Male, aged 36, have been playing RPGs for 26 years. Started on BX/BECMI D&D/AD&D 1st Ed. I have played dozens of RPGs. Some of my favorites (beside Pathfinder) include: TSR's Indiana Jones, TMNT, Top Secret S/I, FASA's Star Trek, Toon, WEG's Paranoia, Savage Worlds, and Star Wars (both WEG & SAGA).
I have never served in a military, though my father and uncle did. Many of my friends who play RPGs have served and did play while in the service.
I'm 40, been playing since my 8th birthday. I got the Red Box at a flea market and have had a blast ever since. I grew up in a military family and served in the Army myself but I have since left that life. Oh, and I'm a dude.
I don't think that military people are necessarily more attracted to RPGs (role playing games, not rocket propelled launchers). They tend to like games where everyone is involved and the game is easy to start and stop. When I was in, we played a lot of Spades and role playing games. We kept the books to a minimum so we had room for our gear.
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Age 36, no military
My mother bought the Red Box for me as a gift when I was 8, realized it was a little advanced for an 8 year old, and threw it in the closet.
I came across it and was so fascinated by the cover that I damn well worked my way through it until I figured it out (or at least figured out enough to make up my own version of it).
I played that by myself until about 1986 when I convinced a friend or two be my victims. That lasted another year or two (this seniors mind gets a little hazy) until a friend bought the 2nd ed book, decided he didn't like DM'ing, and gave it to me. I ran 2nd ed through high school maybe once a month or so. When I got to college I started running three times a week until 3E.
By that point I had such an extensive gaming collection, I wouldn't have made the switch to 3rd if a flood hadn't rampaged through my basement my senior year of college and destroyed *everything*.
I've now settled into about once a week with PFRPG and a two-hour at a clip Mutants and Masterminds game on Wednesdays.
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44 no military. I've been playing since like 1979. I started with the Basic boxed set of D&D with the dragon and archer on the cover. I play about twice a week, sometimes 3.5e, 4e but mostly Pathfinder.
I'm active in our local PFS group and I've DM'd PFS three times (multiple sessions) at GenCon.
Mike
Male, 40+/-, playing since ca. 1980 (1e, 2e, Basic/Expert, Fantasy Wargaming, Traveler, Star Frontiers, Top Secret, Boot Hill, James Bond 007, Amber Diceless, 3.5/PF and now "Kirthfinder," etc.). Briefly Army, until they earnestly advised me to find a new career path.
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Short answers:
Male, 31, served in the Marine Corps [Air Traffic Controller], started *I think* when I was 14 or 15 with AD&D 2nd Edition. First book was the Monster Manual, and I had the thing memorized before I ever picked up dice. Went reluctantly to 3rd when it launched, and eagerly to Pathfinder as soon as it was announced.
I run a weekly game during the late Winter / Spring, since I live in a showbiz-tourist town [Branson, MO], and folks are generally more available during the off-season. I'm playing in 2 rotating online games using Ventrillo & rpTools. The online games are made up of old military buddies [Sailors and Marines plus one wife].
Of course, with the launch of SWTOR, our gaming has taken a short break for the holidays. We'll be back to regular sword-swinging once the newness has worn off the lightsabers.
Male. Just turned 40 a few weeks ago here.
First played D&D (a hybrid 1981 B/X, AD&D 1E PHB based game) in summer 1983 when a neighbor across the street from us at our summer place ran X2 Castle Amber for his brother, my brother, myself, a friend from home and a friend from down the street there. Friend from home started DMing for my brother and I after school that fall in a campaign that included B2, B3, B4 and ended with X1.
My early game purchases were X5 Temple of Death, World of Greyhawk boxed set and the 1983 BECMI basic and expert boxes.
I've played a lot of all of the D&D editions except fourth (especially AD&D 2E and 3.5), but that's been due to life and not a dislike of the system or lack of interest. Haven't had a regular weekly game in five years.
First played Pathfinder this past summer 2011 when I converted (loosely) Death in Freeport to PF rules and ran it for PF PCs.
L
Male. Just turned 40 a few weeks ago here.
First played D&D (a hybrid 1981 B/X, AD&D 1E PHB based game) in summer 1983 when a neighbor across the street from us at our summer place ran X2 Castle Amber for his brother, my brother, myself, a friend from home and a friend from down the street there. Friend from home started DMing for my brother and I after school that fall in a campaign that included B2, B3, B4 and ended with X1.
My early game purchases were X5 Temple of Death, World of Greyhawk boxed set and the 1983 BECMI basic and expert boxes.
