Survey of Roleplaying habits

[fireinthedust]

Hi there! I'm taking a business training course, and part of it is a survey on a customer base. I'm starting up a publishing house for Roleplaying Games in Toronto, so I've chosen the RPG community. If you're interested, have a look at the questions and answer as honestly as you can. If you want to answer here, that's fine by me (and I'm sure it's a great conversation topic). If you'd rather keep your answers private, like for demographics, feel free to email them to me at [email protected]

And if you don't want to answer a given question, skip it! :D

It's just for me, and I don't need names or identifying information or anything, I'll just be summarizing the results of customer buying habits, in probably really broad terms. I'm pretty sure I have an idea, but it's always good to learn more.

As an incentive to fill it out: if you email me your answers or post them here, I'll send you (PM here a link, I guess) a copy of a really handy table for GMs that I've put together, part of my "random stuff" series. A sample of what's being forged at Fireinthedust Productions, and something I hope will be useful when your players root through boxes, wagons, and rooms the GM hadn't considered. :D

I hope it's okay that I take this poll/survey here? If it works as a discussion question, we can share information as a community.

And please respect other people's answers, even if you don't like them (naturally).

Spoiler: DEMOGRAPHICS

Show

Gender:**Male,*Female,*Other?*
*
What*age*group*are*you*in?**10-15,*16-20,*21-29,*30-40,*41-65+?*
*
What*country*do*you*live*in?*
*
Marital*Status:**Single,*In*a*relationship,*Marrie d,*Separated/Divorced?*
*
If*in*a*relationship,*does*your*significant*other/spouse*play*RPGs?*
*
Do*you*have*children?* If*yes,*do*your*children*play RPGs with you?

Spoiler: SURVEY QUESTIONS

Show

1) What was the last RPG product you bought, and what was its format? (adventure, system, sourcebook, novel, GM screens, miniatures, etc.)

2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are:
Adventure modules?
Setting sourcebooks?
Monster collections?
Magical item collections?
Core rules?
Player character rules?
Other?

3) How do you use your purchases?
Exactly as written?
use parts of it in your own adventures?
As inspiration only?
As entertainment, for a good read, but not in actual play?
As art objects to enjoy visually?

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for? Regardless of your personal favourites, what you most often use and purchase? (It can include third-party publishers using these systems; it can be approximate, if you have a large collection)

Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition
Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd/3.5 edition
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition
Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition/D&D Next
Pathfinder
d20 Modern/Future
FATE
Traveller
GURPS
World of Darkness/New World of Darkness
Mutants & Masterminds (any edition)
Cortex/Firefly/Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
Dragon Age
WEG D6
Numenera/The Strange
Palladium/Rifts
Stars without number
Other



5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
Fantasy?
Science Fiction?
Superheroes?
Modern?
Horror?
Other?


6) What are the biggest issues you’ve had using purchased modules in your games?



7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group? (example: GM improvisation when players go outside preparation material; group dynamics; rules lawyers; not knowing enough rules; and any other issues you can think of)



8a) what was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? (ie: the longest running characters in the same or connected campaigns)
8b) How many sessions did it last?
what game rules were they? (Dungeons & Dragons OSR, 3e, Pathfinder, 4th Edition, 5th Edition; GURPs; Fate; World of Darkness/Storyteller System; Mutants & Masterminds; )
8c) Were you a player or running the game?
8d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
8e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
8f) What genre was the game (fantasy, horror, science-fiction, modern, post-apocalypse, pirates, etc.)


9a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
9b) what game rules were they? (Dungeons & Dragons OSR, 3e, Pathfinder, 4th Edition, 5th Edition; GURPs; Fate; World of Darkness/Storyteller System; Mutants & Masterminds; )
9c) Were you a player or running the game?
9d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
9e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
9f) What genre was the game (fantasy, horror, science-fiction, modern, post-apocalypse, pirates, etc.)

10) How many game products do you own?

11) How many different rules systems do you own? (include also different editions of a single game)

12) How do you buy your adventures? (PDFs, Hardcover, Softcover)

13) What are your favourite character abilities? (blowing things up, hitting things, sneaking around, owning stuff, tricking NPCs, overcoming traps, solving riddles, exploration, commerce,

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs? (ie: character building, hanging out with friends, telling stories, other)

15) Where*do*you*purchase*adventures?*
bricks*&*mortar stores
online*specialty RPG/PDF*stores (like DrivethruRPG.com)
online book retailers (like Amazon or Chapters/Indigo or Barnes & Noble)*
*
16) Who*do*you*buy*RPG*products*for?**
Yourself?**
Someone*who*runs*games*for*you*or*your*group?**
As*a*gift*item*for*a*friend*or*family*member?)*

17) How*do*you*play*RPGs?* Please*Check*all*that*apply:**
in*person*groups*with*friends
through*gaming*clubs
through*organized*play*clubs
play-by-post*on*forums
online*with*friends*via*programs like Skype*or*Roll20
never*but*you*still*enjoy*the*products
other

[goto124]

So you're mostly asking for people who purchase RPG stuff? As opposed to using purely free material?

[Segev]

So you're mostly asking for people who purchase RPG stuff? As opposed to using purely free material?

I'm not affiliated with the OP in any way, but given his motivation for the survey, it makes sense that he's focused on purchases.

I suspect he'd be interested to see what people who use free stuff only do, and even how you use free stuff if you also buy stuff. Especially if there are ancillary purchases made to facilitate the free stuff.

(For instance, dice are still a purchase for RPGs...)

[fireinthedust]

Actually, I'm happy to say, it's not that I'm only interested in purchases or buying patterns. Rather, my goal is to understand my market so that I can design more interesting products. So I've got the demographics material, sure, but also I'd like to know more about your preferences, too. The end goal is to create an RPG product that would be useful, something that you might actually want. A super product, if you will, made of candy and Chuck Norris' sweat, fed on the blood of pokemons and/or 1970s psychedellic rock albums.

So what issues your gaming comes across, and what stuff doesn't collect dust *after* you buy it, or that you'd use as a perpetual reference, would be cool.

Make sense?

Plus, when I finish some final touches, I'll be emailing a sample "random stuff" table (I could just make a table, but it needs to look amazing, too; or at least super nerdy, which is what I can do)

[LokiRagnarok]

*blink* Would've thought Shadowrun 'd've made the list.

[fireinthedust]

*blink* Would've thought Shadowrun 'd've made the list.

No intended disrespect to Shadowrun, any of the five editions, especially since I'm pretty sure it was the first RPG book I ever looked at as a kid.

