Two weeks ago I asked one of our recurring polls about the age of our readers, and the results seem to be similar to what they were a year before. Back in March of 2008 we had 153 votes, and this year over the last two weeks we’ve picked up a whopping 411 votes! We picked up 7 votes for 15 or younger where we had zero before, and while the number of people between 16 and 19 has stayed about the same, the percentage dropped from 7% to 3% due to the volume of response. The percentages for age ranges 20-25 and 26-30 have stayed exactly the same as our site has grown, which I find very funny especially considering that I jumped between those groups since the previous poll. Our dominant readership is still in the 31-40 age range with a solid 38% of the results, with the remaining 10-13% still in the 41-50 or older range. I love doing polls like this because we aren’t really sure what kind of results we’ll get, though now we have a pretty good idea of the range our readers cover and that it most likely will remain largely the same as our readership grows. Think those ages have something to do with when Gygax decided to make a certain game?
Not only did we have a special two week long poll, but last week Dave posted an Inquisition asking for stories about your favorite critical hits and fumbles! We have some great comments there already, but we’d love to hear more so if you haven’t shared yet please head over there and do so.
I’ve really enjoyed reading Dave’s posts about his 4th Power project and adapting the 4E D&D system to a modern setting game as well as the comments on those posts, but it’s started me thinking about the genres of RPG that people play and in addition to that the settings we play in as well. We’ve done a number of polls about settings including back in November of last year when we asked about the next D&D setting after Eberron (which will be Dark Sun, btw) but I’m not sure if we’ve ever asked about genre like this before.
[poll id=”142″]
It’s difficult to make sure that we cover every genre/setting in a poll like this, so if you answer “other” we’d love to hear what you’re thinking in comments. I’ll be interested to see if a clear combination emerges as the favorite such as fantasy and horror. I find that among our friends fantasy is usually the winner simply because D&D is the most dominant game and it happens to be synonymous with fantasy, but I also know that a lot of our friends love horror and the cthulhu mythos so Dave and I both use those themes frequently in our games.
Wow, first vote!
Horror is weird for me — I didn’t vote for it because games made specifically to be horror games don’t work for me (e.g. Call of Cthulhu.) However, horror episodes in games work very well as a sharp break from the “normal” game I’m playing; e.g. a horror adventure in a D&D game is nicely differentiated from the rest of the game without making horror the focus of the campaign.
.-= Saragon´s last blog ..Atlas Games Taking Short Pitches for Unknown Armies PDFs =-.
I currently DM 4e most of the time and I dabble with Swords & Wizardry on occasions. I’m also starting a Star Wars Saga Edition game (as a player) this week.
I’m not sure if I’ll write player logs of those games… I’ll see. Playing a Human Scoundrel is not going to be much of a stretch for me.
.-= The Chatty DM´s last blog ..City of the Overmind: Rumble in the Vats 3D, Part 1 =-.
For fantasy games I like D&D 4th edition and Warhammer RPG (vastly undervalued rpg btw).
For science fiction I like Star Wars Saga Edition, Shadowrun, and the Babylon 5 RPG.
For the horror genre, occasional games of Cthulu are fun, and I like the Vampire The Masquerade setting *before* the recent WoD reset in the latest edition of the game. I like the new VTM rpg system rules, but the new WoD setting is terrible, the old WoD setting was much better.
I like a variety of systems and genres. I also note that if one or the other of those two parts is bad, it can ruin the entire rpg experience.
I choose Modern, Fantasy and Science Fiction, but I really like crossovers, like urban fantasy and space opera (sci-fi fantasy).
And I want Dragonstar 4e or something similar (Amethyst Foundation it’s not the same). You get your familiar classes and races, but twist them so they can wear power armor, fire a blaster and fly spaceships — it’s so cool concept!
Wot no superheroes entry? 😀
I voted Modern Fantasy Sci-Fi. Sometimes all at the same time.
.-= greywulf´s last blog ..A meeting of minds =-.
Fantasy and sci-fi, though the former is the most common genre I’ve gamed in. Like Greywulf, I gotta ask where the superhero entry is. It’s definitely one of my favorites, and falls between fantasy and sci-fi as far as personal preferences.
.-= Kameron´s last blog ..From kobolds to goblins =-.
I’ll play nearly anything that seems like it has a captivating twist to it and decent mechanics. When looking for a game, I tend to look for modern-day/sci-fi games first. I’ve already got my fantasy fix from 4e. Things I tend to find unpalatable are post-apocalyptic and swords and sorcery. Neither intrigues me in absolutely any way.
Another kind of setting I tend to dislike is “anime” settings. I love anime, but I think every such game out there except Maid: RPG eats, sleeps and breathes ass in such quantities that it is a legendary threat to ass-kind, and I have not found a single example that’s made me change my mind. They need to find some focus rather than “WE GOT MECHS AND SCHOOLGIRLS AND KUNG FU AND ENERGY BEAMS AND AND AND AND”.
.-= Wyatt´s last blog ..Celebrating 40,000 hits =-.
Hacked in Superhero, which somehow escaped both Bartoneus and myself in the list…
We can only vote for 1? I’m trying to vote for multiple and it keeps telling me there is a “max of 1”.
That being said:
Primarily:
Sci-Fi
Fantasy
Secondary:
Horror
Superhero
I don’t know why, but I have this odd phobia of Modern settings. For some reason, I find it the nerdiest of all – as if I can’t justify to myself playing in a setting that I live in every day. 🙂
Poll broken. Only able to vote for 1.
Otherwise I would choose…
Fantasy, Sci Fi, and Superhero.
Should be fixed now.
I play in fantasy the most, and so far it’s all I’ve run. I also enjoy playing in science fiction, which is my second-favorite genre. I’ve done modern once or twice, and am about to run modern-fantasy (Mage: the Awakening, specifically). I’ve always loved the supers genre, but have never really played in a game of that genre before. If someone I knew were to run one I’d jump at the chance, though.
Other: for me is genre bashed.
I don’t much like horror(which I consider to be modern, CoC, or White Wolfie), but sci-fi horror or western horror are neat.
sci-fi/fantasy/horror is my current fav. Something like Blackmoor with Cthulu or Gabor Lux’s stuff. Knights with plasma rifles riding dinosaurs mixing it up with Dagon’s Deep Ones.
Also love mutant apocalypse type games which I don’t consider sci-fi. Sci-fi is space. Apocalypse is CyberKnights with arc welders riding mutant panda/giraffes mixing it up with the MindMaster’s Waste Raiders.
.-= Norman Harman´s last blog ..Magical Monday – Color of Magic =-.
I chose Modern, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror.
I have been gaming a long time, started in ’77. I prefer Modern, then Fantasy, then Sci-Fi. I like Horror in all of them when appropriate.