I've played a lot of all of the D&D editions except fourth (especially AD&D 2E and 3.5), but that's been due to life and not a dislike of the system or lack of interest. Haven't had a regular weekly game in five years.
First played Pathfinder this past summer 2011 when I converted (loosely) Death in Freeport to PF rules and ran it for PF PCs.
L
Also, no military service here.
female, and a bazzilion, or six months short of 30.
Started gaming with my collegiate homebros about... uh... 10 years ago. Dove right into 3.5 making social bards and I could not RP for crap! Haha. Always too anxious that I would get things wrong in the game. All my homies had played 2nd Edition for years and knew what they were doing, I was still getting lost looking at my character sheets. And of course, they had access to all the books (oh, the years before SRDs) and spent hours OOC talking about how they would power build their characters.
Have been playing PF for... umm, a few years now. Hardly an expert, but I roleplay for beans! Or peanuts. mmmmm, sometimes I'd roleplay for a good beer, or some tequila.
Played ummm, the WotC newest edition once. Can't say I liked it.
Other games I've played: d20 modern (zombie apocalypse stuff before AFMBE), and... yeah, that's it. hehe.
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Yes I'm quoting myself, but it was already getting some responses, so I didn't want it rolled off the page.
You should post the results once a day or so.
So far looks overwhelming like male, no military service, and 30+ age.
Sounds like a good idea.
I'm capped at about 100 responses because I have a trial account. So I will post when I'm full, and about once a day.
41 year old manchild, playing since I was 11 with the Red Box all the way through 1st ed to 4th ed., moved to Pathfinder when 4th changed. Never in the military but gamed with one that was, GM and Play GURPS, Pathfinder, 3.5. Play Exalted on occasion,TMNT, RIFTS, Star Frontiers, Battletech, Marvel Superheroes (GM'd too).
Currently building a campaign world in Pathfinder based on my 3.5 session.
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42, no military (partly due to being a long-haired, freaky type from high school on, partly from hanging out with guys from the 82nd Airborne during high school who came to my home town for the punk scene back in the day and hearing how about half of them really did not like being in the military), been playing since '76/'77 when my dad bought the original small box set for my brother and I because it was "an imagination game" ... yes I was in the 8-9 age range and my brother was 7-8. Of course, we had both read through the Hobbit by then as well, so I guess RPGs really were inevitable. ;)
30 male, no military.
Been playing D&D specifically since I was 15 (1997).
I had played a number of other RPGs before that, especially Palladium system, TMNT.
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Survey Monkey Gamer Demographics Survey
As of today their have been 22 total respondents:
92% male
8% female
Current Ages Break Down as Follows (omitted brackets were 0%):
9.1%: 18 - 21
9.1%: 21-29
40.9%: 30-39
36.4%: 40-49
4.5%: >60
Age when they started gaming (omitted brackets were 0%):
36.4%: <10
54.5%: 11-17
4.5%: 18-20
4.5%: 50-59
Military Service:
40.1% Yes
59.9% no
I'm a guy, 18, started playing around 15, though my first game of D&D wasn't until 16 (I started by GMing Star Wars Saga Edition). Not in the military and I don't plan on going into it.
I'm a man, just turned 27, and started playing roleplaying games proper in 1996 with AD&D 2e, so that's about 15 years. Started DMing in 1998. I still play with the same group I did back then.
Never been in the military, though I am a volunteer firefighter if that counts for anything.
I'm male, just about to turn 28. Not a military guy. Been playing for almost 14 years. Started with AD&D 2e, then onto 3rd and 3.5. Played 4e for the first couple years it was out, became disenfranchised, and have been a devout follower of everything Paizo/Pathfinder since summer 2010.
41. Started with the Moldvay basic box 30 years ago, moved on the same year to AD&D, because that's what the other kids were playing (plus, I realized that some of my modules were AD&D, anyway).
GIT.OFF.MY.LAWN.
Female; 60 (as of last month), Retired military - Army (active & reserve). Started playing while stationed in Germany.
First game I saw/read the rules for was Space Opera; never could get anyone to play it, I mostly got it for the planet generating rules.
I started with Fantasy Trip, but did play in a Slave Lords tournament on post at the time.
Since then:
all versions but the orginal of D&D
We've also tried many of the d20 subsystems (modern, star wars) but usually return to the standard d20 stuff.
Champions (before it became Hero System), then the Hero system variants
Gurps
When 3.0 came out we tried that and liked it, upgraded to 3.5, then when 4th came out tried it but didn't like it and now play Pathfinder exclusively.