While I was writing the survey for the course, looking up all the game systems out there, I found so many options that it would've crippled my wrists typing them into the document. Seriously, looking at the system options for games on the DrivethruRPG site, where I'll be selling my stuff, I had to scroll down for a while just to get to the "d" section for my current offering, DCC RPG module "Wrath of the Frost Queen"!

But yeah, that "Other" option is huge. There are so many systems out there, BESM, True20, and so on, that I left off so that it wouldn't just be a giant list. User friendly, right?

[Kiero]

I could answer the survey, but it would probably be a waste of everyone's time. I play RPGs, face to face, every single week (and have been doing so regularly since 2008). I buy less than one product a year, and I have never bought or used modules.

[VincentTakeda]

Right. I normally detest market research on the principle that its questions often confuse the results they draw from their answers from the truth, or rather that I'd rather answer the 'question beneath the question'... 'what conclusions are we trying to draw from the particular question we're being asked'... but then again I'm a gamer. So lets play.

Male
40
United states
Separated
With children
My son is too young to play yet but I have high hopes.

1) I bought most of the pathfinder hardcovers including system core, sourcebooks, monster and treasure compendiums and minis... Pretty much all at once to the tune of about 500 bucks. The system had been out for nearly a decade before I was willing to spend a dime on it. I cant promise in retrospect that it was a good investment. I don't consider it a great system.
2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are:
Adventure modules? Less than 5. Setting sourcebooks? More than 20. Monster collections? 6. Magical item collections? 3. Core rules? 9. Player character rules? 7. Other? The entire collection of grimtooths traps... so 5 or 6 of those.

3) How do you use your purchases?
Never exactly as written in terms of core rules... Nearly always in terms of bestiaries or equipment guides... Always parts of it in your own adventures (they are rulebooks and sourcebooks with rules in them after all). Occasionally as inspiration. Never as entertainment. Very often as art. Most often as proof of purchase to justify also having pdfs.

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for? Regardless of your personal favourites, what you most often use and purchase? (It can include third-party publishers using these systems; it can be approximate, if you have a large collection)
The core of what I own and care about is Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition, Pathfinder, Palladium/Rifts but in palladium's sake i'm more a fan of the heros unlimited/ninjas and superspies collection because they're not the 'source of palladium's primary revenue stream. They have not been saturated with new material to such a degree that they have been ruined by their own publisher's continued desire to keep publishing.

5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
Of my total collection... Fantasy? Most. Science Fiction? Somewhere between a third and a half. Superheroes? Maybe a tenth.
Modern? Easily half. Horror? Somewhere between none and nearly none.

6) What are the biggest issues you’ve had using purchased modules in your games?
That gm's who run modules have a tendency to not like player agency. That modules are a fixed narrative so they're not really about the characters at all, but instead are about a story and any characters that get the story from point a to point b are... incidental. They are fundamentally self interested railroads meant to pay the publisher's bills.

7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group? (example: GM improvisation when players go outside preparation material; group dynamics; rules lawyers; not knowing enough rules; and any other issues you can think of)
My table consists in equal measure gamers who like killing everything for arbitrary reasons, those that prefer avoiding conflict entirely, and those that need narrative purpose and richness in setting.... Each of them gets a bit upset when the other 'style' steps on their 'own'... Cant avoid conflict very well when you have clangleddin in your party and if all you like doing is laying waste, the longer mister investigator spends sifting through the remains of your kill for 'meaning' or 'clues' or 'purpose' the longer it takes to find the next thing that will bleed while simpering. Its toughest to maintain thematic balance in a campaign that allows loud fighty people to be loud and fighty, sneaky avoidy people to be sneaky and avoidy, and puzzly people to be puzzly all at the same time or in the same measure.

8a) what was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? continuous? two years.
8b) How many sessions did it last? Havent counted. Well over 50.
??!?!) what game rules were they? Pathfinder though they are now making cameo appearances in several other campaigns an systems
8c) Were you a player or running the game? Player for the campaign. DM for the cameos.
8d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? none. I was a player. It does not behoove me to have books when i'd spoil the plot to read them.
8e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? none? mayday. duplicate question. I presume to account for the fact that 8b has two parts. Now we're back on track. Clever.
8f) What genre? Fantasy.

9a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? I'd only know recently. 6 months?
9b) what game rules were they? Palladium's Dead Reign
9c) Were you a player or running the game? Running it
9d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? None
9e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? None. Uh... Still doing this I see... Not so clever this time.
9f) What genre was the game. Horror I suppose. More like modern post apocalyptic action at the end of the day to be honest.

10) How many game products do you own? Personally I'm soundly in to 3 digits at this stage. Over a hundred though less than 200.
11) How many different rules systems do you own? 3
12) How do you buy your adventures? As little as possible. I bought some modules when I very first started gaming as sort of a self training/tutorial on world/adventure design.

13) What are your favourite character abilities? Genearlly: Showing off and entertaining and providing services to the locals. Escape. Stealth. Comfort. Bringing folks back from the dead. More specifically? I love multiple beings from heroes unlimited and the summoner class from palladium because I like having reliable companions and multiboxing. Combat action economy from this is surprisingly not really a draw to this stunt. I like having 20 of me, but I also prefer being a defensive/pacifist with this build.

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs? Socialisation, improvisation, imagination. Having fun dudes that can do fun things in fun ways. And maybe... every once in a while... Even save the world.

15) Where*do*you*purchase*adventures?* bricks*&*mortar stores
16) Who*do*you*buy*RPG*products*for?** Me
17) How*do*you*play*RPGs?* in*person*groups*with*friends.

Context here is important... I became interested in role playing because it was the best return on investment for entertainment. I get more hours of fun for my gaming dollar than any other thing in existance other than my internet bill. I started gaming because I picked up basic and expert editions of becmi for a dollar a piece at goodwill. The first 14 levels of the game for only 2 dollars. I then picked up the rest of becmi at full retail, and a huge swath of 2e at retail. The reason I'd spent so much money on 2e by the time it died is because it was good. Refined, high quality. Forged from over a decade of experience as 1e gamers. Like a crack dealer I was given the first 14 levels practically for free, and once I was addicted, and because 2e was QUALITY... I spent on 2e obsessively...

