So, while there is still new blood coming into the hobby, the main people involved are getting older and greyer (including myself). What does this mean for them? Will they pass on their gaming enthusiasm to their kids if they show some interest?
One of my Traveller colleagues passed away a couple of months ago and I have been in contact with his daughter who is wondering what to do with his collection of gaming material. She has no interest in it and his surviving wife does not want the books around either. So, I have offered to take all of the books and give them away, one to each Traveller enthusiast who wants one with a hand written Thank You card inside. This way, his memory will be honored and a bit of him will go on as a legacy.
This has made me think. What will become of my favorite hobby collection when I die? So I ask, what will become of your own game collection when you die? What do you want to happen to the books and PDFs? Have you even thought about this at all? Or is this too early to think about and too morbid to consider?
You're confusing your own immediate social circle with the wider population. We tend to hang out with people of our own age, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status. It'd be like me thinking every woman can deadlift 100kg because that's what they do in my garage gym, even the 69yo.
Each week I go to a store with open game tables, lots of groups have people in their early 20s. There are thriving clubs at our local universities, and they have few visitors over 30yo. University years were always the biggest gaming years for people.
I'll take your game books when you kick it, though.
Well, in my family we have the legacy legos. Although the original collector is not dead. And maybe that's the key. You got to let go of your collection and pass them on while the children are still young. Sure, a lot of the original legacy legos got lost. But some are still there, and the total collection is larger now than it was when I "inherited" it.
Makes me think at some point I'll pass on the username and password to my drivethrurpg account. Do they even have a gifting option post purchase? That would be handy.
Its your immediate circle, man.
I used to teach my students to play D&D back when I lived in Korea. I would go to my favorite FLGS, the Dice Latte, and see a lot of young Korean people there playing various roleplaying games (and even homebrewing their own!)
There's even a TTRPG community here in China. Sure, it's a little different. Chinese college students think 'Twilight' and 'The Vampire Diaries' when they imagine vampires, so they come into V:tM LARPS expecting to use it as a dating service. A search for TTRPG's on Taobao turns up Call of Cthulhu, Fiasco, and One Way Heroics. Most of my students here are aware of tabletop roleplaying games; they just haven't had anyone to teach them how to play...
..until now.
Anyone here looking to get their role-playing game published might consider getting it translated. I see a rising social backlash against online gaming coupled with a rising interest in board games. A publisher that times it right could potentially ride a surge in the East Asian market.
I paid a visit to a couple of FLGS recently, something that I usually avoid, and I observed a big split in the age groups. For the most part, the younger players (under 30) were playing CCGs like MtG, and the older players (40+) were role-playing or war-gaming. There were a few younger folk who were role-playing, although for the most part, they were playing with popular and shiny systems like 5e and WoD. We did have two younger players join our DCC funnel on free RPG day (side note: they were amazingly clueless, like old-school nerds), although the GM was complaining about his sciatica and one of the players had recently survived a serious heart attack.
These weren't my usual cohort, so it was a bit of interesting demographics. I currently run two groups - a weekly one with guys in their 30's using my homebrew system and a monthly one with guys mostly in their 40's (and one high-schooler) playing DCC.
What does this mean? It's very simple: old-school gaming is played by old players, for the most part. It's going to die with the players if they don't find a way to pass the torch. Maybe that's happening outside my very limited experience.
For what it's worth, I've never met a storygamer in the flesh. I'm starting to think they're only found online, entities like Eliza that exist solely to piss off grumpy old OSR gamers.
Quote from: Edgewise;972124For what it's worth, I've never met a storygamer in the flesh. I'm starting to think they're only found online, entities like Eliza that exist solely to piss off grumpy old OSR gamers.
Story gaming in public is found at conventions mostly, game stores are bastions of organized play. However often a game store has a specific night or nights set aside for RPGs (along with other games). So what people are doing will vary depending on what day of the week it is. And changes seasonally and year to year as referees drop in and out.
Currently I am involved in two game stores (Purple Fox and Gold Star Anime) and both have roleplayers in their 20s and 30s. Purple Fox has a regular organized play campaign, and Gold Star is more about referees doing their own thing.
