what about conventions would make the answers of someone who goes to them different then the answers of someone who does not?

I mean I can understand why you wouldn't want to base your answers on a single particular con, but if you took a random sampling of different gamers at different cons?

 

[Betote]

Man, I'd love to see what kind of games are being made in Spain right now. I would give my right eye to play a game set in Sevilla during the Siglo de Oro, or something about the Reconquista.

Then Aquelarre would be for you. It's a d100-based game set in Spain, which covers two periods (as in the latter editions of CoC): the 14th and the 17th Centuries. It's "catch" is the assumption that local folklore and myths were real, and they can affect you more the more you believe in them. If you can read Spanish, there should be a free pdf preview from one of the latest editions. It's currently out of print, but there might be a new edition from the Spanish publishers of Mutants & Masterminds.

EXO is a generic sci-fi game, mainly focused on "hard" sci-fi, but with space for more flashy things, and it has been fairly successful (the 2nd Edition has just been published - and we didn't even have edition wars! ). The same publisher has other games as Comandos de Guerra (a game about WWII), Rol Negro (Noir with a mix of GTA/Sin City) and Pangea (Prehistoric fantasy).

And, talking about Spanish games, Mutantes en la sombra must be mentioned. It was published almost 20 years ago, and went out of print during the mid 90's, but it was huge back then. Funny story is, its plot is basically the same as the tv series Heroes.

There was yet another one worth mentioning: Fanhunter. It was based on a fairly successful comic book of the same name. Its setting is a cyberpunk/slapstick comedy where a mad bookseller took over the world and forbade every expression of subculture, as comics, rpgs, sci-fi, movies or even soccer, and the players are part of the resistance. Its system was a rip-off from Ghostbusters, but it was fun as hell . It even had a skirmish miniatures game (which was itself a rip-off from Space Hulk ). Sadly, it's out of print, too.

There were and are some others (and now we have a new bunch of them thanks to pdf and lulu.com, mainly Fudge-based), but these ones are, IMO, the best.

 

[Treebore]

My question though, is what about conventions would make the answers of someone who goes to them different then the answers of someone who does not?

I mean I can understand why you wouldn't want to base your answers on a single particular con, but if you took a random sampling of different gamers at different cons?

You have the basics of it. A "sample" is just that. A sample. You NEVER interview the entire population. This is why polling surveys are so popular. It allows you to question a very small portion of the population and derive accurate information that can be generalized to the over all population.
At a cost much lower than questioning your entire target population would cost.

IF you watch TV news, look at the poll info they give. They rarely give poll info based on more than 1,000 respondents. In fact such polls of 1,000 accurately reflected choices over 120 Million people made, well within their margin of error.

So the idea you can't use an ENWorld poll, especially if it hits 1,000 respondents, or randomly poll 1,000 of the 30,000+ GenCon attendees, and get good data is seriously erroneous. If you want to make it even more solid ask demographics. Age group, income group, racial group, sex, etc...

However those demographics don't have much impact on a question like, "Do you like 4E?" The only thing you need to know is if the respondent plays RPG's and tried out 4E. Age, sex, income, place of residence, etc... has no bearing on the answer to that question. Only if you play RPG's, and if you tried playing 4E are needed to make such a poll question meaningful.

You go to ENWorld or a gaming convention and ask such a question your getting good data.

Plus realize that you don't use raw poll data as your final answer. There are formula's staticians apply that make such numbers even more accurate when you generalize the data to the general population.

 

[Treebore]

I'm pretty sure the most popular rpg here in Germany is DSA - Das Schwarze Auge. I guess it's not relevant on a global scale but here it's most probably the number 1.

While I don't have any numbers to prove it, I've encountered a lot more people playing DSA than people playing (or even knowing) D&D.

Others:
Vampire (WoD) is still strong, especially the LARP variant.
Shadowrun is still popular.
GURPS, Earthdawn, Call of Cthulhu, etc. are still played, but rarely.

Generally, a good translation is crucial for wide-spread success here in Germany. There aren't many players willing (much less enjoying) to read English rulebooks.

Makes sense. Anything not done well in English here in the US pretty much guarantees failure.

 

[jdrakeh]

Fanhunter. It was based on a fairly successful comic book of the same name. Its setting is a cyberpunk/slapstick comedy where a mad bookseller took over the world and forbade every expression of subculture, as comics, rpgs, sci-fi, movies or even soccer, and the players are part of the resistance. Its system was a rip-off from Ghostbusters, but it was fun as hell . It even had a skirmish miniatures game (which was itself a rip-off from Space Hulk ). Sadly, it's out of print, too.

I have tried desperately to find this game for a few years now. I am left with the impression that it is incredibly rare, today.