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with the text of the game; however, even earlier games allowed for a more fannish response. Doom, which was created in 1993, included a game editor for players to make their own changes (Dovey and Kennedy, 2006, p. 14). In fact, many games now include the opportunity for the player to create a map or scenario. Even those that don’t have built in options for modifications no doubt have hacker followings that go against the intended use of the game to make their own changes and cheats. In addition, gamers post walkthroughs online where they explain all the different moves and possibilities to beat the different in-game challenges. Regardless of the degree that a particular genre or medium affords a productive response, there will always be an audience that responds to a text by engaging with it in a more productive way. In keeping with Jenkins (1992) exploration of fandom, we might call this productive response a “fannish” response. It may be that those who desire this sort of interaction are more drawn to texts that more easily afford it, such as TRPGs or MMORPGs, but the response can be found in relation to any type of text.

Even though the TRPG may attract those who desire to interact with texts in this productive manner, it is, again, misleading to think of this audience as homogenous. Even within the Sorpraedor group, Nick ran a fairly standard fighter character and was focused on making his character better for combat, while Mary actively engaged in her own character’s storyline outside of normal gaming time. Nick was more of a consumer of the game; he was there to fight a monster, gain a level, and move on. Mary was there to create her own story; one that the majority of the group did not even become privy to. However, I am hesitant to call Mary a fan of D&D and Nick not. In fact, Nick had a stronger loyalty to D&D as a gaming system than Mary, who was interested in playing TRPGs in any system. Nick also was more actively a purchaser of D&D merchandise. He was more familiar with the many different rules, character classes, and monsters from the rule books. Mary was far less concerned with these particulars and only owned the basic essentials for playing the game. In terms of belonging to a subculture, neither Nick nor Mary attended conventions, frequented gaming message boards, or were actively engaged outside of the Sorpraedor group with gaming culture. When Mary went to law school and Nick had another baby, these concerns took precedent over gaming and were reasons for them to leave the group.

Are Mary and Nick typical D&D fans? It is difficult to define what might be typical, although it is easier to do so in terms of community demographics than style of play. While Fine (1983) was much better able to define the small subculture that existed in 1979, it is far more difficult collect data on the typical player when the culture is now so widespread. However, the Wizards of the Coast market survey gives us some insight into what might be more typical now than at the time of Fine’s study. Fine outlines several characteristics of gamers. Some of these are demographics such as age and sex. According to Fine, in 1979, it was rare to find a D&D player over the age of 35; young teens were far more common (Fine, 1983, p. 39). Wizards of the Coast found that by the late 1990s, 34 percent of tabletop gamers were between the ages of 25 and 35, while 23 percent were between the ages of 12 and 15 (Dancey 2000). These statistics show that D&D is not only maintaining its audience, it is still recruiting new members. In terms of sex, Fine (2001) estimated that only 3.8 percent of the DMs at GenCon in 1979 were female (p. 41). Based on an interview with Gary Gygax, he estimated that only 10–15 percent of the total market at the time was female (Fine, 1983, p. 41). This number has increased some, and Wizards of the Coast estimated that 21 percent of their 2000 market was female (Dancey 2000). Women seem to have become more involved in TRPGs, but the dominant market still appears to be male. Neither Fine nor Dancey show any statistics