On the other hand 3e felt like a shameless cash grab and rebuilt the system around the foundation of reintroducing expensive minis. Literally the most expensive version of the hobby ever. The mini painting terrain building hobbyists paradise... A wedge in gaming between the can affords and the can'ts... And not a very well thought out attempt at that. Built with the finesse of a bulldog with a bag of bacon... 3.5 was a half hearted scramble to fix it while shamefully also asking for yet more money... Pathfinder was a third party doing a negligibly better job of fixing it... You guessed it. For even more money... Here comes 4e... And 5e... Just... Settle.... Down! I'm very hard pressed to believe even now that the current D&D 5 publisher is interested in putting out a well thought out, well developed core product. I don't trust it anymore. It only pretends to want to put out a good game. While once again asking for more money. More of the same for the wrongest of reasons. The opposite of why I ever started caring in the first place. Even when I was 9 years old I could feel the real bottom line. 2e was a GREAT return on invesment. Until it wasn't. The investment took a higher priority than the return. We stopped making GREAT but we just.... couldnt... stop... making!!! And thus it died. The return on investment isn't there anymore and the quality of the functional design hasn't ever come back up to 2e levels since. And they're doing a pretty bad job of hiding their intent... as always... more money. How do we convince you that you neeeeed another 50 dollar core book?

So the reason I got into gaming in the first place.. That it was refined from a decade of experience... And also designed to be cheap. The hobby was no longer about that at all. So I hid in heroes unlimited and ninjas and superspies for a while... 9 Books. No minis... Pretty clean... Foolishly rode the rifts railway for about 12 sourcebooks till it became apparent that I was back on the publisher's mad dash for cash... riding the revenue rollercoaster once again... So stepped away from gaming entirely until I figured out that rifts hadn't damaged its sdc counterparts in any way... I could get back to playing heros and ninjas without spending more money...

The reason I like 2e is because its great and it's done... Nothing new will come out for it. I never had to spend a dime on minis and I never had to spend a dime on modules and I'll never have to spend another dime on it. And I can keep playing it forever. It died because it was jumping the shark with its insatiable desire for more revenue... The business end of gaming killed the game. I like it for the very reason publishers dont like it. I never have to spend any more money on it.

The reason I like heros unlimited and ninjas and superspies is because it's been left relatively untarnished because Kevin is still so much more focused on developing content for rifts that he's not really looking at these sdc systems anymore... He gets to keep making money off of rifts players while I get to have a few systems that are not damaged by a publisher that will never have enough revenue and no desire to just stop publishing...

Every artist and writer knows that you can continue to improve and revise a piece forever. But every artist and writer and publisher also knows that there's a point where you just have to put the paintbrush down and let the piece stand as it is, and go paint something else. So if you have to keep painting... My vote is you keep painting modules so that you can keep painting and making money, while tacitly admitting that I don't want to be the guy that keeps shoveling money at those things. If the core rules are good. I want you to leave them alone.

For a publisher the challenge is to find a way to keep making money after money. For me as a player I'd then be most interested in them doing it in a way that works for them, but that I personally can ignore... And that's modules. Despite the fact that my survey says modules and adventures are the thing I spend money on the least... They are what I want a publisher to continue publishing the most.

If i'm interested in a great game but not interested in shelling out money (I don't want to BE your target market), and you're interested in constantly making money on a great game (you're mostly interested in HAVING a target market, a revenue target gift that keeps on giving)... You have to start by making a great game... getting it into the hands of as many gamers as possible (by making it cheap and easy to get) and then find a way to keep making money without messing up the great game. How do we do that?

For me game developers should develop games the way hewlett packard sells printers... Give the printer away for next to nothing and make a fortune selling ink. Make an awesome super high quality set of core mechanics that you give away for next to nothing to get players hooked, then make your money selling adventures in that system to adventurers who like buying ideas..

Thats your context.

[Kol Korran]

Demographics
Male
I'm 35
I live in Israel
Single
1) What was the last RPG product you bought, and what was its format? (adventure, system, sourcebook, novel, GM screens, miniatures, etc.) I bought the last module of the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure path (City of Locusts I think it's called). It's an adventure module. I'm currently running the adventure path. First time I'm doing this.

2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are:
Adventure modules? 6 currently, but along the years maybe 4-5 more.
Setting sourcebooks? 13: 6 of Eberron, 4 of Forgotten Realms, 3 of various other (Dark Sun and such)
Monster collections? 4 currently, But In olden days I got 4 of the AD&D monster compendiums
Magical item collections? 1
Core rules? 5 (2 D&D, 2 Shadow run, 1 Fate. With PF I just use the SRD)
Player character rules? 12 (9 for D&D, 3 for Shadow run)
Other? 3 sets of dice, quite a lot of miniatures. 1-2 Big maps (In the past). Battle grid! (They don't have them where I'm at anymore)

3) How do you use your purchases?
Partly as inspiration, partly as written, depending on the nature of the written material, and how it fits me game. No simple distinction here. I did find that I realy miss visuals on the PFSRD, and now that they have started adding them it improves the experience a LOT.

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for? Regardless of your personal favorites, what you most often use and purchase? (It can include third-party publishers using these systems; it can be approximate, if you have a large collection)
I have mostly played D&D 3.5 and so purchased books for that. Currently I am playing PF and enjoying it immensely, but I mostly use the free PFSRD. (Though as I said, I am currently running an adventure path on it). I have purchsed a few books for SR, and only the core book for Fate, due to not having played with them a lot. Fate Core though offers the best content to my preferences (But not my group)

5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
About 85% fantasy, maybe 10%... whatever Shadow run is, and 5% miscellenenous (Including Fate)

6) What are the biggest issues you’ve had using purchased modules in your games?
A few things:
- Challenge level: Nearly all modules that I've read are quite underwhelming in tht regard, and offer poor challenge. This makes the GM work quite a bit to "refit" encounters to fit the challenges more. Which is EXACTLY what I don't want to do when I buy a module. I don't mind there being some disparity in power level, but most times the challenges re laughable. Many modules also have a tendency to coddle and make sure the party is not taken out of it's safe zone. My party likes a tough challenge, so I need to rework things a lot.
- Way way WAY to linear! I prefer the module will present a cool n interesting situation, with several working forces, and their plans, resources and such, and let the party find it's own solution out of this mess. Most modules however find the solutions for them, and script them so narrowly that the choices and player agency is quite small. I don't need the writers to give me the solution to everything, but it would be nice to have say: Wizard X had 23 ogres, 60 goblins, the knowledge of Y, and the captured sphinx. He will seek to accomplish A, B and C. If the party stops 2 of these goals, he will desperately try to do D."
- In Adventure Paths there is usually very little connection between individual modules. Very little consistency or carrying on major themes through the entire campaign.