I am 42 nearly 43, been playing D&D since I was 10 (red box basic set), male, never been in the military
32, never served, played off and on for 9 years. I actually began gaming as a result of a combination of playing video games and being a Star Trek fan. My favorite games on the NES were Final Fantasy and the Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest games, but the most influential game was Final Fantasy Legend II, a.k.a. Saga II, for the Game Boy. It made me interested in creating my own fantastic and diverse worlds to play in (and it's probably why I have no problem with monstrous or even robotic PCs). Since I'm a big Star Trek fan, I had collected many of the FASA Star Trek RPG books, being some of the earliest major sources of information, even if the information in no longer canonical. Eventually, I started looking at the mechanics of the game in the books and eventually moved to D&D 3.5 to try making games more like Final Fantasy Legend II, and it snowballed from there.
Male, 44, US Army infantry NCO '85-'89 plus Reserve deployment for the first Gulf War, Started playing in '79.
male, 31, US Army Airborne 05-09 active duty, deployed to iraq 08-09,
playing DnD since 94, started with
AD&D
Rifts
Shadowrun
Palladium
Werewolf
Vampire
Mage (loved this)
3.0
3.5
WFRPG
dark heresy
Deathwatch
pathfinder
an indy-made rpg Demon's lair (very interesting....im gonna look and see if i still have the info on it)
star wars (d20)
i could go on...but i must work.
male, 36, playing 18 years, german, no military
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I am a 43 year old male who has never served in the military. I started playing DnD over 35 years ago with the TSR White and Blue softback. I still have it. It is very tattered (well-loved) but I take it out and show it occasionally to my new players. Most of whom are younger then that book by about a decade :)
Since then I have worked and played with pretty much every system out there to some degree. I would list them but I suspect I would hit a character limit for this post. Took a break from RPG's a few years ago when my employer at the time (WotC) took my favorite IP in a direction I was, how shall I say this? NOT HAPPY WITH.
But fortunately along came along my own personal Jesus, Paizo Publishing.
Since they saved (IMO) tabletop gaming, I have inducted about 80 new players via word of mouth. I went so far as buying some of them copies of the core rules to win over the more diehard 2.0 and 3.5 vets. Not a single one has gone back as far as I know.
Of the groups I have played with I would say about 80% are male. My current group is six players with a 50/50 gender split. Of my current group, only one has any leanings toward military service. He has enlisted in the army and is awaiting shipping out to basic. The average age of my current group is 25. We have been playing weekly (and sometimes twice a week) with this group for about six months.
My previous group was built of six individuals (Two females, four males). I played with this group weekly for about 8 years. None of the members had a military history. The starting age range of players varied a bit more (28-35). It was fun watching the group get a bit of grey as we got towards the end of the group's run. Hopefully that didn't have anything to do with my skills as a GM. :)
I am always looking to connect with more gamers. Particularly since I recently relocated to a new town (Port Angeles, Washington). So if you live in the area, send me a message. :)
I asked because there seem to be a lot of military people here. Less than one percent of the Western population serves, yet many more than that have posted in this thread, which confirms my suspicion that many RPG fans are somehow attracted to the military.
I wouldn't "confirm" anything just yet. In my experience, it could very well be the other way around.
Way back before Jr. High, when I began playing, it was pretty clear which kids came from military backgrounds (Dad and his brothers had served, or were still serving). Many of those kids already looked forward to serving themselves. My buddy Bob and his two brothers spring to mind, and I could name three other kids (only one of which went on to actually serve after High School).
All of those kids were military-minded before they started playing. Which could easily be used to argue the opposite of your conclusion: that military-minded people are attracted to RPGs.
In fact, most of my current group are pretty pacifist and at least one of them tends towards hostility toward government organizations, including the military. Not a one of them have served. Neither have I, though my father and two of my grandfathers did. I never wanted to join the military, but I also have a deep respect for those who do, and I enjoy studying the history of battles, famous generals, evolution of weapons, etc., despite the fact that I am pretty mellow myself (I wouldn't call myself a pacifist, but I definitely don't fall into the category of a fightin' dude - in real life, that is).
Anyway, my point is, a ton of study would be required to come to any conclusions in this matter, other than the obvious, which is that a substantial proportion of gamers-to-non-gamers has military experience, or more accurately, a larger proportion of military-experienced gamers is more vocal about their experience. But what it means is still far away from "proven."
I'm 40, and began roleplaying at age 8 in 1979 with a friend and his older brother. I cannot recall which version of D&D this was, and I only played a couple times. After that, here's a timeline
1981-1983: Basic/Expert D&D - I DM'd this for friends at school
1984-1985: AD&D played with a group at a local restaurant near my dad's business after school. Played sporadically.
