Attracting new people to gaming -- ideas and strategies

[Tav_Behemoth]

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?

The Dungeons and Dragons Experience is a well-made, serious & thoughtful documentary about the history of D&D and the people who play it. Very few people have seen it, though, and it's hard to find.

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.

Yep, 1 hour slots, beginning 11 am Friday and running until 11 pm, then the same again on Saturday; prizes awarded Sunday at noon. With 18 pre-gens, one of them is sure to be a druid, and what sort of druid wouldn't have a companion? (Too bad you can't get a rhino at 8th level.) The build I'm thinking of would be a summoner specialist.

 

[Thotas]

If that documentary is on DVD, I know a few people I'd love to show it to.

 

[William Ronald]

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

This sounds like a great effort, although I am looking more at an RPG effort. I think that many gamers, including industry professionals, would like to see more people in gaming.

Perhaps a cartoon might help a particular brand, like the Dungeons and Dragon game, but it might not explain what gaming is to a viewer. Mind you, I do like the efforts proposed on this thread.

I wonder what role the gaming industry might want to have in promoting the hobby as a whole. I imagine that there might be some concerns about efforts that promote gaming in general as opposed to specific companies. Mind you, I think that there is a general desire to bring more people to the hobb. I think that our hobby has some traits -- creativity, use of the imagination -- that might appeal to the general public.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

If that documentary is on DVD, I know a few people I'd love to show it to.

Yep; there's a link to it, and other D&D documentaries, here.

 

[William Ronald]

I wonder if the RPGA would be interested in working with an effort to run more gaming demos? I know WotC has its delegate program, but I think that there can be multiple efforts to recruit new people into our hobby. What do you think?

 

[William Ronald]

Well, the thread has been pretty quiet for a while. Perhaps one issue that we can explore is how to keep people interested in gaming once they have played for the first time.

One thing that has been stressed in this thread is a need for easy to understand starter products. I am not familar enough with the Dungeons and Dragons Basic game to comment on it. Are there other companies besides WotC that have products similar to the basic game? What are some of the other things companies can do, besides create introductory products, to make becoming a regular gamer easier than it has been in the past?

 

[StupidSmurf]

The following two ways to bring new people in have worked for me:

1. Reproduce; teach child to play. Repeat as needed. We have three gaming kids, and the fourth is getting intrigued.

2. If a player is married to a non-gaming spouse, extend the invitation to said non-gaming spouse, especially if you're starting up a new game/campaign. The benefits of this are many:
1. You get a new player into the game.
2. The couple has something else they can do together and enjoy.
3. It curbs any hassles when one spouse wants to try to get some gaming time.
4. Dispels any concerns about what the heck the gaming spouse does at these things.
This has worked TWICE for me in the past year and a half. In fact, in the second instance, the non-gaming spouse is getting so into it that she's bought her own Players Handbook and dice.

 

[Shadowslayer]

Well, the thread has been pretty quiet for a while. Perhaps one issue that we can explore is how to keep people interested in gaming once they have played for the first time.

One thing that has been stressed in this thread is a need for easy to understand starter products. I am not familar enough with the Dungeons and Dragons Basic game to comment on it. Are there other companies besides WotC that have products similar to the basic game? What are some of the other things companies can do, besides create introductory products, to make becoming a regular gamer easier than it has been in the past?

Well I don't know about other companies, but I can comment on D&D. What they need is a starter edition, not a starter set. Im not slamming the set as it is...Its gorgeous, but it doesnt go far enough...its just a teaser.

What I think they OUGHTA do is expand the basic rules so you could play it all the way up to 10th level or so. Have a mini Monster Manual, mini DMG, and kits of dungeon tiles. You could even do it the old way with an ecpansion to take you to 5th level, one to take you to tenth etc. Each expansion has spells, monsters, new equipment. Have them priced reasonably and make em paperback. This way the kids will buy them.

Up here in Canuck land a PHB costs between 50 and 60 bucks. Thats a big layout for beginners. No parent is gonna just go into a hobby shop and buy the PHB as a Christmas present for that kind of money unless the kid is already a player and put it on his wish list.

The way it sits now, the Basic Set is like a first time driver taking one lap around the block, then heading right to the interstate. New players should have the time to toodle around the neighbourhood before they decide to try and take in the "big" game.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I can see the value of this, and to an extent, agree with it.

However, if it's too expensive for the RPG companies to do the obvious things, advertising on television, recruitment programs at schools, etc..., it's too much for me to do unless I'm actually in a time where I have zero gamers, and since at the moment, I'm turning away gamers, that's not too likely to happen.

Perhaps the RPGA needs to be more organized to bring in new players or D&D needs to put more ads in it's console/computer games for the tabletop stuff?

 

[Seonaid]

I think the biggest draw of D&D is the fantasy, storytelling aspect. I doubt anyone starts by thinking, "Man, I really wanna be a rules lawyer!" The problem, therefore, is mechanics:

I have never, ever liked making characters. Oh, I love creating a backstory and all that, but the actual numbers stymie me. I've played many times and know the rules well enough to play and play successfully, but whenever I make a character, I always ask someone to check my sheet for me.

The same thing happens during play. Usually combat, but not always. It goes like this:
"A large group of humanoids crests the ridge. The leader appears to be wearing a cape of animal skins and is wielding a wicked-looking club with stones embedded in it. He shouts something in a language you don't understand, and suddenly the group is charging down the hill at you."
"I pull out my shortbow and take a shot at the leader."
"Ok, roll initiative."
And from that point, it gets tedious. New GMs (who haven't played much before) get lost in the numbers and players get bored with it. Sometimes confrontations get bogged down when people have to look up things in the sourcebooks.

There has got to be a way to streamline the system so that people who don't care too much about the numbers can get a balanced character and a balanced game together with little to no crunching. Perhaps this is just me, but it was enough that when I was trying to teach myself Magic (years and years ago when it first came out), I gave up and didn't come back to the game for another 10 years and that was only because someone I knew played and persuaded me to let him teach me. In that case, the "complicated" rules put me off the game. It would have been the same for D&D if I hadn't had someone holding my hand from before I even bought my first PHB.

Caveat: I don't know anything about the starter set. Also, I've seen D&D for Dummies out recently, but I haven't had a chance to actually look in it--is it any good? Can someone play from that book?