Hi Dr!
I'm curious, and this is a little off topic, but could you give a brief description of the "roleplaying game" activity. What do you do? Themes? Costumes? Average age of participant? Male / female / adults / kids? Are faux weapons used? Thanks!
Ha! That's actually a sore subject with tabletop gamers, and all of us at the local game shops are tabletop gamers. Here's how it breaks down:
There's tabletop roleplaying, and then there's "LARPing" or Live Action Role Playing. There's a pretty wide border between the two. Most tabletop gamers think LARPers are a little silly, running around wearing their costumes and casting spells on each other by throwing confetti. I'm kind of a live and let live kind of guy, so if someone wants to dress up and pretend they're vampires or wizards and they're not hurting anyone, then more power to them. It's not for me. I'm firmly in the tabletop gaming realm.
Tabletop gamers do all of their running around killing monsters and throwing spells in their heads, or on paper. It's the original roleplaying game format created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson back in the 70's with the original Dungeons & Dragons rules. We don't use any real weapons or fake weapons. We don't dress in costume, unless it's for comic effect like the gamemaster wearing a wizard's hat just as a joke. It's all on paper, written on a "character sheet" which is a record of all the statistics and equipment for our character (the
role we're
playing).
We generally get together once or twice a week and play for three or four hours, at least until the old folks among us (I'm 42) get tired and have to go home and get some sleep.
As far as ages and other demographics, here in Mobile it's about 2/3rds male and 1/3rd female, with ages ranging from late teens all the way up to us old folks who have been playing since the 70's or 80's, generally topping out at 45-50 years old. The age range skews younger in the summer when kids are out of school, and older during the rest of the year. I would estimate that it's probably 80% Caucasians and 20% other races.
We do have a couple of younger kids who come and play, down to age ten, but they are there with their parents. I can't think of anyone who is showing up at the game shops who is younger than 16 who isn't accompanied by a parent. The game shop owners promote a very family-friendly atmosphere, and something like the recent arrest of RSW sends ripples of anger and defensiveness through a community which prides itself on being open to all ages. Unlike computer gaming, tabletop gaming is directed at getting people together in person to play games and have fun, whether it's roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder; collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh; or tabletop miniature wargames like Dust Tactics or Warhammer.
I'll answer any questions anyone has about the roleplaying angle. If it's too off topic, the mods can let me know and we can take it all to private messaging. The only thing I won't do is mention specific players or specific game shops. The last thing the tabletop gaming industry needs is bad press. We've spent the last 30 years or so trying to overcome the myths that were spread in the 80's of suicidal, violent, anti-social gamers. The statistics just don't bear out those stereotypes, and despite all the evidence to the contrary, some people still think of roleplaying gamers in those terms.
