Hi there!
A friend of mine and I are just wondering what the average age of a Dungeon reader is.
I said between 28 and 31. I am 34 years old and play D&D since the age of 14!
So, how old are you ;) ???
22, 23 in six days ^^
Been playing...oh since I was about 13. Good old second ed D&D and the old D6 Star Wars. Good times.
This has given me an idea though: I know both Dragon and Dungeon magazines operate in a way where PG-13 content is perhaps the limit of what they'd accept. However, is there a chance of, on occasion, producing a release for a more adult audience similar to the Book of Vile Darkness? Perhaps a once a year additional magazine that is designed with a much darker content in mind?
Creative Director
|
At this time... adding a once a year additional magazine would cause one of the following:
1: Mass editor desertion.
2: Mass editor insanity.
3: Mass editor death.
4: All of the above.
On a more serious note, we do incorperate mature themes into adventures now and then; we just haven't been calling them out in the way we did for the sealed sections in Dungeon #95 or Dragon #300. We've got a Waterdeep adventure coming up that's about drug dealers, and the Age of Worms has some pretty grim sections in it (particularly in the Old Observatory section). Diamond Lake itself is pretty grim and gritty.
We probably won't be pushing much into the "R-rated" territory though in the near future. PG-13's as rough as it's gonna get. That said... there are some pretty rough PG-13 movies out there...
No Dungeon or Dragon Annual, featuring evil? Come one, chief. Your death is a small price to pay for such fun issues.
Age 38, been playing since 1980...mature content? No; because DM's that want that kind of thing can easily modify the adventure to be more "R" rated anyway. We don't want to give the anti-gamer community more ammunition by having some parent go crazy when they find an "adult" issue of Dungeon among their teenage kids' D&D collection.
Age 38, been playing since 1980...mature content? No; because DM's that want that kind of thing can easily modify the adventure to be more "R" rated anyway. We don't want to give the anti-gamer community more ammunition by having some parent go crazy when they find an "adult" issue of Dungeon among their teenage kids' D&D collection.
Well said.
29.
I'm 36 (37 in October), and have been playing since 1982 when a friend-of-a-friend introduced me and my friend to the Red Box. I don't remember what the adventure was about, but I do distinctly remembering the DM saying we couldn't pull arrows out of the bodies of the monsters we'd just defeated nor pick-up the ones that had missed. I remember thinking 'That's stupid!' And only 20 years later 3e came up with the 50% rule for arrows.
By-the-way, I think DUNGEON magazine is absolutely wonderful. I hadn't aways kept up with DnD, but I have been an avid reader for the last two years. I wish all businesses had the customer service and love of the product that the Dungeon staff seems to have. Great job everyone at Dungeon!!!
Eric Morgan
Atlanta, GA
I'm 30 and began playing at age 15 with 1st edition AD&D.
Rooster
At 36, my gaming history pretty closely matches Eric's (above). In '82 a Pommy year 10 student introduced some friends and me to the first edition AD&D rules (he had a soft-bound MM!) and the rest was history. Didn't get much gaming in after uni, but have slowly gotten back into it the last two or so years, after tripping over Dungeon again - The Porphory House Horror was the first new issue I read, and it just worked for me. I guess I need help!
Reggie
I'm just about 31. Been playing since around '84, I believe. Took a hiatus during the 90's, but my interest was reinvigorated with the release of 3rd edition. I've been a Dungeon subscriber for less than a year, but couldn't be more excited about the magazine and the staff and this GREAT online resource.
I'm 24, I've been gaming since age 10. I too took a break during university and picked it up again after 3rd edition came out.
Well, 12 almost 13. Yes, i am the DM of a group of 12 year olds and my 9 year old bro and Ive been playing scince 7, but sometimes I play an elf named Onrie at Greyhawk conventions.
Onrie--I envy you and your friends!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for bringing down our bellcurve a bit!
Well, 12 almost 13. Yes, i am the DM of a group of 12 year olds and my 9 year old bro and Ive been playing scince 7, but sometimes I play an elf named Onrie at Greyhawk conventions.
35, been playing since 1981..saw the weird books at the local toy store..finally decided to buy the red box set.
After reading the rules and the Keep on the Borderlands, I was hooked.
Bree Yark!
24
You really start feeling old when you have to think to remember your age.
