Akrasia said:
Throw me the whip and I'll throw you the idol.
Akrasia said:
The recent BBC documentary on DnD was of the "where-are-they-now" variety. Many people, apparently, were surprised the game was still being played. This does not suggest to me that DnD has expanded a 1000-fold since the early 80s.
Indeed, IIRC the WotC spokesperson they interviewed pretty much acknowledged this fact.
The WotC spokesperson acknowledges that there are people who have left the hobby (many of whom return from time to time). WotC's sales numbers alone would suggest the hobby has expanded that mcuh and once you factor in every company that produces RPG products (including computer RPGs) it's impossible to sanely deny that the market has grown by at least that much. We're not just discussing D&D but ALL RPGs.
Akrasia said:
I started playing in the late 70s. Back then, you could find RPG material almost everywhere. Today, only the big book chains and specialist game shops carry RPG material.
Your source? Today they are in even more locations. Beyond physical locations, the internet makes this possible. You can literally go to any point on the globe with internet access and a credit card and purchase an RPG product (PDFs) and you can join online games (sometimes for free!). With internet access and a mailing address you can get physical product, too. You must be aware of the internet, unless you are dictating your posts to someone who has uploaded them without your knowledge.
Akrasia said:
And there seem to be far fewer game shops that cater heavily to RPGs.
Your source? I ask because I feel there seems to be far more game shops heavily into RPGs.
Akrasia said:
Actually, I think I made this request in my initial post -- does anyone have hard data on the current popularity of RPGs/DnD? Or its popularity over the course of the past 30 years? I remember recently reading an article that claimed that there were about 5 million players at the height of DnD's popularity in the early 80s, and only about 2 million today. But I could be wrong (I don't have the article here, or know its source).
No such article credibly exists. Hard data is often cited by Hasbro in their quarterly financial statements. If you comb Ken Hite's articles you'll find information on the brick and mortar retail numbers showing that WotC sales is actually only a portion of the marget (Gosh!).
I think the real problem here, though, is your antiquated definitions and selective way of processing the fraction of information you acknowledge. Google is your friend and is just as easy to use as it is to make outrageous claims with caveats that you might not have all of the information available.
However, I have a feeling that if you respond honestly to this post it will include much hemming and hawing about how you meant only physical products and how you were not meaning to include compuer RPGs. Unless your alarm clock is akin to an archeologist, digging you up every morning in a world that is alien to your fossilized mentality, you need to try and stuggle your way into the same century where the rest of us gamers now exist. When you arrive, try not to stand with your mouth agape, bedazzled by the shiny new future you've discovered. The time you waste in awe of today will only allow tomorrow to arrive while you are unaware, yet again.