7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group? (example: GM improvisation when players go outside preparation material; group dynamics; rules lawyers; not knowing enough rules; and any other issues you can think of)
To a degree, finding a compromise between different play styles. Also dealing with high level options (They just become too numerous, for both GM and players). In D&D/ PF there are quite dissapointing social-situation-resolution mechanics, and nearly to non emphasis on these. We've burrowed some things from Path Finder, but there is mroe to be desired.

8a) what was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? (ie: the longest running characters in the same or connected campaigns)
8b) How many sessions did it last?
what game rules were they? (Dungeons & Dragons OSR, 3e, Pathfinder, 4th Edition, 5th Edition; GURPs; Fate; World of Darkness/Storyteller System; Mutants & Masterminds; )
8c) Were you a player or running the game?
8d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
8e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
8f) What genre was the game (fantasy, horror, science-fiction, modern, post-apocalypse, pirates, etc.)
The longest we ran was a campaign of 24 sessions, withe each session running around 7-8 hours. ("Many facets of Darkness" in my sig), though the current campaign will likely be longer (15 sessions so fr). It was D&D3.5, in Eberron. I was the DM. I didn't buy any adventures for it, it was all something I planned. The Genre was High fantasy "Save the world from conspiracy" kind of stuff.

9a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
9b) what game rules were they? (Dungeons & Dragons OSR, 3e, Pathfinder, 4th Edition, 5th Edition; GURPs; Fate; World of Darkness/Storyteller System; Mutants & Masterminds; )
9c) Were you a player or running the game?
9d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
9e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
9f) What genre was the game (fantasy, horror, science-fiction, modern, post-apocalypse, pirates, etc.)
There are two candidates:
The first, Currently playing it, the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure path (Again, log in my sig). 15 sessions so far, we're at the start of the 3rd module. (Out of 6) It should be noted that I've made quite extensive changes to the module, keeping the general theme, some features, and the general story line but alterign quite a lot of other points. I'm a GM here. I bought all 6 modules of the Adventure Path. The Genre is again High Fantasy, Mythic, save the world from demonic invasion sort of stuff.

The other I don't remember how long it lasted, but a good while (Levels 4-13 or so).
We were playing the "Cormyr: Tearing of the Weave" Forgotten Realms module, and later the continuing adventure (Something with Shadowdale). I was a player there, the DM bought all 3 modules in the series. The Genre again was high fantasy world saving kinda stuff. We played that nearly as written though, with far more minor changes. We stopped due to DM burnout.

10) How many game products do you own?
I think about 30-40, most of them are D&D, and nearly all of them are on PDF files by now. I own very few actual paper books.

11) How many different rules systems do you own? (include also different editions of a single game)
I own books of 3.5, Shadow Run and Fate core. I have a few samples of other stuff, but not what I'd call "Rule systems".

12) How do you buy your adventures? (PDFs, Hardcover, Softcover)
Only PDF. Electronic documents are far easier to search, to copy stats from (To alter them or arrange them to your liking), and so on. Can't do that with actual books.

13) What are your favourite character abilities? (blowing things up, hitting things, sneaking around, owning stuff, tricking NPCs, overcoming traps, solving riddles, exploration, commerce, It's not the character bility that mkes it fun, ot's an interesting rule system to put it in. I for example like exploration, but in D&D/PF it's downgraded to "Roll perception/ survival". There is no meaningful CHOICE for the player to make. He might as well be a dice rolling robot. Similar thing about social situations. If those could be made interesting, tense, where the player go "Sh*t! Sh*t!, what am I gonna do now?" Than this could be much more fun.

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs? (ie: character building, hanging out with friends, telling stories, other) Collaborative storytelling: Putting a situation, some key pieces, and then finding out the solution to things and how they develop TOGETHER. Also, the social part- good friends and all.

15) Where*do*you*purchase*adventures?*
bricks*&*mortar stores
online*specialty RPG/PDF*stores (like DrivethruRPG.com)
online book retailers (like Amazon or Chapters/Indigo or Barnes & Noble)*
Online, whatever has what I need.

16) Who*do*you*buy*RPG*products*for?**
Yourself?**
Someone*who*runs*games*for*you*or*your*group?**
As*a*gift*item*for*a*friend*or*family*member?)*
My self and my group. Something that advances my hobby.

17) How*do*you*play*RPGs?* Please*Check*all*that*apply:**
in*person*groups*with*friends Yep!
through*gaming*clubs No
through*organized*play*clubs No
play-by-post*on*forums Played for awhile, no longer. Mostly disappointing- it's a totally different kind of RPG, even if it uses the same rule system. PbP is NOT tabletop playing just slower, it's something else entirely.
online*with*friends*via*programs like Skype*or*Roll20 Nope, though I know 2 groups that do, and it looks interesting.

I hope this helps.

[BWR]

[QUOTE=fireinthedust;18815209]

Gender:**Male,
*
What*age*group*are*you*in?,*30-40
*
What*country*do*you*live*in?* Norway
*
Marital*Status:*In*a*relationship
*
If*in*a*relationship,*does*your*significant*other/spouse*play*RPGs?* yes
*
Do*you*have*children?* no




1) What was the last RPG product you bought, and what was its format? Laundry Files: Agent's Handbook (sourcebook - dead tree)

2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are:
Too lazy to go and do an exact count, so you'll have to deal with rough numbers. I'm also assuming gifts as 'purchased'
Adventure modules? ca 40 dead tree probably a couple hundred electronic
Setting sourcebooks? about 160 dead tree, a couple times that electronic
Monster collections? dt: ca 30, el: ca. 60
Magical item collections? only magic items? if so only about 3 electronic. General gear? With spells etc.? about 4 dt, 10 or so el. Some overlap with setting books
Core rules? dt 22, el ca. 50 (if multiple books re required for core rules, these are counted as one, e.g. PHB/DMG/MM = 1)
Player character rules? huh? aren't these setting sourcebooks? Or core rules?
Other? ca. 9 map collections a ton of dice and assorted minis.

3) How do you use your purchases?
Mostly to read for fun and inspiration. There isn't enough time to use them all

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for? Regardless of your personal favourites, what you most often use and purchase? (It can include third-party publishers using these systems; it can be approximate, if you have a large collection)
Pathfinder, with the Laundry Files coming second. I've bought more AD&D 2e and BECMI products all told and use BECMI pretty liberally, but PF and Laundry have seen more purchases the last several years.