1985-1989: AD&D played with a core group on weekends through all of high school. Multiple campaigns, rarely missed a weekend. We played 2nd edition when it came out.
1989-1993: College Years. We played Dark Sun for a year, but outside of that, No D&D at all.
1993-1999: Post-college. During this time we played 2nd edition fairly heavily, with a core of the old high school group plus some others. D&D was the focus of the group, but we were playing other games heavily here, too.
1999-2008: No D&D played, at all. 3rd edition soured all of us on D&D completely and we stopped playing it at all. Magic the Gathering, Warhammer Fantasy/40K, and Euro board games were the focus,with those games taking roleplaying completely out of the picture by 2002.
2008-2009: Played a 4th edition campaign with friends, liked it a lot.
2009-Present: Joined a Pathfinder group. Have played Pathfinder on an 'every other week - mostly' basis since.
During high school we interspersed our D&D play with a lot of Marvel Super Heroes, a couple forays into Top Secret, 007, Star Frontiers, Gamma World, and also played a fair bit of Battletech, CarWars, Star Fleet Battles, and even TMNT.
College was a dearth of D&D, but tons of roleplaying... Bushido, Traveller, Rolemaster, Palladium Fantasy, GURPS, Cyberpunk, Robotech, Shadowrun, and innumerable one-shots
Post college had regular D&D, but our big game was Vampire: the Masquerade, with abortive forays into Werewolf, Mage, Changeling and etc. There was also a brief Cyberpunk 2020 game during this time. Once 3rd edition AD&D came out, we dropped ALL D&D roleplaying, played Rifts briefly, but then found and stuck with Vampire exclusively until those groups broke up.
Male, 37. Never in the military.
Played D&D a few times when I was in elementary school (probably somewhere around '85, not sure exactly when or which version) with a kid down the street. Never really got into it then.
Played the board game HeroQuest (still have it, though it is a bit battered and the gargoyle miniature is long gone) occasional during my freshman year ('93-'94) in college with some buddies.
Played AD&D and Star Wars with some folks from my dorm floor when I moved back in ('96-'97, former roommate got married so I decide to move back to the dorms).
Graduated, moved away, moved back, and got together with some of the guys I knew from the dorms (and later roomed together off campus). And started playing 3ed in 2002 and fell in love with D&D finally. I really disliked a lot of things in the older versions, which is why I never really got totally into it. But 3ed was what I thought D&D should have been the entire time.
When 3.5 came out, the group switched over to it with no problem (only 2 or 3 people out of 7 people actually had PHB at that time). And never looked back. I started DMing in 2003 and have been doing it consistently since. Most of the time, 2 times a week for 2 different groups (so though I've been only gaming consistently for 9 years, it is almost equivalent to 18 years for others). During that period, we did play some Star Wars Saga, though not much since I prefer to play in those games and most of the other people don't want to DM.
Didn't pick up 4e, though did play it at a con, and it was ok. Did get a couple of the board games related to it.
Just started to play in a PF game about a month and half again. I'm not overly impressed (enough to give up 3.5 permanently), but it is fine. The funny thing is, a couple of people (who have been playing PF for sometime) I game with think they know how the rules work. When I correct them with actual passages from the PF core book, they always say, "Hmm, that must have been something they changed from 3.5." I always bite my tongue because it just shows they didn't know how to play 3.5 either, since the rule is usually the same in 3.5.
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Survey Monkey Gamer Demographics Survey
As of today their have been 38 total respondents:
92.1% male
7.9% female
Current Ages Break Down as Follows (omitted brackets were 0%):
0%: < 10
2.6%: 11-17
7.9%: 18 - 21
21.1%: 21-29
34.2%: 30-39
31.6%: 40-49
2.6%: >60
Age when they started gaming (omitted brackets were 0%):
34.2%: <10
55.3%: 11-17
5.3%: 18-20
2.6%: 21-29
2.6%: 50-59
Military Service:
26.3% Yes
73.7% no
I'm 42. I've been playing since 1989 when 2e came out. Joined the service in '87 but was medically discharged soon after.
25, I've been playing for about a decade. I got in just before 3.5.
Just turned 41. Female. Never military. Been playing pretty much D&D exclusively (different formats) since 1984. Introduced to the D&D Red Box and fell in love with it. Lost interest in the 90s when TSR seemed to falter. Came back for Planescape and stuck around to 3.0, 3.5, and now Pathfinder. We don't get to game very often, though.
Answered the survey, so please don't include me.
