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4 Hours w/ RSD - Escapist Bonus Column
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<blockquote data-quote="Argyle King" data-source="post: 7647750" data-attributes="member: 58416"><p>not sure if this will add anything, but just a thought....</p><p></p><p>I completely credit the Dragonlance novels with getting me into roleplaying games. At the time, I had no concept of what D&D or rpgs were. At the time, I was a kid who saw some cool looking books on a teacher's shelf. I asked to borrow them and loved them. At the back of the book I found an advertisement for D&D.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, I never did get to buy D&D (I think it would have been 2nd edition at the time) because the same day I saved enough money from mowing lawns and doing choirs to buy the game was the same day Toys'R'Us told me they could no longer carry D&D due to complaints from parents. It would be years later when I played Rifts as my first rpg experience, and a year or so after that until I played D&D for the first time, but the fact is that I would have never made any effort to seek the game out had it not been for those books sparking my interest. </p><p></p><p>While the mediums may have changed, I think there are still probably kids somewhere today who have seen a book or a tv show or something else and have their interests sparked. I wouldn't be surprised to find there are people playing WoW thinking,"wouldn't it be cool if there was more to the game than DPS, raids, and collecting squirrel skins?" There might be someone playing Skyrim for the first time and being amazed at how in depth you can get involved with the world and some of the customization options to make your character your own; enjoying a non-linear experience. </p><p></p><p>As I've said elsewhere, I believe society as a whole today is more open to rpg elements than they have been in a long time. Many modern video games have character customization utilities, Facebook has plenty of games based around the idea of building your own unique farm or virtual apartment; things such as Harry Potter, the movies based on Tolkien's works, and the plethora of comic book movies are fresh in the collective minds of the world we live in. Story telling is one of the oldest human traditions; even cave men painted on walls and told stories around the camp fire. </p><p></p><p>So why is the industry doomed? I don't understand the mindset of the industry and the hobby dying. Not only does the rpg hobby hold dear some of the ideals which one of humanity's oldest traditions is based around, but it also has ties to many of the forms of entertainment which are popular today. I think too often we fall into the mindset of being afraid to introduce people to the game because we think others will find it strange or call us dorks or whatever. You'd be surprised how open people are to playing if approached the right way. </p><p></p><p>Likewise, I see a lot of posts which seem to indicate new players having an inability to understand things. I myself at times buy into the idea of certain games being too complex. However, I find myself being proven wrong quite often when I do buy into the idea. I was pretty surprised to find that my 3 old (he'll be 4 in February) has a pretty good idea about how the games I play work from watching when I have people over to game. </p><p></p><p>He's still learning to count and read, so -obviously- he does not have the understanding that would come with reading the books and being able to do some of the more complex math, but, at the same time, I was amazed at how well he understood the concept of what a rpg was. His terminology is different than what mine is due to his age, but he seems to get it. (After he had shown interest, I have used dice and other game related things to help teach him to count and do some basic math.)</p><p></p><p>I'm not really sure where I was going with any of this. I suppose part of what I'm getting at is the rpg community seems to want to attract people to the hobby so as to maintain the health of the hobby. However, quite often, I find that we create assumptions and/or barriers to keep people away. </p><p></p><p>I'm still not quite sure what my point with the books was though. I guess that I was introduced to D&D and rpgs in a way that did not require me being in a game store, and in a way which did not require me to already be part of the target audience. That was at a time when society was actively trying to ban the game. Today, there are indications that society has embraced some of the concepts of rpgs and the immersive entertainment experience. So why does it seem as though there's such a willingness to throw in the towel now?</p><p></p><p>I don't buy the doomsday scenario. If it happens, I do not believe it will be because the market is not there. I believe it will be because of the currently established industry leaders not engaging the market with enough proficiency to survive.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Argyle King, post: 7647750, member: 58416"] not sure if this will add anything, but just a thought.... I completely credit the Dragonlance novels with getting me into roleplaying games. At the time, I had no concept of what D&D or rpgs were. At the time, I was a kid who saw some cool looking books on a teacher's shelf. I asked to borrow them and loved them. At the back of the book I found an advertisement for D&D. Unfortunately, I never did get to buy D&D (I think it would have been 2nd edition at the time) because the same day I saved enough money from mowing lawns and doing choirs to buy the game was the same day Toys'R'Us told me they could no longer carry D&D due to complaints from parents. It would be years later when I played Rifts as my first rpg experience, and a year or so after that until I played D&D for the first time, but the fact is that I would have never made any effort to seek the game out had it not been for those books sparking my interest. While the mediums may have changed, I think there are still probably kids somewhere today who have seen a book or a tv show or something else and have their interests sparked. I wouldn't be surprised to find there are people playing WoW thinking,"wouldn't it be cool if there was more to the game than DPS, raids, and collecting squirrel skins?" There might be someone playing Skyrim for the first time and being amazed at how in depth you can get involved with the world and some of the customization options to make your character your own; enjoying a non-linear experience. As I've said elsewhere, I believe society as a whole today is more open to rpg elements than they have been in a long time. Many modern video games have character customization utilities, Facebook has plenty of games based around the idea of building your own unique farm or virtual apartment; things such as Harry Potter, the movies based on Tolkien's works, and the plethora of comic book movies are fresh in the collective minds of the world we live in. Story telling is one of the oldest human traditions; even cave men painted on walls and told stories around the camp fire. So why is the industry doomed? I don't understand the mindset of the industry and the hobby dying. Not only does the rpg hobby hold dear some of the ideals which one of humanity's oldest traditions is based around, but it also has ties to many of the forms of entertainment which are popular today. I think too often we fall into the mindset of being afraid to introduce people to the game because we think others will find it strange or call us dorks or whatever. You'd be surprised how open people are to playing if approached the right way. Likewise, I see a lot of posts which seem to indicate new players having an inability to understand things. I myself at times buy into the idea of certain games being too complex. However, I find myself being proven wrong quite often when I do buy into the idea. I was pretty surprised to find that my 3 old (he'll be 4 in February) has a pretty good idea about how the games I play work from watching when I have people over to game. He's still learning to count and read, so -obviously- he does not have the understanding that would come with reading the books and being able to do some of the more complex math, but, at the same time, I was amazed at how well he understood the concept of what a rpg was. His terminology is different than what mine is due to his age, but he seems to get it. (After he had shown interest, I have used dice and other game related things to help teach him to count and do some basic math.) I'm not really sure where I was going with any of this. I suppose part of what I'm getting at is the rpg community seems to want to attract people to the hobby so as to maintain the health of the hobby. However, quite often, I find that we create assumptions and/or barriers to keep people away. I'm still not quite sure what my point with the books was though. I guess that I was introduced to D&D and rpgs in a way that did not require me being in a game store, and in a way which did not require me to already be part of the target audience. That was at a time when society was actively trying to ban the game. Today, there are indications that society has embraced some of the concepts of rpgs and the immersive entertainment experience. So why does it seem as though there's such a willingness to throw in the towel now? I don't buy the doomsday scenario. If it happens, I do not believe it will be because the market is not there. I believe it will be because of the currently established industry leaders not engaging the market with enough proficiency to survive. [/QUOTE]
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