5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
Fantasy?
Science Fiction?
Superheroes?
Modern?
Horror?
Other?

What about overlapping genres? Is Ravenloft horror or fantasy? Is Kult or WoD horror or modern?

6) What are the biggest issues you’ve had using purchased modules in your games?
Reworking some of them to fit my game is generally a minor issue, but it's there. The biggest issue is running something I think is fun but the players don't, which is a GM issue not a module issue.


7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group?
Wasting time on meaningless chit chat rather than playing. However, we like talking to each other so there's really only the odd rules disagreement or annoyance to put up with. It's all good, really.


8a) what was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
Longest campaign 10 years or so with about 2 years of a sequel campaign. Another 10 years with another campaign (a number of long breaks during it).

8b) How many sessions did it last?
Lots. Problem is, the shorter campaigns were played more intensely. When we started gaming in middle school we could play two to four times a week. We get a bit older and even if we've spent a longer period real time playing it's been longer between sessions, once a week or less. We've never really kept track of number of sessions. So while the above mentioned were/are longest running campaigns, they aren't necessarily the ones with most hours. They might very well be but I honestly can't remember .
1st campaign AD&D 2e/3.5, second - classless/levelless 3.5 variant.

8c) Were you a player or running the game?
1. Player. 2: mostly player

8d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
none

8e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
none

8f) What genre was the game (fantasy, horror, science-fiction, modern, post-apocalypse, pirates, etc.)
1st: Dragonlance save the world. The seeds of the main plot were laid in the first six months and built up and played out over the course of the campaign. 2nd alt.u L5R

9a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
How much of a break do you allow and still count it as 'continuous'? Possibly Ars Magica, which hung on for several years. Only player, no purchases.

10) How many game products do you own?
Too many to ever use. Count the list above

11) How many different rules systems do you own? (include also different editions of a single game)

Mostly PF or 3.5 (plus variants)

12) How do you buy your adventures? (PDFs, Hardcover, Softcover)
All of the above

13) What are your favourite character abilities?
Whatever sounds cool at the moment

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs?
Hanging out with friends. close second is the moments that you talk about later. "Do you remember when X? Man that was fun/scary/lucky/unlucky/snargleflooze"

15) Where*do*you*purchase*adventures?*
physical purchases in physical stores. I like to support my FLGS
electronic purchases online

16) Who*do*you*buy*RPG*products*for?**
Generally myself, but also as gifts for my SO

17) How*do*you*play*RPGs?*

Mostly with friends. For several years I also gamed at the club and met some new friends there. We've kept playing together since then even if we don't attend the club any more.

[Angel Bob]

Spoiler: Demographics

Show

Gender: Male
Age group: 16-20
Country: United States of America
Marital status: Single
Children: No

Spoiler: Survey Questions

Show

1) What was the last RPG product you bought, and what was its format?
I obtained most of my RPG products as gifts. The most recent one I acquired was a set of map tiles.

2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are...
* Adventure modules: 1 (Dungeon Delve)
* Setting sourcebooks: 0
* Monster collections: 2 (Draconomicon I, Demonomicon)
* Magical item collections: 1 (Adventurer's Vault)
* Core rules: 9 (incl. 4e Player's Handbooks 1-3 + Essentials, 4e Monster Manuals 1-3, & 4e Dungeon Master's Guides 1-2)
* Player character rules: 3 (Primal Power, Arcane Power, Heroes of the Elemental Chaos)
* Other: 3 (Underdark, Manual of the Planes, Menzoberranzan: City of Spiders

3) How do you use your purchases?
With the exception of Menzoberranzan (which was a gift), I read through each of my books not only for enjoyment but also with the intent to use some materials in future adventures and campaigns I DM. I do not use materials strictly as written, but rather as they fit my campaign, often tweaking or outright ignoring certain setting details.

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for?
Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. (Please don't hate me; I like it because it is very easy for me, as a DM, to construct challenges and enemies for my campaigns.)

5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
* Fantasy: All

6) What are the biggest issues you’ve had using purchased modules in your games?
I make a point of never using published adventures, because I understand that they are overly specific, inflexible, and are difficult to work into my campaign worlds. However, I am sometimes tempted by the pre-designed encounters in these books. My biggest problem is that my play group is usually either too large or too small for these encounters to be balanced.

7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group?
In my current campaign (3, sometimes 4 players, + me as DM), I often feel that our gameplay suffers from my occasional lack of preparation, and my continued failure to recall the Stealth rules. Because one of the PCs is a thief, this means his turns often require dead time as I look up the Stealth rules and then determine whether he has concealment or not. Otherwise, everything seems to be going quite well. In my previous campaign, which was larger (6 players + me as DM), players were almost always distracted, which made combat drag on for an eternity.

8a) What was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
My previous campaign ran for just under 13 months. It was itself a "reboot" of an older campaign that my group had played for about 2 or 3 years, but it only shared bits and pieces of continuity. We did take some brief breaks from this campaign to play one-shots and an alternate campaign run by a different DM, but this was always our main priority.
8b) How many sessions did it last?
23 sessions, by my count.
8c) What game rules did you use?
Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition.
8d) Were you a player or running the game?
As mentioned above, I was the DM.
8e) How many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
None. It was all of my own devising.
8f) What genre was the game?
Comedic fantasy, almost (but not quite) in the vein of OotS.

8a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
That would be my current campaign, which is nearing its 11th month.
8b) How many sessions did it last?
So far, we have completed 9 sessions. (This group meets much less often!)
8c) What game rules did you use?
Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition.
8d) Were you a player or running the game?
As mentioned above, I am the DM.
8e) How many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
None. It is all of my own devising.
8f) What genre was the game?
Dramatic fantasy.

10) How many game products do you own?
18 books + 1 set of dice + 5 sets of map tiles = 24 products, total.

11) How many different rules systems do you own?
I am currently borrowing my friend's D&D 5e handbook, but I only own products from D&D 4e.

12) How do you buy your adventures?
As mentioned, I do not. My sourcebooks, some of which contain published adventures in addition to other features, are in hardcover form.

13) What are your favourite character abilities?
I most enjoy roleplaying a complex character, exploring a captivating setting, and telling a compelling story. However, I also take a more shallow passion from playing characters who excel at direct combat.

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs?
I most enjoy telling a thrilling story through cooperative and constructive interaction.

15) Where do you purchase adventures?
There are two RPG bookstores within a reasonable distance of my house. Most of my materials come either from those stores or from Amazon.