Overall what occurs at the game store is highly depended on founders effect. For example Gold Star doesn't have a formal sign up but the gamers, including myself, rely on facebook managed by a gamer named Jay to handle who doing what when so we don't stomp on each others campaigns.
Quote from: Cave Bear;972123Its your immediate circle, man.
I used to teach my students to play D&D back when I lived in Korea. I would go to my favorite FLGS, the Dice Latte, and see a lot of young Korean people there playing various roleplaying games (and even homebrewing their own!)
There's even a TTRPG community here in China. Sure, it's a little different. Chinese college students think 'Twilight' and 'The Vampire Diaries' when they imagine vampires, so they come into V:tM LARPS expecting to use it as a dating service. A search for TTRPG's on Taobao turns up Call of Cthulhu, Fiasco, and One Way Heroics. Most of my students here are aware of tabletop roleplaying games; they just haven't had anyone to teach them how to play...
..until now.
Anyone here looking to get their role-playing game published might consider getting it translated. I see a rising social backlash against online gaming coupled with a rising interest in board games. A publisher that times it right could potentially ride a surge in the East Asian market.
My wife is from China and her best friend does translation work professionally and I've talked to them about building a business translating RPGs into Chinese. They just don't think there is a market of TTRPG players in China because they've never experienced it growing up. They are in their early 30's and they may have missed the boat you're talking about.
Every player I have introduced to the hobby, or have introduced rules light, old school style to, has been younger than me, in many cases, significantly. Of course, this is because I am old.:-) The important thing is, I see a good portion of them running their own games now, introducing others to play. One day, they will teach their kids to play, and so on, and so on.
How does this relate to the original question? I have already given a lot of gaming stuff to some of these folks. I also gave away a lot of board games and chess sets to the last class I taught. The stuff wasn't important to me. What was important was the caveat I provided with the gifts, "Make sure you teach someone else to play."
Well, if we say tabletop RPGing started in the 1970s, and also note that many of us who started in the 70s, 80s, and 90s are still playing, then mathematically the overall demographic mean is getting older regardless of whether the new blood is still as youthful as ever. In 1977 the vast majority of us RPGers I ever ran into were teenagers.
I don't have kids myself, but I sure hear plenty of stories in forums like this one about old school guys teaching their own kids to play. Personally, I teach lots of people to play D&D, mostly 20- and 30-somethings, with a full range between early teens and mid-70's in age.
Quote from: Ulairi;972132They just don't think there is a market of TTRPG players in China because they've never experienced it growing up.
That's the exact same reason no one ever bought a car or cell phone.
Over the last 20 years, my main group typically has a 25 to 30 year span in ages. About the time one of the older guys dropped out, we had some kids join. Even when in college, I occasionally ran for groups that included a friend's parents. It's all about who is available to you that is interested in the game you are running.
My grandmothers loved games (but not roleplaying games). My parents mostly didn't. My sister doesn't. I picked up D&D based off of a general love for games from the grandmothers and interest in fantasy. My daughter enjoys playing in our group. My son gave it an honest try, and found he didn't care for it. My daughter may or may not eventually run her own games. We'll see. If she wants my stuff, that's great, but I'm not going to worry about it.
Quote from: Ulairi;972132My wife is from China and her best friend does translation work professionally and I've talked to them about building a business translating RPGs into Chinese. They just don't think there is a market of TTRPG players in China because they've never experienced it growing up. They are in their early 30's and they may have missed the boat you're talking about.
I teach at a college. If there's a lack of a market, I don't think its for lack of demand.
I think you would want to market it as a social activity. A friendly substitute for sitting alone in front of a computer screen for hours on end.
The MMO honeymoon is over, and people are waking up to the realities of electronic addiction. One might market TTRPG's as a healthy alternative.
I wouldn't try to localize games too much; people actually seem to dig Western stuff here. It's exotic.
I wouldn't pander to Western notions of feminism, as that seems to be a bit off-putting to feminists here (different cultural contexts, different priorities) but I think TTRPG's might have more appeal to women here (purely anecdotal observation, though.)
Quote from: Ulairi;972132My wife is from China and her best friend does translation work professionally and I've talked to them about building a business translating RPGs into Chinese. They just don't think there is a market of TTRPG players in China because they've never experienced it growing up. They are in their early 30's and they may have missed the boat you're talking about.
