D&D 5E Long time players and 5e’s success

[Clint_L]

I have the Falling Star - I got the unpainted version as an X-Mas present a few years back and painted it up. It's a fantastic piece of terrain, even if I kinda wish I had known to wait and get the Reaper one instead.

I recommend it - it's easily worth the price because you can use it in a ton of adventures and get your money out of it. Most of my miniatures have never seen a tabletop, by way of comparison.

 

[MNblockhead]

50+ gamer her. I've never felt that WotC or the wider D&D culture has been hostile towards me in any way. Nor do I think my preferences and opinions should hold any more weight than any other consumer's or fan's.

 

[Ogre Mage]

I am a late 40s gamer who first played D&D in 1986. I think it is critical that D&D adapt to the changing times. That is part of why the game has lasted 50 years. I have no desire for the game to be preserved as a fly-in-amber from my formative gaming years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Sometimes I have liked the changes, other times not. But this crotchety, creature of habit will give the changes a try. Whether I stay with it is another question.

 

[GrimCo]

I'm a "young" 36 yo. In my group ( we sre 36-43 age range) we call ourselves "geriatrics". Yeah, millenials aren't kids any more. Some of my older milenial friends have adult (18-20 y o) and higschool aged kids. Oldest gen Zers are now in their late 20.

This is anecdotal, but topical. Beside my primary gaming group, the geriatrics, i'm familiar with my brothers gaming group ( 26-30 yo) and my friends gaming group ( he is 30, rest are 20-24yo). Out of those 3 groups, we old farts spent most money cause we have most of dispensable income, although we also have more expenses than younger folks ( mortage, car payment, kids) by virtue of being further in career and having higher paying jobs. Youngest group spent almost nothing apart from dm who did fork out for some dices and core book, they are colledge kids, they play by using free srd. Mid group did spent some, but that's cause my brother likes books and collects them. Rest of his group spent almost nothing.

Point is, colledge kids are usually broke since they don't work full time and spend on other stuff like going out. Working young adults will buy stuff now and then, but they don't have that much of disposable income ( lower wages cause they are early in careers, living on their own, still going out fair bit). Older gamers are ones who have more money to spend on their hobbies and are more likley to buy something just cause they like it.

 

[Reynard]

I'm a "young" 36 yo. In my group ( we sre 36-43 age range) we call ourselves "geriatrics". Yeah, millenials aren't kids any more. Some of my older milenial friends have adult (18-20 y o) and higschool aged kids. Oldest gen Zers are now in their late 20.

This is anecdotal, but topical. Beside my primary gaming group, the geriatrics, i'm familiar with my brothers gaming group ( 26-30 yo) and my friends gaming group ( he is 30, rest are 20-24yo). Out of those 3 groups, we old farts spent most money cause we have most of dispensable income, although we also have more expenses than younger folks ( mortage, car payment, kids) by virtue of being further in career and having higher paying jobs. Youngest group spent almost nothing apart from dm who did fork out for some dices and core book, they are colledge kids, they play by using free srd. Mid group did spent some, but that's cause my brother likes books and collects them. Rest of his group spent almost nothing.

Point is, colledge kids are usually broke since they don't work full time and spend on other stuff like going out. Working young adults will buy stuff now and then, but they don't have that much of disposable income ( lower wages cause they are early in careers, living on their own, still going out fair bit). Older gamers are ones who have more money to spend on their hobbies and are more likley to buy something just cause they like it.

Again we don't have data, but I think you are the prime spending age. liek you said, you have more disposable income and you are still engaged and excited. As people get nearer and into your 50s, it seems like people often feel like they have everything they need to enjoy their hobby. that's not universal or strict, mind you, but that is the trend I see overall.

 

[GrimCo]

Again we don't have data, but I think you are the prime spending age. liek you said, you have more disposable income and you are still engaged and excited. As people get nearer and into your 50s, it seems like people often feel like they have everything they need to enjoy their hobby. that's not universal or strict, mind you, but that is the trend I see overall.