16) For whom do you buy RPG products?
When I do buy RPG products, I normally buy them for myself. Sometimes, I buy products for my younger brother, who also enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons.

17) How do you play RPGs?
All of my sustained campaigns were played in-person, at a physical table. I joined a total of three play-by-post games, but all three eventually lost steam and disintegrated.

I hope my responses are helpful! Filling out this survey gave me a new appreciation for how long some of my campaigns have been.

[oxybe]

Gonna take a crack at it

Spoiler: DEMOGRAPHICS

Show

Gender:Male

What age group are you in? 21-29.

What country do you live in? The Greater Dutchy of Canuckistania: Canada

Marital Status: Single

Children?Nope!

Spoiler: SURVEY QUESTIONS

Show

1) What was the last RPG product you bought, and what was its format? (adventure, system, sourcebook, novel, GM screens, miniatures, etc.)
Oh god... This has been a while. Probably a 4th ed sourcebook.

2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are:
Mostly player sourcebooks like Martial Power, Complete Arcane or GURPS Magic. I have one or two adventures but I mainly use them as an idea of what the designers intended play is like. To be honest I find most adventures to be rather impersonal and boring.

As you can guess my "setting sourcebooks" tend to be very light unless it has a lot of player-stuff I can use/like, since the general focus is more on setting content then making stuff wizards and fighters can use.

3) How do you use your purchases?
Usually as written... It's the reason I bought the book in the first place. Sometimes it has interesting fluff pieces, but that tends to be secondary to me: I buy rulebooks for rules first and foremost.

Though if the concept is neat but the rules shoddy, I have no qualms about using my hammer to beat it into shape.

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for? Regardless of your personal favourites, what you most often use and purchase? (It can include third-party publishers using these systems; it can be approximate, if you have a large collection)
Buy? 4th edition, I guess. I haven't bought a game book in a LOOOOOONG time though, probably pre-4th ed essentials. Not that I had a problem with essentials, but rather my regular gaming group was in the middle of a 3rd ed game and the other group I played 4th ed with disbanded after a few members moved.

When we finished the campaign, the GM started a new one using pathfinder so I didn't buy the newer 4th ed books. Still haven't bought any Pathfinder ones since the core book first came out, which I sold back to the game store as the game left me terribly disappointed.

I've had my eye on Shadowrun but if I'm not going to play in a game, I'm not going to buy books for it.

I might actually buy an Edge of the Empire book though, since our GM has said he's planning on a Star Wars game once our current campaign ends.

5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
Mostly fantasy, but there is some Sci-fi.

6) What are the biggest issues you’ve had using purchased modules in your games?
That I don't like them. Generally they're impersonal affairs and if the characters aren't interested in the core concept of the module, it's hard to break away at times.

7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group? (example: GM improvisation when players go outside preparation material; group dynamics; rules lawyers; not knowing enough rules; and any other issues you can think of)
Nothing big really. I've been gaming with my current group for the better part of my post-college days, so about 8-9 years. We've had a few players come and go, but the core group has been pretty stable since the first campaign we ran. If anything my biggest challenge would be keeping everyone interested. We're 6-7 players at our largest and then the GM, so mixing that rather large group size and the occasional disparity between how invested the characters are in the current events (or their ability to influence them) it can be frustrating at times.


8a) what was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
The one I'm playing now!

8b) How many sessions did it last?
62 and still ongoing.

8c) What game rules were they?
Pathfinder

8d) Were you a player or running the game?
Player

8e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
None!

8f) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
Am I stuck in a time loop?

8g) What genre was the game?
Fantasy

9a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
The one we played before this! About 52ish sessions played every week or so, with some downtime between modules, ran by the same GM as the one we're playing now. For some reason the last sessions weren't blogged.

9b) what game rules were they?
Pathfinder

9c) Were you a player or running the game?
Player.

9d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
Oh god this is Groundhog's day!

9e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
Am I Bill Murray? I hope so.

9f) What genre was the game?
Fantasy

10) How many game products do you own?
Too many.

11) How many different rules systems do you own?
Oh god...

12) How do you buy your adventures sourcebooks?
Adventures again? We'll go with books since those I care for. The answer is whatever is available if I really want it, though I prefer digital. One laptop weights far less then several books.

13) What are your favourite character abilities?
General utility and versatility. Sometimes I want to just punch things, but usually I'm going for a "able to handle a wide array of situations" based around my character's theme. I don't really care if they're natural, supernatural, magical, inherent, learned, etc... though. I'll create one-trick ponies as theoretical ideas that i'll never even bring to a table, but in-play I value the ability to respond to a wide-array of situations.

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs?
At this point? Hanging out with my friends and general entertainment/escapism. If a buddy comes along and asks about running a campaign and can give an interesting pitch, I'm probably there, barring scheduling issues or sometimes system choice.

15) Where do you purchase adventures?
I'll say Brick and mortar stores but that's doing it a disservice as I don't really go out of my way to buy them or even look for modules. I only own at most one per system and that's if I bought it... Many systems offer free modules online if you're curious.

But sourcebooks? As I said before, I'll buy what interests me regardless of format, physical or digital, but I prefer something I can put on a harddrive or USB Key and view on the lappy.

16) Who do you buy RPG products for?
Me! I'm a selfish person! But I'll let people borrow and use them.

17) How do you play RPGs?
In person, every Wednesday at the FLGS.

EDIT: Small, tiny edit for the 2nd campaign. for some reason my brain farted and wrote 3.5 instead of pathfinder. this has been rectified.

[fireinthedust]

HEY ALL! Great surveys. I'm spending today tallying all of them up, then I'll try to get the sample material illustrated and emailed in PDF form ASAP!

[Telok]

I'm always interested in helping someone try to understand the RPG industry better. I certainly don't understand it.

Spoiler: Demographics

Show

Gender: Male
Age: 30 - 40
Country: Peoples Republic of Alaska
Marital Status: Married
Does your spouse play: No
Children: Cats

Spoiler: Survey

Show

1) What was the last RPG product you bought, and what was its format?
AD&D Fiend Folio, original hardback, at the used bookstore.

2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are:
Adventure modules? None
Setting sourcebooks? Two or three
Monster collections? Two or three
Magical item collections? One
Core rules? Six or seven
Player character rules? One or two
Other? I have three different books for GMs in systems that I own nothing else of and will never play. I have them because they all have good ideas or advice for a GM to use.