I feel like there is a market there, myself. A really rich mythology really itching to be tapped. I don't know that any western rpg has done it justice.
Quote from: jeff37923;972105So, I have offered to take all of the books and give them away, one to each Traveller enthusiast who wants one with a hand written Thank You card inside. This way, his memory will be honored and a bit of him will go on as a legacy.
You might want to write up a blurb about the original owner with a pic and paste it inside each book cover. Then there's some personalization to the legacy.
When I've bought used books with the prior owner's name inside, I have often wondered about them.
Quote from: jeff37923;972105This has made me think.
No! Thinking is bad!
Quote from: jeff37923;972105What will become of my favorite hobby collection when I die?
The wandering monster who ate you will bring your stuff back to its lair. Then brave adventurers will arrive, kill the monster and take your stuff. [cue Circle of Life (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GibiNy4d4gc) theme]
Quote from: jeff37923;972105So I ask, what will become of your own game collection when you die?
Burnt on a Viking pyre with the sacrificed hooker while death metal blasts in the background!
I'm traditional.
Quote from: jeff37923;972105Have you even thought about this at all? Or is this too early to think about and too morbid to consider?
Not really.
The USA isn't a "hand-me-down, respect-old-stuff" culture. Every generation wants their own new shit.
Quote from: Cave Bear;972123Chinese college students think 'Twilight' and 'The Vampire Diaries' when they imagine vampires, so they come into V:tM LARPS expecting to use it as a dating service.
Exact same as the 90s college kids in the US, except switch out "Anne Rice" with "Twilight".
Quote from: Cave Bear;972123Anyone here looking to get their role-playing game published might consider getting it translated.
I know the Chinese boardgame and cardgame market is extremely rocking.
BTW, do you know if the Chinese kids are buying RPGs from the web or through book stores? Are they playing with books in English or Chinese?
Quote from: cranebump;972133The stuff wasn't important to me. What was important was the caveat I provided with the gifts, "Make sure you teach someone else to play."
Absolutely. That's a great way to share stuff.
5e D&D seems to be bringing in plenty of new players.
As for my stuff, hopefully it'll go to my son and hopefully he'll pass it on to his many many grandchildren.
Quote from: Spinachcat;972203You might want to write up a blurb about the original owner with a pic and paste it inside each book cover. Then there's some personalization to the legacy.
When I've bought used books with the prior owner's name inside, I have often wondered about them.
His wife and daughter are working together on the wording of the Thank You note. I'm not announcing or shipping anything out until I get that note
Quote from: Spinachcat;972203The wandering monster who ate you will bring your stuff back to its lair. Then brave adventurers will arrive, kill the monster and take your stuff.
I would absolutely die if I was eaten by a wandering monster. Oh, the indignity of it!
Quote from: Cave Bear;972148I teach at a college. If there's a lack of a market, I don't think its for lack of demand.
I think you would want to market it as a social activity. A friendly substitute for sitting alone in front of a computer screen for hours on end.
The MMO honeymoon is over, and people are waking up to the realities of electronic addiction. One might market TTRPG's as a healthy alternative.
I wouldn't try to localize games too much; people actually seem to dig Western stuff here. It's exotic.
I wouldn't pander to Western notions of feminism, as that seems to be a bit off-putting to feminists here (different cultural contexts, different priorities) but I think TTRPG's might have more appeal to women here (purely anecdotal observation, though.)
On one of The Gauntlet podcasts they recently interviewed a guy who translate Japanese RPGs and he said that CoC has blown up among young people in Japan right now. The reason why is kinda complicated but apparently there is some kind of mutant live play/light novel series that was based on CoC that helped bring it to people's attention.
Quote from: Spinachcat;972203I know the Chinese boardgame and cardgame market is extremely rocking.
BTW, do you know if the Chinese kids are buying RPGs from the web or through book stores? Are they playing with books in English or Chinese?
From the web, definitely. Kids here buy everything off of Taobao.
If Taobao is a good indication, they prefer to play with books in Chinese. Unfortunately, there isn't a huge variety there.
I've seen more translated Japanese TRPG's than Western ones.
