Defining, Finding, and Appealing to the Casual Gamer

[innerdude]

DannyAlcatraz said something very interesting over in the "Why 4e isn't as popular as it could have been" thread, when he stated,

"For the casual gamer, the issue is what game is most popular where they are, since they are the least likely to offer to run a game."

And it really got me thinking about what we mean by "casual gamer," and how important they are to our hobby.

If ever there was an industry where the old "80/20 Rule" applies, it's in the hobby gaming industry.

It's somewhat simplistic, and I'm sure some MBA out there will dispute its validity, but in essence the 80/20 Rule states that "80 percent of any business's total profitability is derived from 20 percent of its customer base."

In other words, the top 20% of the RPG hobby's customers make 80% of the purchases.

So why does this matter?

Because I'm wondering just how much the RPG industry--not us as individuals or as play groups, but the actual industry--really wants to connect with this type of "casual" player.

First, I think most of us would agree that your typical Enworld poster isn't a "casual" gamer. Anyone who cares enough/takes the time to create a login and actually POST content to an RPG site is more than a "casual" gamer. They may not be fully "hardcore"--I myself don't consider myself "ultra-hardcore," but I do consider myself to be a "dedicated" gamer--but they're at least something more than casual.

So what is casual?

Let's assume interest in RPGs can be represented as a spectrum ranging from "extreme casual" to "extreme hardcore."

On the far end of the "casual" spectrum I use my wife's sister as the ultimate prototype. I introduced her to the RPG "scene" around four years ago, when she played in a short 3.5 campaign with my wife and a friend. When that campaign died, she sort of stopped playing for a while, but last year she actually started playing with a new group completely of her own accord, without me even knowing about it. And I was stoked when I heard about it, because I thought, "Good, another player for the hobby."

She is now currently playing in two different groups, my Pathfinder campaign on Thursdays, and a Mutants and Masterminds campaign on Saturdays. So from a "gameplay" standpoint, she's fairly active, averaging 4-8 hours a week of play time.

However--from an "RPG consumer" standpoint, she's utterly casual. She's never bought a single RPG book herself, not even a player's guide for any of the systems she plays. She's never bought a mini for her character. She's bought exactly one set of dice to play with. She has zero, zilch, no desire to ever GM a campaign. If we ever switched to 4e, she'd never even consider subscribing to DDI.

In economic terms, she's the worst kind of RPG player for companies like Paizo, WotC, etc--active in the hobby, but almost zero economic benefit to them (though I may actually convince her to buy a Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition handbook, since it's only $10). She's totally "system agnostic"--whatever the GM wants to run, if there's cool people to play with, and she thinks it sounds like fun, she plays. Without other, more "hardcore," dedicated gamers around she probably wouldn't play at all, and she certainly wouldn't be running her own game.

Now most "casual" players I'd put maybe a step or two above my wife's sister. They play semi-regularly, they've probably bought a player's guide or two, depending on which system they play. They may have bought a few minis to represent their characters in gameplay. They probably have a couple of sets of dice, and may have even bought a module or two thinking that "Someday, maybe I'll have the guts to try GM-ing."

But for the most part, they're supremely content to show up with their character sheet, dice, and player's handbook, and simply play.

But if this is the case, what actual strategies do the product makers use to try and bring more gamers in, and then keep them? How do you get a "casual" gamer to move up the spectrum to "interested," or even "dedicated?"

To be honest, I don't think this is really anything the industry itself can control. Getting new, dedicated players into the hobby is largely our responsibility--not Wizards, not Paizo, not Games Workshop, not anyone else.

 

[Mercurius]

You are right that game companies can't really do much to get new people into the hobby; in truth, they can do a lot to keep them out, depending upon how they advertise. Getting new (and thus "casual") gamers could be our responsibility, as you say, but transforming them from "casual" to "dedicated" is a more complex matter.

I'm not really sure there is anything that anyone can do. I mean, on one hand it depends upon their experience when they first start; it also has something to do with the quality of the game itself. But, by and large, I almost think that most people are pre-made with a "potential gamer rating," that people are either built to be non-gamers, casual, dedicated, or hardcore. In other words, it is out of our hands, it is our of the game companies' hands - it is entirely a natural, individual thing, and someone will be indifferent, like, or love RPGs no matter what anyone else does or says.

So what is the task of game companies? What should they be focusing their efforts on? What can they do? I would say two things, mainly:

1) Creating the best products possible, and
2) Pleasing the serious to hardcore base which, as you say, is responsible for the lion's share of money coming in.

Without the serious+ fanbase, the industry cannot survive.

(The question is, does Bill Slaviscek realize this?)

 

[pawsplay]

The causal gamer is also a casual spender, and a casual no-longer-interested person. Making a game accessible to casual gamers is a good goal; it's far more effective, I think, to make it particularly attractive to their more hardcore friends.

You know in "The Elfish Gene" how he talks about how delighted he was to discover you could buy books on RPG stuff just to read when you weren't gaming? Those are the guys you want to hook.

 

[Lady89]

I would have to say that I am a semi-casual player I have a few sets of dice and some books (but I didn’t buy any of them lol I love sharing PDF with friends ) It would be fun to GM at some point but mostly I just like to play. Game companies DON’T do much I would love to start panting minis but it is just to expensive of a hobby to start. That mini paint is expansive to buy as individual jars and I can’t find a reasonable starters kit.