3) How do you use your purchases? As the basis for ADVENTURE! And I read them too.
Exactly as written? Oh, hell no.
use parts of it in your own adventures? Oh hell, yes.
As inspiration only? Sometimes
As entertainment, for a good read, but not in actual play? No, but I am more likely to buy entertaining books with stories, snippets, and cartoons than I am to buy books that are lists of rules, powers, and items with generic fantasy art. I will buy the Traveller Library Data (A-M) before I will buy the D&D 3.5 Spell Compendium or a D&D 4e book.
As art objects to enjoy visually? No, but good evocative art is a plus that influences the decision.

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for? AD&D or Traveller

5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
Fantasy? Almost half
Science Fiction? Around one third
Superheroes? None
Modern? None
Horror? About six or seven
Other? One or two. Oh, and Paranoia stuff. So About six or seven total.


6) What are the biggest issues you’ve had using purchased modules in your games?
I don't use purchased modules.

7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group? That one guy.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotHero
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...tTheHellPlayer
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph.../TooDumbToLive
Plus he's scared to try and learn anything but D&D. "Too complicated." He says.

8a) what was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? Oh, a year and a half? Something like that. One campaign that was more than a year long.
8b) How many sessions did it last? More than 50, less than 100.
8c) What game rules were they? D&D 3.5
8d) Were you a player or running the game? Player
8e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? None, home made.
8f) What genre was the game? Fantasy

9a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? A little over a year but not quite as long as #8.
9b) what game rules were they? D&D 3.5
9c) Were you a player or running the game? Running
9d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? None. But I did swipe the setting from the Exile computer game (Spiderweb Software, original version not the remake)
9e) What genre was the game? Fantasy

10) How many game products do you own? Good question. Estimate: more than 50 but less than 100.

11) How many different rules systems do you own? Ten to twelve?

12) How do you buy your adventures? I write my own.

13) What are your favourite character abilities? Changing a situation to my advantage. I know that's really vague but it encompasses strategy, tatics, planning, spells, maneuvers, teamwork, social engineering, and general problem solving.

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs? Friends and stories.

15) Where do you purchase adventures? Physical Stores.

16) Who do you buy RPG products for? Myself, but I share and lend.

17) How do you play RPGs? In person with friends.

[endur]

What*country*do*you*live*in?*
USA
Marital*Status:**Single,*In*a*relationship,*Marrie d,*Separated/Divorced?*
Married
If*in*a*relationship,*does*your*significant*other/spouse*play*RPGs?*
Yes


1) What was the last RPG product you bought, and what was its format? (adventure, system, sourcebook, novel, GM screens, miniatures, etc.)
PF Adventure Path, before that Tiamat figure
2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are:

All of the above.

3) How do you use your purchases?

All of the above.

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for? Regardless of your personal favourites, what you most often use and purchase? (It can include third-party publishers using these systems; it can be approximate, if you have a large collection)


Usually D&D


5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
Mostly fantasy. #2 is super heroes.


7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group? (example: GM improvisation when players go outside preparation material; group dynamics; rules lawyers; not knowing enough rules; and any other issues you can think of)
All of the above. Scheduling is hardest issue.


8a) what was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? (ie: the longest running characters in the same or connected campaigns)
2-3 years
8b) How many sessions did it last? 50+
what game rules were they? (Dungeons & Dragons 3e, RPGA Living Greyhawk)
8c) Were you a player or running the game? both
8d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? some
8e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
8f) What genre was the game: fantasy


9a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? D&D 3e home campaign
9b) what game rules were they? (Dungeons & Dragons 3e )
9c) Were you a player or running the game? gm
9d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? none
9e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
9f) What genre was the game : fantasy

10) How many game products do you own? lots

11) How many different rules systems do you own? (include also different editions of a single game): lots

12) How do you buy your adventures? (PDFs, Hardcover, Softcover): all of the above

13) What are your favourite character abilities? (hitting things, solving riddles, exploration, commerce,

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs? (telling stories)

15) Where*do*you*purchase*adventures?*

all of the above

16) Who*do*you*buy*RPG*products*for?**
Yourself?**


17) How*do*you*play*RPGs?* Please*Check*all*that*apply:**
in*person*groups*with*friends
through*gaming*clubs
through*organized*play*clubs
play-by-post*on*forums

[Milodiah]

Spoiler: DEMOGRAPHICS

Show

Gender: Male

Which age group includes you? 16-20 (20)

In which country do you live? United States

Marital Status: Single

Spoiler: SURVEY QUESTIONS

Show

1) What was the last RPG product you bought, and what was its format? (adventure, system, sourcebook, novel, GM screens, miniatures, etc.) Rifts World Book 31: Triax 2, sourcebook

2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are:
Adventure modules? 0
Setting sourcebooks? Purchased? ~6 or so.
Monster collections? 1
Magical item collections? 0
Core rules? ~8
Player character rules? ~4
Other? ~4

3) How do you use your purchases?
Exactly as written? Only for equipment, classes, etc.
use parts of it in your own adventures? Yes.
As inspiration only? Occasionally.
As entertainment, for a good read, but not in actual play? I don't buy things I don't intend to use.
As art objects to enjoy visually? Palladium books are pretty, but that's not the reason I buy them.

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for? Regardless of your personal favourites, what you most often use and purchase? (It can include third-party publishers using these systems; it can be approximate, if you have a large collection)


Dungeons & Dragons 3rd/3.5 edition
Classic Traveller
Old World of Darkness
Palladium/Rifts
Call of Cthulhu/Delta Green



5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
Fantasy? ~20%
Science Fiction? ~35%
Superheroes? 0%
Modern? 35%
Horror? 5%
Other? 5%


6) What are the biggest issues you’ve had using purchased modules in your games?

The only time I've ever used published adventures are those published by Pagan Publishing (esp. Adam Scott Glancy) simply because they contain the same attention to detail I tend to put into my games. Other than Rifts, Delta Green, and a few others I don't even use published settings, let alone modules.

7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group? Our group seems to have difficulty remaining with a single campaign and setting for more than a few months at a time...I joined about a year and a half ago, and we've been through Delta Green, World of Darkness, Classic Traveller, D&D 3.5, Rifts, and more, often one-shots or abortive campaign arcs.



8a) what was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? Probably a month and a half or so.
8b) How many sessions did it last? Maybe 8-10 sessions or so?
what game rules were they? D&D 3.5e
8c) Were you a player or running the game? GM
8d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? Zero, don't believe in them.
8e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? Still zero, thanks for double-checking though.
8f) What genre was the game? It was D&D, so...high fantasy.