As for card games, this one is insanely popular. I've seen it in Walmart, in most stationary stores, and even at some news stands:
Spoiler
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Quote from: Voros;972217On one of The Gauntlet podcasts they recently interviewed a guy who translate Japanese RPGs and he said that CoC has blown up among young people in Japan right now. The reason why is kinda complicated but apparently there is some kind of mutant live play/light novel series that was based on CoC that helped bring it to people's attention.
Can you send me a link to that podcast?
It does not surprise me at all. Most of my students here are huge weeaboos. More than one guy showed up to their oral English exam wearing a Touhou hoodie.
A lot of my students here are also huge westaboos.
Quote from: Cave Bear;972270Can you send me a link to that podcast?
Here it is with Andy Kitkowski. Lots of cool stories about RPGs in Japan. (http://traffic.libsyn.com/gauntletpodcast/Gauntlet-0099.mp3?dest-id=236407)
I'm gonna go a different way ...
Quote from: jeff37923;972105This has made me think. What will become of my favorite hobby collection when I die? So I ask, what will become of your own game collection when you die? What do you want to happen to the books and PDFs? Have you even thought about this at all? Or is this too early to think about and too morbid to consider?
It's gonna all get dumped at Goodwill, if you're lucky, just like everything else you own, if you're lucky and it doesn't go in a dumpster. Material objects don't mean the same thing to your family that they do to you.
Your legacy is not what you own. Instead of forming lasting relationships you are drinking alone.
http://existentialcomics.com/comic/187
I run games at my local public library. Typically I have 8-10 kids ranging in age from 9-17. They are rabidly enthusiastic about it.
Both of my daughters have gamed with me, although the older one is now too busy with other things.
I know several families that do regular family D&D nights.
Quote from: bryce0lynch;972285Your legacy is not what you own. Instead of forming lasting relationships you are drinking alone.
http://existentialcomics.com/comic/187
Was there a salient point in there, somewhere?
My wife knows how I value my collection. She will get help from friends or my YouTube subscribers or if all else fails post an ad on Craig's List looking for gamers that want it. Not that I'll be here to worry about it.
If it makes you feel better, I've been playing RPG's since I was 12 and I just recently turned 24.
Quote from: Doc Sammy;972381If it makes you feel better, I've been playing RPG's since I was 12 and I just recently turned 24.
So, young, yet already so wise. :D
Quote from: bryce0lynch;972285I'm gonna go a different way ...
It's gonna all get dumped at Goodwill, if you're lucky, just like everything else you own, if you're lucky and it doesn't go in a dumpster. Material objects don't mean the same thing to your family that they do to you.
This is pretty much what I expect to happen to my collection of both RPGs and comic books once I pass. I have no children and will never have children. I have two nephews, but they're both forbidden from gaming - both tabletop and video. Don't ask me, I don't get it either.
PDFs will vanish into the ether. The books will last though. Leave a clause in your will that they have to be sold as a job lot to a player or DM, not a store or collector. Leave notes through all the books and DM one last session from beyond the grave.
Quote from: Celestial;972584This is pretty much what I expect to happen to my collection of both RPGs and comic books once I pass. I have no children and will never have children. I have two nephews, but they're both forbidden from gaming - both tabletop and video. Don't ask me, I don't get it either.
If you go first, maybe I'll buy them. :)
Yea the whole 'forbidden from gaming' is a *whole* other thread...
Quote from: jeff37923;972308Was there a salient point in there, somewhere?
Nope.
Two of my 14 year old nephews got into D&D completely independent of any efforts on my part. I see kids coming into my store for D&D quite often. I think we're actually set to grow. There's even a halfway decent edition of D&D right now which hasn't happened since the early eighties.
Quote from: bryce0lynch;972285I'm gonna go a different way ...
It's gonna all get dumped at Goodwill, if you're lucky, just like everything else you own, if you're lucky and it doesn't go in a dumpster. Material objects don't mean the same thing to your family that they do to you.
Your legacy is not what you own. Instead of forming lasting relationships you are drinking alone.
http://existentialcomics.com/comic/187
Quote from: jeff37923;972308Was there a salient point in there, somewhere?
Quote from: Dumarest;972723Nope.
OP is worried about material things. OP should care less about material things (drinking alone) and more about making connections to people, the point of the comic.
