Will D&D ever be able to regain a base of "casual" players?

[Clavis]

From my experience, the player demographics of D&D seem to have changed from its heyday of the early 80s. Back then, it seemed to me that there were many more players, but the majority of them were only "casual". Most of them either owned no rulebooks, or only a players handbook or a single box set. They usually didn't really try to learn the rules, they just asked the DM if what they did succeeded. They didn't really discuss D&D or their characters much outside of play. They didn't go to conventions, or subscribe to Dragon. They were often not particularly interested in other areas of fandom such as sci-fi, computers, comics, etc.

On the other hand, I now see fewer players overall, but they are much more "hardcore." They own all the rulebooks, and know all the rules. They spend a lot of time "building" their characters. They talk about D&D socially. They tend to be also interested in such things as anime, sci-fi, and computers, and want those interests reflected in their game.

So, do you think that the "casual" players might ever come back? Do you think that "casual" players are a drag on games, and things are better without them? Or do you think I'm wrong, and D&D never lost it's "casual" players?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I disagree with the premise.

I was an army brat, so I moved around every 2-4 years. Since 1977 (when I picked up D&D), I must have been a member of a couple of dozen game groups.

Some groups had no casual gamers, some were predominantly casual gamers...I can't say as I've ever seen an overwhelming indicator as to what % of the hobby the casual gamers comprise.

 

[HorusZA]

My experiences when I first started gaming in the early 80's was the exact opposite: Back then everyone was hardcore. Rulebooks were analysed and dissected, every new release was a cause for celebration, if your character history was less than 3 pages your DM would frown at you. Since then, attitudes towards gaming (in experience) has mellowed a lot. This is probably because me and my fellow gamers have aged. We now have jobs, families and precious little time so whenever we get the opportunity to roleplay we don't fuss about minutiae and just get on with the game, have a good time and don't stress about the rules. Gaming now, IMHO, requires less prep, less buy-in and less "inside knowledge" to get going. Despite this, I fear that we're losing gamers (old and new) to other past-times which are far more seductive to the modern audience.

 

[Crothian]

I disagree with the premise. Of the two groups I am in I would say about 80% of them (8 out of 10) are casual gamers. Casual gamers are a lot hard to see because of what they are.

 

[Belorin]

I have to disagree with the premise, also.
The ratio seems to be constant regardless of the total player base. However the ratio of casual to hard core seems to decrease in regards to the age of the players, at least IMHO.

Bel

 

[LFK]

I disagree with the premise. I still see a majority of players who own no books or just a PHB, don't read forums, don't work on the game outside of game time on their own initiative, aren't following release schedules, and are generally unaware of the meta-level aspects of the game.

 

[Treebore]

I would say there are far more casual gamers to this day than there are "hard core". Most people keep it in perspective that RPG's are games with which to pass the time and have fun, not be a way of life.

Then there are people like me who own complete sets of too many RPG's and game a lot and attend conventions whenever they can manage to do so.

For example, WOTC says there are millions of D&D players world wide, but there were only about 30,000 at Gen Con. So if that indicates anything, it would mean that 99% of D&D gamers are "casual". Hard Core gamers would have been at Gen Con.

Granted, this example can in no way prove such a thing, but it does give some perspective of over all scale, I think.

 

[Oni]

If casual gamers aren't playing the most ubiquitous game out there, then what are they playing?

I figure most casual gamers out there are playing D&D, since I assume it's still the game of first contact for most people.

Though I will say that my own personal experience does contradict that opinion. The most casual groups I've run into over the last few years have all been playing anime based games (Naruto, One Piece, and Kingdom Hearts) and they were powered by kitbashed/stripped down storyteller, a bastardization of BESM 2e, and a really simple homebrew respectively.

So maybe the young casual gamer just wants anime and rules light systems.

 

[Starbuck_II]

For example, WOTC says there are millions of D&D players world wide, but there were only about 30,000 at Gen Con. So if that indicates anything, it would mean that 99% of D&D gamers are "casual". Hard Core gamers would have been at Gen Con.

Or hard Core players are poor/ have jobs stopping them from attending. Not everyone has the luxury of time.

 

[darjr]

Not every hard core gamer wants to go to gencon. I've met a couple.

On the other side not all those 30,000 people are D&D gamers.

I do think there are a ton of casual gamers.