9a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
9b) what game rules were they? Delta Green
9c) Were you a player or running the game? Player 95% of the time
9d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? Neither I nor the GM bought any.
9e) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign? Still zero.
9f) What genre was the game? Modern horror, being a Call of Cthulhu spinoff
10) How many game products do you own? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....oh wait, you're serious? I suppose it wouldn't hurt to count. One sec.

277 books.

Almost all of which are free and digital.

Oh God, did you want dice and stuff too?

...344.

If you say to include filled-out character sheets I'm leaving.

11) How many different rules systems do you own? ~10...D&D 3.5e, Call of Cthulhu 6e, Delta Green, Old World of Darkness, Don't Rest Your Head, Rifts, Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying, Classic Traveller, Mongoose Traveller, classified homebrew system I'll definitely get around to finishing and someday publishing possibly a little sort of, shut up

12) How do you buy your adventures? Almost exclusively PDFs.

13) What are your favourite character abilities? Think Michael Weston.

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs? I do enjoy character building, but GMing is great, although I enjoy a break by playing in someone else's game when possible.

15) Where do you purchase adventures? DrivethruRPG.com

16) For whom do you buy RPG products?
Myself
Someone who runs games for my group and me
As a gift item for a friend

17) How do you play RPGs?
in person groups with friends

So apparently I don't get to post without putting something down here, so....

[Cealocanth]

Spoiler: The Survey

Show

DEMOGRAPHICS
Male
16-20
United States
Single
-
No

SURVEY QUESTIONS
1) What was the last RPG product you bought, and what was its format? (adventure, system, sourcebook, novel, GM screens, miniatures, etc.)
My last RPG purchase was a specialty deck of cards, supported on a Kickstarter, for the Deadlands RPG.

2) How many of your RPG products that you have purchased are:
Adventure modules? 10%
Setting sourcebooks? 20%
Monster collections? 10%
Magical item collections? 10%
Core rules? 20%
Player character rules? 10%
Other? 20%

3) How do you use your purchases?
I use my purchases of books as reference materials for my games. Books are used during the game itself, digital formats are used outside of the game, and miniatures and the like are used exactly as intended.

4) What RPG system do you most often buy products for? Regardless of your personal favourites, what you most often use and purchase? (It can include third-party publishers using these systems; it can be approximate, if you have a large collection)

As of the last two years, Pinnacle Entertainment’s Savage Worlds system, before that, D&D 4e.

5) How many of your RPG purchases have been:
About 50% Fantasy and 50% Horror

6) What are the biggest issues you’ve had using purchased modules in your games?
I homebrew work a lot. I purchase modules and the like for inspiration and source material for the most part. Lack of adaptability of rules I find to be the greatest issue when I GM.

7) What are the biggest challenges during gameplay for your group? (example: GM improvisation when players go outside preparation material; group dynamics; rules lawyers; not knowing enough rules; and any other issues you can think of)

Two primary issues are found in my group. The first issue is that about half of my players only really come to the group in order to be with the company, and couldn’t care less about the rules, or for that matter, playing the game. The second issue is found with the occasional player’s total lack of respect for the story or the game.

8a) what was the longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group? (ie: the longest running characters in the same or connected campaigns)
Azura: 10,000 CE, a fantasy campaign set long after the apocalypse and collapse of human society due to the introduction of a magical crystalline mineral known as Astralite.

8b) How many sessions did it last?
More than I can count. It ran for 4 years.

what game rules were they? (Dungeons & Dragons OSR, 3e, Pathfinder, 4th Edition, 5th Edition; GURPs; Fate; World of Darkness/Storyteller System; Mutants & Masterminds; )
D&D 4e.

8c) Were you a player or running the game?
GM

8d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
Not a lot. I wrote most of the adventures.

8f) What genre was the game (fantasy, horror, science-fiction, modern, post-apocalypse, pirates, etc.
Post-apocalyptic fantasy with some sci-fi elements.

9a) What was the second-longest continuous series of game sessions you ever played with a group?
The Frozen Seas, a golden age of piracy themed reimagining of the Forgotten Realms universe in which the entire world was cursed with an ice age, forcing the people of the world to seek resources and wealth in the outer planes.

9b) what game rules were they? (Dungeons & Dragons OSR, 3e, Pathfinder, 4th Edition, 5th Edition; GURPs; Fate; World of Darkness/Storyteller System; Mutants & Masterminds; )
A heavily modified system of my own design based on D&D 4e.

9c) Were you a player or running the game?
GM

9d) how many adventures did you buy for this campaign?
Again, wrote most of them.

9f) What genre was the game (fantasy, horror, science-fiction, modern, post-apocalypse, pirates, etc.)
Pirate fantasy

10) How many game products do you own?
I’ve got a large shelf in my room devoted to them. There’s at least 50 individual products on there.

11) How many different rules systems do you own? (include also different editions of a single game)
Four, AD&D, D&D 3.5, D&D 4e, Savage Worlds

12) How do you buy your adventures? (PDFs, Hardcover, Softcover)
Digital, though I do like to have some hardcover copies around when possible.

13) What are your favourite character abilities? (blowing things up, hitting things, sneaking around, owning stuff, tricking NPCs, overcoming traps, solving riddles, exploration, commerce,
When I play, I tend to move between a variety of characters. They tend to hold the archetypes of The Hunter and the Wizard, though

14) What is your favourite part of playing RPGs? (ie: character building, hanging out with friends, telling stories, other)
Role-Playing. I’m a method actor at heart, but have never had the voice nor the charisma for theater. I love to get in the mind of a character and see where their story goes.

15) Where*do*you*purchase*adventures?*
bricks*&*mortar stores
online*specialty RPG/PDF*stores (like DrivethruRPG.com)
online book retailers (like Amazon or Chapters/Indigo or Barnes & Noble)*
*
Yes. For more obscure books, I order online, for most systems, I order PDF, and for miniatures, boards, dice, etc. I go to my local gaming store.

16) Who*do*you*buy*RPG*products*for?**
Yourself?**
Someone*who*runs*games*for*you*or*your*group?**
As*a*gift*item*for*a*friend*or*family*member?)*
Myself and as gifts for my friends.

17) How*do*you*play*RPGs?* Please*Check*all*that*apply:**
in*person*groups*with*friends X
through*gaming*clubs X
through*organized*play*clubs
play-by-post*on*forums
online*with*friends*via*programs like Skype*or*Roll20
never*but*you*still*enjoy*the*products
other

Good luck with your business enterprise! I hope my survey info can help.