Quote from: bryce0lynch;972775OP is worried about material things. OP should care less about material things (drinking alone) and more about making connections to people, the point of the comic.
Actually OP should worry about whatever he wants to worry about and adolescent dalai lamas should refrain from lecturing him about the correct path to enlightenment when they know nothing about his life. :rolleyes:
Quote from: bryce0lynch;972285I'm gonna go a different way ...
It's gonna all get dumped at Goodwill, if you're lucky, just like everything else you own, if you're lucky and it doesn't go in a dumpster. Material objects don't mean the same thing to your family that they do to you.
Your legacy is not what you own. Instead of forming lasting relationships you are drinking alone.
http://existentialcomics.com/comic/187
Quote from: jeff37923;972308Was there a salient point in there, somewhere?
Quote from: Dumarest;972723Nope.
Quote from: Dumarest;972808Actually OP should worry about whatever he wants to worry about and adolescent dalai lamas should refrain from lecturing him about the correct path to enlightenment when they know nothing about his life. :rolleyes:
If OP doesn't want opinions then OP shouldn't make a post on a public forum asking for opinions. At least OP can, however, grasp the basic meaning of internet forums, something that cannot be said for 17th century french fuckwits.
Quote from: bryce0lynch;972821If OP doesn't want opinions then OP shouldn't make a post on a public forum asking for opinions. At least OP can, however, grasp the basic meaning of internet forums, something that cannot be said for 17th century french fuckwits.
So essentially you have no rebuttal and have had to resort to that? Pretty much what I expected from a preaching moron. Look up the words you don't understand. Like "salient" and "point."
OP shall speak of himself in the Third Person and thank bryce0lynch for demonstrating that the "too cool for school" attitude is alive and well and just as valueless as it has always been.
Quote from: jeff37923;972828OP shall speak of himself in the Third Person and thank bryce0lynch for demonstrating that the "too cool for school" attitude is alive and well and just as valueless as it has always been.
So sayeth the OP, so sayeth the flock.
:p
It's hard for me to judge the situation in North America these days. But I can tell you that there's a huge youth interest in gaming here in Uruguay (and I'm fairly certain in the rest of south america).
I'm often invited as a guest to local mini-cons, and I find myself as the oldest person in a room surrounded by 75 under-21 year olds.
Quote from: Kyle Aaron;972106You're confusing your own immediate social circle with the wider population. We tend to hang out with people of our own age, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status. It'd be like me thinking every woman can deadlift 100kg because that's what they do in my garage gym, even the 69yo.
Each week I go to a store with open game tables, lots of groups have people in their early 20s. There are thriving clubs at our local universities, and they have few visitors over 30yo. University years were always the biggest gaming years for people.
I'll take your game books when you kick it, though.
Ditto.
For those interested, the first batch of books to give away has been listed on the Facebook Traveller-RPG Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/travellerrpg/?fref=nf).
I work/volunteer with kids (occasionally) and have some in the family. Although they have access to Electronic Gaming, they absolutely love Fighting Fantasy Style Gamebooks and AD&D. One 11 year old relation of mine has started writing Monster stats, Rune Alphabets and the likes. Two younger ones are happily doodling dungeons when the bug bites them.
To me it's a proven fact that RPGs have an appeal of their own that cannot yet be replicated by other entertainment forms.
Also, it's a two-part process: they got me into Yugi-Oh! which I must say, I absolutely looked down upon in the 90ies. I played my share of TCGs and thought I'd never go back. But the sheer playfulness of the Yugi-Oh universe has been tremendous fun.
In the end, the old Hip Hop adage holds: Each one, teach one!
I've tried to teach my step daughters gaming in 50 Fathoms Savage Worlds. Summer has played more than Autumn but she also owns a small Yu Gi Oh! card collection so more of a predilection to gaming to begin with for her.