33
Started playing D&D when I was 5. (OMG, 1977 was a great year!)
Didn't play from about 1988 until the beta test of 3rd edition.
|
Assuming I'm doing my math right, I'm 26. Have been since April.
I was born in '79, and I've been playing since I was quite young - probably first played in '85. The only break I took was my first year or so of college. I stopped playing with my high school friends, and it took me a while to miss it enough to get something started.
And when I left sunny California for the middle of Iowa, that was one of the best tools at my disposal to meet new people. Gotta say, I love gaming.
I'm another 36 yr old...(hmm, something in the water that year?) I also started in late '81-early '82 with the red box Basic game, with the awesome Bill Willingham art. Only one of our group had a set, so, I remember thinking at first that 'Saving Throws' were something you could buy and throw at your enemies...sad, LOL! We had to share those books, trading back and forth over the weekends, for almost six months till we all had copies...then someone else went to Kansas City and found the PHB, DMG, and MM. Grrrrrrrrr! Another whole set of books to get. We played pretty heavily until highschool was over. Luckily, I roomed with one gamer in college and we ended up starting a new group and played till about '90 or so, making our own version 1.5 with whatever we wanted to take from 2nd ed. (especially the wild mage and all the new magic items). I still read Dungeon through the 'dry' times, till the release of 3.0 and 3.5. Great Stuff!!! As mentioned above by another poster, I started with Dragon (the cool issue with the skeleton blocking the way into the mists...like #42?!?!?!?) I only bought the ones with the adventures (like The Two-Fold Talisman! Remember that one? Or the Ruins of Myth-Drannor) Man, we played through those about 10 times each. I also got the ones with the cool new classes...Archer, Anti-Paladin, Witch?? I think. Stopped collecting Dragon when Dungeon sprouted up...I don't own all of them, but eBay has filled in most of what I didn't get at the time. The thing I am still looking for is, I think, an issue or two of Polyhedron. There was a underground complex of some sort and one room had a statue of a humanoid with head raised to the ceiling in a shout with an open mouth and a nearby working fountain. We had to take water from the fountain and fill up the statues mouth to raise the secret door (a solid rock slab). The next room was super hot like an oven...does anyone else remember this adventure?
Simply had to reply to this thread... I'm 32, I've been playing since I started university and met my husband back in 1990. Of note, our oldest son started playing with us (as opposed to trying to hang out and watch) when he was about 11, he's now 13. He also tried DMing a game with some neighbourhood kids one summer, which he'd like to try again. So while adult themes can be fun, I've never met an adult that couldn't ad-lib it into an adventure where appropriate. But it would be a major drawback to have to self-censor or watch the gaming shelf and keep inappropriate content out of reach.
|
|
Just calculated the present average age so far :)
The result is 30.52! (KRIS being the last I counted)
I started RPGs with the RED BOX as well. I remember the first damage my first character (an elf) was dealt had been 5 points, more than half my hp. The monster was that carrion crawler which was lying below the broken down part of the double door to the castle (A mini adventure in the RED BOX).
Back then D&D was so much fun. Today its sometimes like a own science, which I feel bad about. Don't get me wrong - D&D rocks, but the early days, well - my early days had been a bit lighter...
Anyway - I can still remember vividly my visit at Castle Amber, man, what a rush of an adventure!!!
Yes, I remember the first time I played, it was Keep On The Borderlands DMd by my Dad. I acually remember little, just that I didnt play so smart. When i was a bit more mature, I did something like Escape From Igors Lair, a classic for all I know, and after a father son Greyhawk Convention weekend (Roundcon) I was a full fleged D and D geek.
Now I got kids my age playin with books and all, I even did Igors lair for them too. We now play 3.5 adventures from dungion and ones I made and have been playing for a happy 1 1/2 years!
Well, I'll be thirty-one this Friday, so it seems I hit that average fairly closely. Started playing at age five.
- Ashavan
34. Been playing since 79. The thing I've found when trying to get new players is that pretty much every guy who was between 10 and 16 in the 80s played at least once. Maybe now that the 80s are Retro, the game will boom again...
ASEO out
|
Onrie- Good to know that the torch is being passed AND I am very happy to hear that it was your dad that got you into it.
