"The OSR is a tiny niche. The main bulk of its followers largely middle-aged and not getting any younger."
So says one of my valued commenters, and this brings me back to something I've been pondering (and meaning to post on) for some time.
Who is the OSR precisely? The quote heading up this entry very well sums up the common understanding: We are "largely middle-aged and not getting any younger."
I myself am 31 years old. I consider myself to be in the prime of my life; Not a young man, but significantly short of middle age.
Has there been any comprehensive systematic effort to really quantify the demographics of the OSR? If not, how could this be accomplished?
3 hours ago
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Has there been any comprehensive systematic effort to really quantify the demographics of the OSR?
ReplyDeleteIf there has I haven't come across it, although the subject of age does occasionally come up on the forums. From that it seems to me that most are between their mid-30's to mid-40's. But since the rise in popularity of blogging, there are definitely more and more younger players, many who began with 2e or 3e, now sharing the OSR love.
Oh and make sure you make the most of your 30's Will, they whiz past real fast. And don't believe that line 'life begins at 40' - that's when things start to fall apart. :)
Damn blogger. My big post was eaten. I don't have the heart to retype, so here's the short version:
ReplyDelete* number of people consciously active in the OSR: somewhere in the 100s
* this number is exceeded by the number of people playing some form of TSR A/D&D, and...
* both numbers are exceeded by the number of people playing C&C
(I think)
"* this number is exceeded by the number of people playing some form of TSR A/D&D, and...
ReplyDelete* both numbers are exceeded by the number of people playing C&C"
Here, I must say I'm skeptical. In fact, I plan to post fairly soon about the issue of the supposed "invisible OSR": D&D and AD&D enthusiasts who never stopped playing the TSR games, yet aren't a presence on the well-known RPG message boards and blogs.
Frankly, my hunch is that there's a whole lot of them out there.
AD&D enthusiasts who never stopped playing the TSR games, yet aren't a presence on the well-known RPG message boards and blogs.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, my hunch is that there's a whole lot of them out there.
I suspect you're right. Of all the people I've gamed with over the years, involving at least 5 different groups, I'm the only one I'm aware of that bothers with the internet.
I suspect you're right. Of all the people I've gamed with over the years, involving at least 5 different groups, I'm the only one I'm aware of that bothers with the internet.
ReplyDeleteSame here. I'm in Delaware, and know of at least three AD&D 1e groups/campaigns out there with at least 4 players each (including DMs) who don't frequent the forums or blogs. On the rare occasions that I've casually suggested to some of these folks they ought to check out some of the stuff going down online, their responses have always been some variation on, "Why would I want to do that? I have everything I need right here." (pointing to bookshelves overflowing with A/D&D products published before 1990.
All of the people in this category that I know are between 35 and 45 years old (with most grouped around the ages of 39/40), stopped buying RPG products with or shortly after the advent of AD&D 2e, and have continued playing (mostly) AD&D 1e, though for the most part house-ruled out the wazoo.
FWIW.
I think the problem is there probably are a lot of the OSR "crowd" that don't even suspect they are part of the OSR crowd. I sometime assume people are as net savvy as me but in reality there is a whole demo of people who have no idea that anything has been going on out in Netspace for the past 20 years or so.
ReplyDeleteAnd Will I do think you graph towards the young side of the OSR crowd...you were born the year I rolled up my first character! So I would suspect I have a lot more of my high school/college contemporaries out there rediscovering their 1E or OD&D roots than you do.
But all that aside I would be intrigued to see an actual quantification of the OSR movement, if one could be accomplished.
I'm skeptical about Geoffrey's statements too. I agree with Will's hunch, and am persuaded there are zillions of fans playing old-school AD&D and other vintage games out there who have no idea what "OSR" or "Dragonsfoot" are supposed to mean.
ReplyDeleteA buttload of them, if you pardon my French.