The big problem is the entertainment competition now is even more fierce than ever. Technology has added video games, internet, YouTube!, and streaming. You'd be surprised but I'd say well over half of the free time my step daughters are spending is on YouTube! Summer is addicted to Markiplier and Autumn JakePaul. The cable TV goes unused mostly, except when I want to watch sports or Autumn occasionally watches the Disney channel. So YouTube! has replaced the Cable TV that dominated my youth when it comes to kids TV watching. Autumn spends a lot of the rest of her free time on the Xbox 360 with Kinect and Summer with Netflix anime. I spend my free time on AmazonPrime/Netflix/PC/PS3/PS4 mostly. So board games, card games, and tabletop games have big competition from the digital devices. The board games rarely get played except for camping, a family game night, or on holidays for example despite a four level storage shelf of them. I'm on a streak, five Fridays in a row of 50 Fathoms Savage Worlds gaming. Summer only plays Yu Gi Oh! when her friends that have decks come over. Even looking over my own family life, the % is easily only 10% for these kinds of experiences versus digital ones while at home.
Quote from: Kyle Aaron;972106You're confusing your own immediate social circle with the wider population. We tend to hang out with people of our own age, ethnic background, and socioeconomic status. It'd be like me thinking every woman can deadlift 100kg because that's what they do in my garage gym, even the 69yo.
Each week I go to a store with open game tables, lots of groups have people in their early 20s. There are thriving clubs at our local universities, and they have few visitors over 30yo. University years were always the biggest gaming years for people.
I'll take your game books when you kick it, though.
I think this is most of it. I live in a town of around 100,000 people, give or take. We had one gaming shop for decades. Within the past few years, two brand new ones opened up. In the old game store, it was the same old people playing the same old games. In the new stores I have seen (through my son, 17 and nephew 21) this younger crowd go from card games, to board games and now branching into tabletop RPGs. At the same time, the kids of my regular gaming group now play with us - ages 9-17. My son will go off to college and be a gamer, I've no doubt.
Quote from: Kyle Aaron;972106You're confusing your own immediate social circle with the wider population. [...]
Each week I go to a store with open game tables, lots of groups have people in their early 20s.
Normally we go to GoodGames (single floor, run-down, but free) in the Melbourne CBD, this week we arrived to find it being renovated, so we tried out Games Lab (three floor, new and clean, but $10 a table).
It has a lower floor with a bar, which had some gaming but seemed to be mostly social, a middle floor with game tables, most of which were card games, and a top floor with more game tables, it was about 2/3 rpgs, 1/6 card games and 1/6 board games. The vacant tables you see were filled over the course of the night. The stairs had a "please don't run or jump on the stairs" sign, I don't think that was addressed at us old blokes.
At least half the people were in their 20s, with our game table of 40+yo guys being, so far as I could see, the oldest ones there.
Again, don't confuse your immediate social circle with the hobby as a whole.
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Yep, hadn't noticed here. In my gaming group there are two elders, myself and one other, three other of our D&D group are in their 20's and the youngest is a teenager in high school.
Did notice a lot of Greybeards at GaryCon, but then again going to GaryCon is like visiting High Hrothgar.
Quote from: GameDaddy;986141Yep, hadn't noticed here. In my gaming group there are two elders, myself and one other, three other of our D&D group are in their 20's and the youngest is a teenager in high school.
Did notice a lot of Greybeards at GaryCon, but then again going to GaryCon is like visiting High Hrothgar.
I was shocked by how many more families are going to GaryCon. I'm brining mine next year.
Nexus and GameHole Con, both, have a ton of kids and families showing up because they provide quality content for them to participate in. I actually feel really good about the hobby. D&D 5E seems much healthier than 4E ever was which means good things for the entire hobby.
Munchkin is also super popular within and outside the hobby and that, I feel, is a good gateway product for real RPGs.
Quote from: GameDaddy;986141Yep, hadn't noticed here. In my gaming group there are two elders, myself and one other, three other of our D&D group are in their 20's and the youngest is a teenager in high school.
Did notice a lot of Greybeards at GaryCon, but then again going to GaryCon is like visiting High Hrothgar.
The thing that astounded me about GaryCon is how many people under 30 there are. I EXPECT old farts at GaryCon, that's what it's FOR.
My current group has 4-twenty somethings and my 50+ ass GMing. One of the youngest has GM'ed, and talks a good game. I'm hoping he'll take the chair from time to time. Good times...
Quote from: jeff37923;972105One of my Traveller colleagues passed away a couple of months ago and I have been in contact with his daughter who is wondering what to do with his collection of gaming material. She has no interest in it and his surviving wife does not want the books around either. So, I have offered to take all of the books and give them away, one to each Traveller enthusiast who wants one with a hand written Thank You card inside. This way, his memory will be honored and a bit of him will go on as a legacy.