 

[Stormonu]

Well, what I've found typically happens around my gaming table is that I (as DM/GM/storyteller/alpha dog) have a copy of the rules and any adventure that I'm using (plus minis, battlemats and all the other props). One other person in my group of 6 has a copy of the base rules (as he also sometimes DMs) and the rest of my group just "shows up", without a copy of any books - they're just there to play, and don't even have books at home to research/learn the game in depth. Definately all but the one person are casual players.

This has often been the case over the years - generally only the nuts 'n bolts sort of players or those who co-DM tend to actually buy into the ruleset or its supplements. It's generally the reason over the years that I learned to buy two copies of the rules whenever I plan to actually run a game - one copy for myself, another copy for the rest of the players to pass around. There's nothing wrong with that - when you go to play monopoly, for example, everyone doesn't bring their own copy of the game. They just tend to rely on the host's copy.

If a game company wanted to start getting players to spring for buying more, they'll have to do more where the players have to purchase their individual game components - kind of like they are doing with the fortune cards, but a lot more like M:tG where you bring your own deck (or in current 4E, perhaps your own deck of powers - somewhat like the GW booster cards).

However, I think the amount of change in that sort of model would bring nothing but disgust from established players if that becomes the norm with no other option (and definitely GMs, who'd be nickled & dimed to death - and if the GM could buy an all-in-one set, then the players would just buy it too).

 

[shadzar]

the worst kind of RPG player for companies like Paizo, WotC, etc--active in the hobby, but almost zero economic benefit to them

HEY! I resemble that remark!

Since Danny made that comment I have been wondering was I turned into a casual gamer without my permission?

I don't buy anything from Paizo, WotC, etc because I don't play/run games they currently produce. I was buying minis...but thought they died long before last month.

When it comes to RPGs, I do have one preferred, but not all versions of it. Otherwise I will play a few more if in the mood, but not buy form them.

From an economic standpoint I went form a hardcore gamer years ago, to an extreme casual gamer.

It wasn't my fault I swear! I can buy stuff, RPG products, things! There is just nothing I want that is in production....

How dare the industry do this to me. Downsize me, lay me off as a gamer and then blame me for it! I was there, I still have my wallet, but you left me! The industry dumped me! No I will tell people I dumped it, because it was spending time with other gamers behind my back...

OK I am laughing too much to continue a V-day related analogy, but does the industry view align with gamer views?

Because one doesn't try to play every game on the market, and only some games in certain fields and genres, they are just viewed as a casual gamer because the industry just barfed out games at an alarming rate? Does the number of games played determine your gamer status?

Very interesting stuff to think about....

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

How do you get a "casual" gamer to move up the spectrum to "interested," or even "dedicated?"

That, reduced to "how do you turn a customer into a repeat customer" is the Holy Grail of almost every business out there.

Factor 1: Offer a product or service people want. And don't get greedy- offer it at a reasonable price. That's regardless of the actual price of your product: I recently saw Richard Hammond (on Top Gear) review a Porsche that cost in excess of £100K, and the reviewer was ticked that so many things on it were extras. He accused them of being "cheap."

Factor 2: Give people a good environment or way to buy the product or service, make 'em comfy.

Factor 3: Give them good customer service. Always.

Factor 4: Do whatever you can to forge an emotional attachment between the buying public and whatever it is you're selling.

Factor 5: Be aware of what your competition is doing to see if there is anything they're doing you could do better with your own product...while walking the tightrope of maintaining that emotional attachment to your product.






(PS: I have an MBA in Sports/Entertainment marketing, FWIW.)

 

[shadzar]

Factor 6?

Give them the product/service at a reasonable price?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Eh...I should probably put that as part of 1.

 

[Lanefan]

That, reduced to "how do you turn a customer into a repeat customer" is the Holy Grail of almost every business out there.

Factor 1: Offer a product or service people want. And don't get greedy- offer it at a reasonable price. That's regardless of the actual price of your product: I just saw a review of a Porsche that cost in excess of £100K, and the reviewer was ticked that so many things on it were extras- he accused them of being "cheap."

Factor 2: Give people a good environment or way to buy the product or service, make 'em comfy.

Factor 3: Give them good customer service. Always.

Factor 4: Do whatever you can to forge an emotional attachment between the buying public and whatever it is you're selling.

Factor 5: Be aware of what your competition is doing to see if there is anything they're doing you could do better with your own product...while walking the tightrope of maintaining that emotional attachment to your product.

OK, first we need to clearly state there are two completely separate and sometimes competing goals being discussed in this thread:

1. The casual gamer as a benefit to the RPG industry. Danny's quote above pretty much looks after this side of it, and this most often seems to be the side that gets examined, poked, and prodded.
2. The casual gamer as a benefit to the RPG hobby. THIS is what needs to be looked at and studied; how to get casual and-or part-time gamers more entrenched into the hobby regardless of whether it benefits the industry.

And these goals come in to direct conflict the second that even one person turns away from RPGs because they either don't want to spend money on them or cannot afford to.

Goal 2 is where we hardcore/serious types have to do our part, in that if someone shows interest in gaming and you have an open spot, bring 'em in to the game if practical! Personally, I've been slipping at this in my current campaign: of 8 players so far, only 1 has never played a TTRPG before. My last campaign saw something like 19 people pass through, of which at least 5 had never played a TTRPG before; of those, all 5 stayed in my game long-term and to my certain knowledge 2 (and maybe a third; and I've lost all touch with a fourth) have gone on to other games and-or groups after leaving mine. And the fifth is now my wife; she doesn't play these days but enjoys the entertainment of listening to us and - obviously - has carte blanche to join in if-when ever she wants to.

I'd rather grow the hobby. If it thrives, the industry will (in theory) follow.

Lan-"looking round the game store, at the new things trying to tempt us"-efan