WOTC Demographic?

[Sigurd]

Does anyone know, with some reliablity, what the WOTC target audience is?


It seems that the game gets much more complicated and the commitment level among young people drops because time is shared out to more distractions than in my youth. Thats just my feeling. I wonder what the current audience is for D20?

 

[MerricB]

I'd imagine there are two peaks in the graph.

The first would be in the area 30-35, which represents those who were introduced to the game in the early 1980s and have continued with it so far. You find us on ENworld.

The second would be in the area 16-20, which represents early Uni students and late school students, and probably represents the current intake.

I'd be very interested if there is *also* a peak in the 10-13 area, which represents the D&D Basic Game.

Cheers!

 

[The_Gunslinger658]

Hi-

The age group in my campaign range's from 40 to 19 and we get along. The old guy is the DM.


Scott

 

[Ranger REG]

I'd imagine there are two peaks in the graph.

The first would be in the area 30-35, which represents those who were introduced to the game in the early 1980s and have continued with it so far. You find us on ENworld.

The second would be in the area 16-20, which represents early Uni students and late school students, and probably represents the current intake.

Personally, I think it's the other way around.

 

[Bloodstone Press]

I think it has changed a bit in recent years, as WOTC has attempted to change and remain the market leader.

Early on, they were targeting mainly gamers. Then a couple of years ago, Mr. Valtera (Sp ??) came on these boards and said "our numbers show that d20 has near total satuation of the table top gaming market. We need to look for customers outside the gaming industry."

Since then, they have expanded a bit into other markets, trying to get new gamers. They've launched the minitures line, which some people say draws kids in. They made the new DnD movie, which was basically a huge commercial for th game on the Sci-Fi channel. They've got the books into Walmart (or so someone said, I haven't actually seen it). I have no idea how effective their efforts have been, though.

As for the age groups, I have no idea. Surely the bulk of their sales in recent years has come from the 25-35 age group. But beyond that, I can only guess.

 

[MerricB]

Personally, I think it's the other way around.

You could well be right.

Cheers!

 

[philreed]

Early on, they were targeting mainly gamers. Then a couple of years ago, Mr. Valtera (Sp ??) came on these boards and said "our numbers show that d20 has near total satuation of the table top gaming market. We need to look for customers outside the gaming industry."

By which he meant porn.

 

[The Shaman]

By which he meant porn.

That might explain the pictures Ghostwind posted...

 

[Ranger REG]

You could well be right.

Either way, initially WotC isn't targeting younger audience (11-15), otherwise they would have "dumbed down" the text back in 1999.

Of course, in retrospect, the rules-heavy text should have been dumbed down ... just a tad.

 

[MerricB]

Either way, initially WotC isn't targeting younger audience (11-15), otherwise they would have "dumbed down" the text back in 1999.

Of course, in retrospect, the rules-heavy text should have been dumbed down ... just a tad.

The word you're missing is "simplified".

The Basic Game likely targets 10-15; the question is how easy it is to transition from that to the full game. Oh, I'd love to have a look at Wizards' research on the matter!

Cheers!