What year did you start playing roleplaying games?

[Malakor]

Started when I was in the Navy in 1980. . . My ladyfriend at the time was out of town on business, and I was planning on staying on base and reading. My friends had been telling me about the AD&D game they were playing for some time and my response had always been 'that sounds silly',

That weekend, however, I decided to give it a shot and had a blast. Have played on a pretty regular basis ever since and have played a wide variety of systems.

I'm currently looking forward to my grandkids getting old enough in a few more years (oldest is 3 now) to where I can start teaching them to play

[rust]

I suspect the entire hobby is an aging demographic, regardless of the game.

I am beginning to doubt this, because the first 10 answers to the poll over on

Fundus Ludi seem to show a different trend:

1974 – 1980: 2

1981 – 1985: 2

1986 – 1990: 0

1991 – 1995: 3

1996 – 2000: 2

2001 – 2005: 1

2006 – 2010: 0

Edit.:

Yep, the trend continues and becomes more solid. The majority of the roleplaying

gamers on Fundus Ludi began playing when BRP was unavailable as a system, so

there are almost no BRP players among them (in contrast to players of BRP "clo-

nes" like CoC), but there is no sign of a general "aging" of the community.

1974 – 1980: 2

1981 – 1985: 4

1986 – 1990: 3

1991 – 1995: 8

1996 – 2000: 7

2001 – 2005: 3

2006 – 2010: 0

Edited February 3, 2010 by rust

[sdavies2720]

Yeah, the second one. I think it goes with BRP basically being the return of an RPG system that sort of faded into obscurity years ago. Since nothing has come out for RQ in decades, it's not surprising that the fan base here is older.

My hypothesis is the people on this site played RQ and were waiting for BRP to update it. Thus the last big group started playing around when RQ was last published.

If we repeat this poll next year, it would be interesting to see if BRP begins to attract younger gamers. Does anyone know if Mongoose has done a similar poll for MRQ?

Steve

[Trifletraxor]

I'm maybe not the youngest anymore! Another one joined me in the 1996-2000 group! Yay!

But online gaming is taking its toll. My group recently lost a member to WoW. We probably won't see him back at the table before he's gained 20 kg and start to miss RL human companions.

SGL.

[threedeesix]

I'm maybe not the youngest anymore! Another one joined me in the 1996-2000 group! Yay!

But online gaming is taking its toll. My group recently lost a member to WoW. We probably won't see him back at the table before he's gained 20 kg and start to miss RL human companions.

SGL.

Lost a member to Chaosium's Worlds of Wonder? How awesome.

Rod

[DMK]

Started in 1979.

I was...lessee...2 at the time.

No, really...

[Enpeze]

Rules have grown greatly over the years. In the 80s when I really did most of my gaming most games were 128 pages or less, the largest typical game was possibly 256 pages or a boxed set with 2 or 3 books but much of the added pages were supplemental, not rules. There was less investment in cash or time to learn the rules. You could buy a new game, read it on the bus ride home and start a game that weekend.

The current trend seems to be toward massive tomes of rules, covering every little detail. I look at HERO as a perfect example, Champions was a 128 page book, the 3rd edition genres (DI, FH, JI) were 256 page books.

HERO 5th ed was 500 some odd pages, and HERO 6th is 2 books of 300 or so pages (maybe larger? I believe I've seen total page count is 700+). Not a lot of new rules so much as a bloated very detailed explaination of every rule. HERO is not unique in this, just one of the more extreme examples I know of.

A game system has become a major investment in time and cash, so I can understand why the 80's gamer who would buy and play several games ayear, has changed to a more conservative pick a game and stick with it style of play.

Well lets see, how many pages has the new BRP book?

To my genesis: I began 83 with the german game Midgard. Then I found RQ, in 87, used it as system for every thinkable genre and stuck to it till 2005 (with some interruptions). Then I found Savage Worlds and this is now the system of my choice. But I have fond memories to BRP/RQ of course and still love it.

[threedeesix]

Then I found Savage Worlds and this is now the system of my choice. But I have fond memories to BRP/RQ of course and still love it.

I too love Savage Worlds, I have tons of stuff for it, however most in PDF. I do have the "Explorers Edition" in hard copy and I'm amazed how much they managed to squeeze into that little $10.00 book.

Rod

[Byron Alexander]

I think I started 91-95, but honestly I could have been 8 or younger and fall into the 86-90 category. Yes, I wasn't even born in the 70s! Does that make me a young upstart since I've written a BRP monograph?

I can see what a lot of people mean about RQ. I've never played it, never had the chance to play it. CoC got me into BRP and it was the lure of those rules as a catch-all (and the fact that while I like GURPS as a concept I find it a bit... heavy) that drew me in. If most of its starting fans are coming from RQ then they are going to be older.

I do have another idea about our high-experience threshold, though. This board is largely frequented by hardcore D100-system fans who have had a long time in gaming and decided, "this is the system for me" and people who are writing/have written monographs (obviously, there's overlap there... a lot). I've no problem with that demographic - I like that on this board I'm talking to people who are also keen on expanding what is an awesome system - but I suspect it will tend towards older members.

[Enpeze]

Yes it is absolutely phantastic how Pinnacle could make a roleplaying game with just 80 pages and included full rules for vehicles, chases, Scifi, horror and tactical combat. there is no blathering around. SW is minimalistic and mature. Other rulesets are not able to deliver the completeness of Savage Worlds despite having 400 pages or more. And SWEX is available just for 10 bucks!

But enough of my praises, sorry for the threadjacking.

[Bygoneyrs]

Enpeze...your pic icon is a Pitbull with human dentures? Cute!!!

Penn