I'm always interested in more copies of
TRAVELLER books - especially the original 4 to 7 little black books. Heck, I'd love a copy of the 'Robots' they did back then.
- Ed C.
Quote from: Koltar;986282I'm always interested in more copies of TRAVELLER books - especially the original 4 to 7 little black books. Heck, I'd love a copy of the 'Robots' they did back then.
- Ed C.
Seriously? Let me look and see what I've got.
Tabletop RPGs are big here where I live.
I run RPGs for my kids (mostly 5e).
I run RPGs at an RPG club with other GMs for upwards of 30 people turning up at the club meets and it's growing fast.
Mostly it's teens, but many adults of a wide age range too.
Tabletop RPGs (and boardgames) are doing just fine.
For what it is worth, 5e D&D seems to be attracting massive numbers of younger new players. I cannot believe how many parties I've been to in just the past two years where I will hear a parent mention how their kid is playing D&D at their kitchen table, and how they hadn't seen that stuff since the 80s. Also, any event I go to where there are a lot of sci-fi or fantasy or comics fans, and I see a lot of D&D related t-shirts and hear some D&D discussions. A lot of it seems to be coming from youtube shows.
Just my two cents: I'm a member of several different rpg groups on Facebook, but the D&D 5th edition group is definitely the most active. It has over 100,000 members (for whatever that's worth) and from what I've seen, the vast majority of people posting are aged 30ish and under. And of those, a sizeable percentage are women. Also, my local game shops (there are 8 dedicated game shops in Omaha, NE) are always hosting games (mostly D&D 5e) and although the age demographic varies wildly, the majority are again 30ish and under, with a decent sampling of women.
Quote from: Mistwell;986411For what it is worth, 5e D&D seems to be attracting massive numbers of younger new players. I cannot believe how many parties I've been to in just the past two years where I will hear a parent mention how their kid is playing D&D at their kitchen table, and how they hadn't seen that stuff since the 80s. Also, any event I go to where there are a lot of sci-fi or fantasy or comics fans, and I see a lot of D&D related t-shirts and hear some D&D discussions. A lot of it seems to be coming from youtube shows.
There should be some use for youtube shows, too:D!
And let's hope that the trend remains!
Quote from: WanderingMonster;986413Just my two cents: I'm a member of several different rpg groups on Facebook, but the D&D 5th edition group is definitely the most active. It has over 100,000 members (for whatever that's worth) and from what I've seen, the vast majority of people posting are aged 30ish and under. And of those, a sizeable percentage are women. Also, my local game shops (there are 8 dedicated game shops in Omaha, NE) are always hosting games (mostly D&D 5e) and although the age demographic varies wildly, the majority are again 30ish and under, with a decent sampling of women.
The current edition of D&D being the most active isn't much of a surprise. Neither is the presence of women, I'd say. Women and men alike do everything that seems fun, especially if their friends are doing it!
But it's good you confirm the trend that danskmacabre also identified, though:).
Overall, I think the concern of the OP is mostly due to young people not playing with the older gamers. And well, we all judge by what we see, can't blame him for that.
(Amusingly, I suspect a similar reason also explains many of the "women don't really play RPGs" opinions that I've encountered. I fully believe that women don't play RPGs
with certain people, but I wouldn't make general conclusions from that. In my current group, women are the majowith certain people,rity, should I conclude that men don't play RPGs;)?
I want it to be clear: I'm not saying the OP holds similar opinions about women! He's just basing his worry on a similar fallacy, and the post of Wandering Monster reminded me about it).
Personally, I'm 36 and most of my group are 20-somethings. We recently found a couple new players that are likely to join us, too, in a more or less random event.
Even younger people also show interest. If I can bring myself to run something suitable for that age group, I could probably get a lot of players. I'll think about BASH, BoL, Feng Shui 2, OVA2e or Traveller when my kids grow a bit more:p.
The bottomline is that, as it stands, I'm really not worried about the future of tabletop games. At least I'm not any more worried than I'd be worried about chess and backgammon. And I'm really not worried about those, either;).