I like the release of actual sales figures for the Starter Set. 126,000 in North America in 2014 (from the July release); 306,000 in North America in 2018. I wonder what we can extrapolate from that!
This attitude is pernicious and wrong. The main reason that players don't want to DM is because they don't find DMing to be fun. Us weirdos who like to run the game, coming up with dozens of characters and plots, losing hundreds of battles, and generally having to play second fiddle to the "stars" of the game are the strange ones. It's like the difference between being an actor and a director - neither one is lazier than the other, they each get fulfillment from different parts of the creative process.
(And there are those who enjoy both. I rarely get to play the game anymore - once a year or so when I'm at a con - because I DM all the time. It's a different experience playing vs. DMing, and frankly even though I like playing, I prefer DMing. That doesn't make me better than my players, it just makes me someone who gets more enjoyment from running the game than they do.)
This attitude is pernicious and wrong. The main reason that players don't want to DM is because they don't find DMing to be fun. Us weirdos who like to run the game, coming up with dozens of characters and plots, losing hundreds of battles, and generally having to play second fiddle to the "stars" of the game are the strange ones. It's like the difference between being an actor and a director - neither one is lazier than the other, they each get fulfillment from different parts of the creative process. (snip)
That's kind of 2E. 2E is way easier to understand for modern players. They also seem to like the art last week I took the 2E phb 1989 and 1995 along with the Druids hand book in. Encounter design and pacing are way easier in the OSR games as well.
It's because everything is daily whileicing short rest and long rest classes in 5E makes things a bit harder along with hit point inflation and damage inflation.
It's not red box figures but it's not to far off.
Not even close, sorry.
Tim Kask asked Jim Ward in 2011:
[FONT="] Frank's Red Box set was selling 100K copies per quarter, just in the US. Both the German and the Japanese editions of the Red Box matched those numbers for several years, plus the other 8 or 9 language editions were also being sold at that time. There are significant numbers of Europeans that see Frank as the father of role-playing because it was his name on the game they learned to play. (He clarified that at this year's RopeCon in Finland.)[/FONT]
[FONT="]So, if we assume those numbers for just three years, that means 1.2 million US, 1.2 million Japan and Germany, and then all of the rest will probably account for another 500 or 600K. That makes roughly 3 million [/FONT][FONT="]just for those three years[/FONT][FONT="].[/FONT]
Being a DM requires none of the things you listed.
All one needs to be a DM is to be able to provide an interesting environment for players to explore. It doesn't have to be grand plot lines and stories. All one needs is a dungeon and some monsters and some traps and some treasure.
If one can do this, they can DM.
Pernicious, eh?
Players are fundamentally lazier than DMs. There is far less work to do as a player. There are fewer responsibilities, especially between sessions. Nevertheless, they're still a necessary component of the game and thus have value. (And as a DM-for-life, I'm glad they're lazy. )
There's more people wanting to play than there has been in a very long time, and DMing is not exactly easy nor quick to pick up - especially to a level that you might expect from viewing streaming examples of play.
They didn't sustain sales for three years, 1983 was the peak with big increases 81 to 83 and a 30%drop 1984.
Most estimate put it in the 1million to 1.5 million range. No one really knows 100%.