Well, i feel same way sometimes. In this 22 years i've been playing and buying stuff, i have enough game materials to last me a lifetime without spending penny for any new product.

That's why i'm indiferent for 5.5 ed release. I have enough stuff already. For company to get my money ( or someone from my group), they need to release something that has good value proposition or something that has enough emotional apeal. I think that's the reson WotC likes to sprinkle nostalgia stuff. To get our old timer money on account of sentimental connection to something, fe Greyhawk in new DMG.

 

[Belen]

Didn't we get some statistics on this? I recall being surprised that players over 50 were a much smaller piece of the pie than I expected. As a player over 50. We are, of course, the best piece of the pie...though I may be biased.

I am not 50 yet, but it is not surprising. You either have kids or you are in the prime of your career and your time is limited. Also, you do not meet people like when you were younger. I am lucky enough that I can still easily form a group from folks who I have known for a long time but can you imagine a 50 year old sitting down to a table with a college kid?

Judging by some of the comments I have seen, the college kid would not go for it and there is not a lot in common there.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Long time fan of D&D (Started in 1981) and I don't feel marginalized in any way. Do the new games have a different feel and aim at slightly different things? Sure. But... I'm glad it's not stagnant. When I want to relive the games of my childhood, I just play those games.

I spend a lot of money on RPGs and I tend to give RPGs as gifts to those who I think will like them.

 

[Meech17]

I'm a younger millennial, I'll be turning 32 this year.

I feel for you older players who feel disenfranchised. Like @Belen who had to struggle in an era where where you'd get bullied for liking D&D. I never experienced that. I went to a high school where I was friends with some of the more popular kids in school because they were in the marching band with me. In the late 2000's to early 2010's being nerdy was cool. I constantly had a rotating cast of kids coming to my house to play D&D. We used to play in the lunch room at school.

I feel for the gamers like @AstroCat who feel as though they are actively being pushed out of the game by the company who makes it. It does often feel like art direction and design choices are made with my generation in mind.

On the flip side however, the "Old Guard" hasn't always been the most welcoming bunch. There's been a lot of gatekeeping.

Thankfully there are plenty of gamers out there like @bloodtide who while apprehensive at first was willing to look past their biases and take on a gaggle of teen girls, and ended up having a good time and cultivating a new crop of life long gamers. I've had so many female friends and acquaintances have horror stories about trying to play D&D and being subjected to the grossest stuff.

Or @Warpiglet-7 who didn't turn their nose up at their kids for wanting to play a goblin, or a... fruit thing.. This has been such a contentious point between generations. To some people it's still controversial that Tieflings became a player race. I've been at tables where someone wanted to play something that's really not even than weird.. Like a goblin or a kobold, and they were met with an attitude akin to: "No. You'll play a human, a dwarf, or an elf, and you'll like it.. And you should consider yourself lucky you get that many options. Back in my day you'd get penalized with a level cap for wanting to be something weird."

What it comes down to is that I think younger gamers and older gamers are two pillars of this hobby, and both are required. One may not feel like it needs the other, but ultimately they both hold the weight. I'm glad that WOTC seems to be trying to cast a wide net with this revision, and hopefully it can facilitate more bridging of generational gaps.

 

[Umbran]

So what is my point? My point is that the value of the longer term and older player is often underestimated by the typical poster/self-designated pundit.

And if I had clear data supporting this, I bet some of the same folks might be uncomfortable with the notion and try harder to justify the belief that older/longer term gamers are not a disproportionate part of the game’s success considering “individual to individual.”

"I don't actually have data supporting my assertion, but if I had it, some of you would be uncomfortable..."

But 1) you don't have it, and 2) being hypothetically uncomfortable with hypothetical data sounds like building a negative picture of folks who disagree with you based on your own preferred narrative, for purposes of dismissing them. How about you not try to accuse folks of things they haven't done in response to stuff you don't even have, hm?