Male, 37, never served, been playing since about 86. 1,2,3,3.5 and finally Pathfinder. I have played star wars, gurps, robotech, old WOD, new WoD, Hero system, warhammer & 40K, The Storm Bringer RPG, Shadow Run, L5R, Alternity, Trinity(I think it ended up being renamed), Earthdawn. I have play tested a few home brewed systems/settings and am creating a new system and setting. I am sure there are a few more I just can't remember them all.
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I'm 27, male, and civilian.
I've *wanted* to play RPGs for a real long time, but I first started actually playing just a couple years ago with a little bit of 3.5, then a few games of Call of Cthulhu and a homebrew based on it.
Now with Pathfinder I've got my first actual, regular games going!
And I already answered the survey, so don't double-count me.
One thing I would add is that the demographics of these boards are not necessarily the same as the demographics for all Pathfinder players.
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1. I am 48 (Just turned a little over a month ago)
2. I started playing when I was 15 years old. I was in my sophomore year in high school and a boy in my class had Shrine of Koa-Toa and I started to ask about it. From there I was hooked
3.) I've played 1st through 3.5 then onto PF a few years ago with my game group. Plus most every other game TSR came out with (Boot hill, Gamma World, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Marvel Super heroes) And many other RPG's
4. Female
5. I served in the Army right out of high school and hated every minute of it.
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I am a Male
39 years young
I am a Scorpio. (oops sorry)
I started playing Dungeons and Dragons with the AD&D and then my cousins got the red Box and in turn I got the Red Box as well. My parents thought the Advanced version was just that and I should see if I liked it before going to the advanced version. I promptly felt that because I could not have it right away I wanted the Advanced version. From there I stayed with D&D through High School creating my own campaign world. When I arrived in college I did not play for about year. Too busy with fraternities, wrestling, beer and women. Once I figured out I could do all I found a group to GM with 2nd edition. Left college kept up with my 2nd edition mixed in with 1st edition stuff. Then got invovled with a group from work who played 3rd edition. Got involved in 2 gaming groups and running one for 3.5. From there I doubled an already large collection of D&D "stuff" which is why I never switched to 4th edition too much effort to transfer all of my notes and stats I created for my own world. I was a subscriber to Dungeon and Dragon which then got me onto Pathfinder and I have been a fan ever since.
I have not served in the Military but I selling (market) medical devices to them.
I have also worked extensively with military and governement in different capacities having held a security clearance at one time for work.
Hey,...you can't ask age, that's not fair!
Well okay, I'm a 41 yr old male goth who lives in his mother's basement.
Only joking about the goth and basement stuff, but I am 41 and have been playing since 81' -Keep on the Borderlands! Boo-yah!
I'm male, 27, and I've never served. I started playing about four years back with shadowrun, and then 3.5 and M&M, Star Wars Saga, and PF. I'm fairly new to roleplaying, and most of my experience is as DM, but I sell short stories on the side so I guess it was a smoother transition for me than most.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16
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34, proud US Paratrooper, been playing since I was 12 or so. I got started in RPGs with Palladium's Robotech, then TMNT, then other Palladium games, James Bond, 2nd Ed. AD&D, GURPS, d6 Star Wars, 3.0/3.5, d20 Modern, OWoD, Shadowrun, Paranoia, Mutants & Masterminds, d20 and Saga Star Wars--most of which no more than a smattering of play. My main games coming up as a roleplayer and GM were 2nd Ed. AD&D, GURPS, and 3.0/3.5. I got into Paizo when I picked up the very last issues of Dragon and Dungeon at a PX in Afghanistan. When I came back stateside, I ran STAP and have been a devoted Paizo fan ever since.
This thread's been a fun read. :)
34, male, no military.
Started playing in the mid 90's. Played D&D almost exclusively. AD&D 2nd ed, 3rd Ed, 3.5, 4e, and now PF.
I play in a 4e group and DM a PF group.
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Survey Monkey Gamer Demographics Survey
As of today their have been 4x7 total respondents:
91.5% male
8.5% female
Current Ages Break Down as Follows (omitted brackets were 0%):
0%: < 10
2.1%: 11-17
6.4%: 18 - 21
19.1%: 21-29
38.3%: 30-39
31.9%: 40-49
2.1%: >60
Age when they started gaming (omitted brackets were 0%):
34.0%: <10
53.2%: 11-17
4.3%: 18-20
6.2%: 21-29
2.1%: 50-59
Military Service:
23.4% Yes
76.6% no
30, male, not military, and can remember reading through my big brother's 1st Ed. Monster Manual when I was about 6 years old. I developed sufficient attention span to actually play D&D around 10 years old. I joined my current gaming group about 12 years ago.