Attracting new people to gaming -- ideas and strategies

[philreed]

Speaking as a librarian at one of the libraries that WotC contacted while creating this program, I can tell you that it is getting a response.

Any suggestions on how we can donate to libraries that are running the program? I'd love to send some of my print products to libraries that would actually put them on the shelves for people to checkout.

 

[The_Magician]

that's a great way of bringing people to the hobby: choke them to death



AR

Well, it was meant as a joke. damnit, but wouldnt it rock to go to the groceries, buy some cheetos, some beer, and when you get to the cashier to pay for it, they start talking to you about the new books in the RPG market, and you go and grab a couple sourcebooks as well. I know I would like it.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

I would love to play it in SoCal this year. I can bring along about 20 players.

Bring 'em on! The tournament is indeed planned for So Cal this November; there's a forum set up here for folks to ask questions, form teams, plan strategies, agitate for the kind of pre-made characters you'd like to see, etc. Looking forward to seeing you then!

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

As for larger efforts, possibly GAMA or some companies might sponsor an effort to promote gaming -- with some grass roots support.

National Games Week is the major such effort I know about.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

A lot of good points have been made in this thread, but I'm doubtful about how well a cartoon would work. The cartoons mentioned are Pokemon and Yu-Gioh. These cartoons and associated games have one very large thing in common: competition. The cartoons portray heroes to cheer for when they beat their enemies. The games support this attitude. If you make a D&D cartoon, and get all the kids around into playing a wizard or fighter and beating up that tribe of orcs or slaying the dragon, who among them would want to DM? After all, the cartoon they started on portrays the characters as heroes, but I don't see any way for it to portray DMing in a similar "cool" light. How to solve this? Good question.

That's a good question, perhaps some type of overlord type cool watcher guy who sets it up. I dont know.

Noooooooooooooo. There's absolutely no need for a Dungeon Master style character in the cartoon at all.

Every clique has a leader. There's always a Queen Bee or Finn MacCool in every group. Somebody who wants everybody else to dance to their tune, conciously or unconciously. GMs are, pretty much by definition, the guy that likes the game the most ... spends more time on it, spends more money on it. SOMEBODY will always come out to be the DM.

Of course every "group" style cartoon has a "brain" character, so somebody like that could attract the DMs ... but I think "The Dungeon Master" was one of the worst parts of that old 80s cartoon.

The D&D cartoon doesn't need to TRANSLATE game aspects into the show ... there's no need for somebody called "The Dungeon Master", nobody needs to call Lidda "a rogue" or Krusk a "Barbarian" ... Lidda's just the little cute chick that breaks into stuff, Krusk's the big dude who wears an unacceptable amount of fur and hits things with his axe. Kids will get the point when they pick up the games. And there needs to be a TCG, on top of the minis game, and the RPG. Something that fits in a backpack and can be played over the lunch break or at recess.

--fje

 

[Tinner]

And there needs to be a TCG, on top of the minis game, and the RPG. Something that fits in a backpack and can be played over the lunch break or at recess.

You know, that's probably the thing that bothers me the most.
Here's WotC, the company with the PATENT on CCG's, the company that made the money used to buy TSR & D&D by selling CCG's ... and they don't make a D&D CCG??????!!!!

What's the thinking behind this logic? I mean, sure - Spellfire sucked, but people still bought it.
Dragon Dice sucked too, but people bought them as well. Blood Wars was half-baked but it too sold.
Why hasn't WotC made a stand alone D&D CCG. Or for that matter, a D&D expansion for Magic?

You know what else would be handy, anyone remember the old 2e trading cards they did for D&D? I bought a load of those, and I'd buy them now if they looked good and had 3.5 stats on them.

 

[Babylon Knight]

I usually introduce D&D as a basic "board game" type deal through the "Basic Game" boxed set, and from there, interest blooms.

 

[Thotas]

Admittedly only tangenital to the topic, the promo DVD idea made me think about something ... what if a real documentary was made about D&D? Something that basicly took the premise of "This thing called Dungeons and Dragons has been around for over 30 years now, and we've all heard of it, but few know what it really is. Tonight, we'll investigate the history of the phenomenon, talking to some of the people who originated it and some who play the game to this day." Just an honest look at the game, with intention of showing, in an objective manner, what it is, without an agenda either way. Talk to Vin Diesel, Gary Gygax, Wil Wheaton, geeky 40-year old fatbeards and cool 16-year old jocks. Ask why they play, how they play, what their start was. It'd be real easy to sensationalize the publicity campaign, though too much of that would be a bad idea, too. Over all, it'd be interesting to see something like this made.

 

[Buzzardo]

Bring 'em on! The tournament is indeed planned for So Cal this November; there's a forum set up here for folks to ask questions, form teams, plan strategies, agitate for the kind of pre-made characters you'd like to see, etc. Looking forward to seeing you then!

Done deal. How long are the slots? One hour like D&D for Cash at Indy? How often are the slots?

Make sure there is a Druid with companion in the PC selection, is my main request.

Also, just as a recommendation, you should head over to the GenCon SoCal Event and Games forums and pimp the daylights out of the game. That is what the forums are for over there.

 

[Shadowslayer]

That tournament sounds like fun!