As to the question at hand... I'm 32 and started playing when I was 8 (with the Red Box/Keep set). One of my favorite memories is looking at the picture of the fighter doing the spasmotic dance from the bite of the tarantara spider. I just loved that and still use them occasionally.
Just calculated the present average age so far :)
The result is 30.52! (KRIS being the last I counted)
I started RPGs with the RED BOX as well. I remember the first damage my first character (an elf) was dealt had been 5 points, more than half my hp. The monster was that carrion crawler which was lying below the broken down part of the double door to the castle (A mini adventure in the RED BOX).
Back then D&D was so much fun. Today its sometimes like a own science, which I feel bad about. Don't get me wrong - D&D rocks, but the early days, well - my early days had been a bit lighter...
Anyway - I can still remember vividly my visit at Castle Amber, man, what a rush of an adventure!!!
I know what you mean about the enchanment and outright fun of first edition. Although back then the fights could sometimes be so nondescript you found yourself taking it to the living room to battle it out with plastic swords or a dice fight (WATCH THE FACE!) just to keep the dynamism up and thrumming.
Keep on the Borderlands was amazing, ah oh Castle D'Amberville! I played that from a beach towel atop a black gravelled apartment building roof with some friends in the beating summer sun, covered in sunscreen, rolling funny dice, and singing along to pop past its prime. I remember it as being one of very few perfect days.
Ah but there was a thread question wasn't there?
I've been subscribing since issue one (despite my inability to get Paizo to put Subscriber after my name even though the site program recognized my subscriptions to both D&D publications).
But for an accurate mean, even dastardly average: 37.
I started play at age 6 in 1974 with some college guys. Back in the days of the wood paneled box set. Hey, is that pre-first edition? :)
Then again, I'm a prodigal son. Although nostalgically continuing to purchase and read new and old D&D materials, as I've grown older the speed of my life geared up relentlessly and I haven't run a game in over fifteen years. Maybe I could have but I didn't see the opportunity.
Things are a bit more relaxed now and I'm really looking forward to diving back into gaming. I don't even care if there's water in the pool.
THWOCK!
::The grimace of a satisfied gamer trying to hold his jellified peanut brittle skull together by hand::
Wow, I don't feel so old now :-)
Wow, I don't feel so old now :-)
I'm so glad I could help, sonny. Now be a dear and get Grampa his listenin' horn.
At 19 years old, I guess I share the position with Onrie as one of the youngest subscribers to Dungeon. Sadly, I've never had the opportunity to actually play Dungeons & Dragons - but I guess reading all the books and Dungeon is ALMOST as fun. :)
38, playing since 1980.
I've still got Dungeon #1 sitting on my bookself, but I only became a regular collector after 3.0 was released.
Seems like (of the older folks) we all started playing around 1980.
:)
Rory Weston
For the readers in my household: I'm 31 and my wife is 29. We've both been playing since our High School days.
My 2 year old daughter likes to look through the magazine while she's on the training potty. She doesn't play yet. (Dice are choking hazards, man.)
Still trying to work out the whole "save vs. messy diaper" thing. A decent bag of holding or maybe even a small sphere of annihilation could help with the disposing of the remains.
I'm 38...Started playing in 1980 with the 1st Ed. books and Keep on The Borderlands, DM'ed by my brother. Started DMing in 1987 and haven't stopped since.
I recently passed the RPGA Herald GM Exam, but have never been to a single gaming convention...go figure.
Ad-Libbing modules up to R or NC-17 level happens all the time in my groups:
Ah, I am at a modest mere 26 years of age, soon to be 27 within a couple of weeks.
I have been playing D&D in all of its incarnations since my first year at York University. Started DM'ing 2 years later. Have not stopped since that first day that I decided to run a Council of Wyrms game, continuing with various campaigns that often caused me headaches from trying to figure out how to judge something that my players did was successful or not since 85% of the time it was not covered in any of the books.
OF course, my choices of running games did not stop at D&D...I've run Star Wars, Shadow Run, Council of Wyrms, and the occasional oddity that had oozed out of my mind. Still looking forward to running a Mecha or Anime-based game because I think it would be vastly amusing from my point of view as a gamer and an anime fan.
That being said, I'm still waiting for one of my DM's to run the Gummi Bears campaign he has raved about during one particular bout of extreme drunkness. It certainly sounds cool, ;) Gummi Bears rocks.
