Which hardcovers do you own/plan to own?

[Hussar]

I only own the first 3, and that's it for me.

What fascinates me about this poll is that, as of my post, no other product has reached the 70% mark.

PHB 2 cracked the 70% mark.

What fascinates me is almost 100% ( or pretty near) of respondents own the first three. That's HUGE. I'd pretty much guarantee that in any other edition, those numbers, other than for the PHB would be WAY lower.

I wouldn't have guessed that the core 3 would be that ubiquitous. Although, thinking about it, the core boxed set probably had a huge amount to do with that.

 

[malraux]

PHB 2 cracked the 70% mark.

What fascinates me is almost 100% ( or pretty near) of respondents own the first three. That's HUGE. I'd pretty much guarantee that in any other edition, those numbers, other than for the PHB would be WAY lower.

I wouldn't have guessed that the core 3 would be that ubiquitous. Although, thinking about it, the core boxed set probably had a huge amount to do with that.

Given that magical items were in the DMG in 3e, I can't imagine 3e players not owning at least 2 of the core 3.

 

[Imaro]

PHB 2 cracked the 70% mark.

What fascinates me is almost 100% ( or pretty near) of respondents own the first three. That's HUGE. I'd pretty much guarantee that in any other edition, those numbers, other than for the PHB would be WAY lower.

I wouldn't have guessed that the core 3 would be that ubiquitous. Although, thinking about it, the core boxed set probably had a huge amount to do with that.

Eh, I think the fact that enworld is heavily skewed towards DM's as opposed to people who only play may also be a big factor.

 

[Mercurius]

Eh, I think the fact that enworld is heavily skewed towards DM's as opposed to people who only play may also be a big factor.

True. Not only is ENWorld skewed towards DMs, it is almost entirely comprised of more-than-casual gamers. In my group of eight, there is only one or maybe two others folks that are more than casual--and really only two out of the eight (incl. myself) could be called "serious."

So let's say that ENWorld, as a demographic, represents less than 25% of RPG players. My guess is that this 25% is responsible for well over half of all RPG book sales. Looking at my own shelf I own over 200 books and have probably sold close to that in various purges over the years. If the bulk of RPGers buy only a book or two, my guess is that the average serious gamer--which most ENWorlders are--buys 50+ game books over the course of their gaming career, many multiples of that number.

My point being, while ENWorld may not be representative of the total gaming population, it isn't necessarly un-representative of game purchasing in that it is a segment of the serious-to-hardcore minority that is responsible for the majority of sales.

 

[Imaro]

True. Not only is ENWorld skewed towards DMs, it is almost entirely comprised of more-than-casual gamers. In my group of eight, there is only one or maybe two others folks that are more than casual--and really only two out of the eight (incl. myself) could be called "serious."

So let's say that ENWorld, as a demographic, represents less than 25% of RPG players. My guess is that this 25% is responsible for well over half of all RPG book sales. Looking at my own shelf I own over 200 books and have probably sold close to that in various purges over the years. If the bulk of RPGers buy only a book or two, my guess is that the average serious gamer--which most ENWorlders are--buys 50+ game books over the course of their gaming career, many multiples of that number.

My point being, while ENWorld may not be representative of the total gaming population, it isn't necessarly un-representative of game purchasing in that it is a segment of the serious-to-hardcore minority that is responsible for the majority of sales.

I wasn't really commenting on enworld as a representation of total RPG players but moreso on Hussar's surprise at the percentage of people who own all 3 corebooks.

In other words on a site like enworld, which is heavily skewed towards those who run games (as well as those who are "hardcore" gamers), I wouldn't be too surprised at this and doubt if the percentages were that much different for 3e or 3.5 as far as enworld is concerned.

 

[Hussar]

Well, out of curiousity, I added a poll of my own.

This has peaked my curiousity.

 

[Imaro]

Well, out of curiousity, I added a poll of my own.

This has peaked my curiousity.

Your poll might be a little flawed. You're asking who owns the 3.0 and 3.5 books now (more than a year after the release of a new edition) instead of who bought them when it was the current editiion (which is what you are asking as far as 4e goes.). In other words you are asking two different questions.

 

[Voadam]

If you had asked me a week ago I would have probably just put down the DMG which I got as a present. With the new PH+PHII for $23 set combined with the one gamer I know in my area preferring 4e I expect to get those two soon and probably the MM eventually as well. Most all of them look fun, particularly the monster manuals, plane below, and the demonomicon.

 

[Baron Opal]

I have all of the books down to and including Divine Power, except FRPG and Dungeon Delve. After that the only ones I want are The Planes Above, Below and the DSCG.

If the Underdark book has some sweet mindflayer lovin' I might get it, but it's unlikely at this point.

 

[Lanefan]

What fascinates me is almost 100% ( or pretty near) of respondents own the first three. That's HUGE. I'd pretty much guarantee that in any other edition, those numbers, other than for the PHB would be WAY lower.

I wouldn't have guessed that the core 3 would be that ubiquitous.

I've got the core 3 from every edition (except 3.5, which wasn't really its own edition anyway), and have found interesting ideas in all of 'em. When 5e hits I'll probably pick up the core three for that too, assuming they're buyable in a store and not PDF only.

And, as others have said, this place is mostly populated by DMs, who would be the ones you'd expect to pick up all three.

Lanefan