CB Out.
I'll be 25 in november, been playing sense 7th grade, however old that was...Introduced to the game by my now brother in law, and started playing a mix between first and second edition...basicly we used the second ed players handbook, but when it came to strange things like "proficiencies" our DM's responce was typicaly "it doesn't help you in combat? why the hell'd they put it in the book then?"
first book I ever got was Drow of the Underdark, took years to talk anyone into letting me play one though...first campaign setting I realy played in, or DMed, was Darksun...Those were the days, knifing people in the back with a foot long shard of pointy stone for a handfull of coins worth less then copper...
Time for Grandpa to join in ....
I turned 39 this past May.
Been playing since 1977(?) and I started with the red dragon -cover boxed set (blue book) with the multicolored dice (including the yellow 4-sider, nick-named "the caltrop" by my group after my poor father stepped on it with a bare foot -- ouch!).
My first Dungeon issue was #20 (although I've since obtained many earlier issues) and I believe my first issue of Dragon was #42 or thereabouts. I played through B1 "In Search of the Unknown" my first session and soon was DMing victims through the infamous Tomb of Horrors. :)
Currently 28. I've been playing since I was 7. :-) My dad ran a game for my brother and I.
|
|
I'm 27 now, and started playing in September '91 (which means I must've been 13, unless my addled old brain can't do maths anymore).
The first adventure I played in was N5 'Under Illefarn' with AD&D 2E rules. I got the chance to flick through the adventure a few months ago, and it brought the memories flooding back.
I'm 28. I've been playing since I was 14.
Hi there!
A friend of mine and I are just wondering what the average age of a Dungeon reader is.
I said between 28 and 31. I am 34 years old and play D&D since the age of 14!
So, how old are you ;) ???
Can't believe I'm going to top the list, but.... 45 last November. Been playing since 1977-- white boxed set. I remember how excited I was when the 1st Edition PH Hardbound came out.
I'm turning 35 this year and have been playing for 24 years.
My wife is turning 34 and has been playing for 13 years (I introduced her to gaming when were dating in university)
And my son is 8 and he's just started gaming.
(waiting for the day my 1.5 year old daughter can join in the game)
I'm 27.
I started playing when I was 8, though I had absolutely no conept of the rules, I just dug the dice and the play acting. I never played or ran a published module, but had fun creating my own stuff and playing adventures my friends created.
I started reading Dungeon while I was living abroad in Beijing five years ago and loved the adventures I saw inside (especially two by Tito Leati). I saw the submission guidelines in the back of my first Dungeon (can't remember the issue) and submitted an adventure immediately. My very first proposal to Dungeon was "Winding Way" (obviously influenced by my time spent in Beijing) which eventually saw print after passing through several different revisions and adaptations (thanks James Jacobs for all the help!).
Now the magazine is like crack to me (especially for the last couple of years under the new editors), and so is trying to contribute to it.
|
|
This hobby is getting long of tooth, at least by this impromptu demographic study. This is something that has been plaguing the industry for years as I recall. As long as the products are $35 a piece on average, it'll be difficult to get the hobby young again as I would certainly balk at shelling out $30 for a book for my 10 year old. It'll be a case of passing the tradition on to our children (if they don't rebel). I'm 35 and have been playing since '83. I still prefer the old "biodegradeable" dice compared to the current dice. I prefer a one minute round with 10 six second segments. 3.x Skills and Feats are well conceived but I prefer to go back to 2E if anyone were still interested in it. At least I could keep the story in the foreground and not the mechanics then. Still, the Age of Worms arc has renewed my interest in the game and made me appreciate keeping the Dungeon subscription going since #2.
Those that fall below the average, thanks for playing and pass along the game to your younger siblings/cousins/associates so we can keep a young element in the game. Too many "old farts" leads to too many "flashback" conversations and the current game fails to get past the old games. ::wink::
Oh, R-rated material is unnecessary in standard print. GMs have a tendency to push the R envelope repeatedly on their own without a product dictating it.
39. Started in '79 with B1 and immediately jumped into AD&D. Went on hiatus a couple of times, but back into it recently. Interestingly, I got back in after each new rewrite of the rules (2e, 3.0, 3.5).
Jack
old guy :/