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Message: <blockquote data-quote="nothing to see here" data-source="post: 2554936" data-attributes="member: 16432">I share your conclusions, though not your reasoning.  The World Series of Poker has been around for decades - it is only over the past 3 years or so that poker has becoem a pop culture phenomenon.  Likewise, American Idol has beenb long preceeded by a variety of talent competitions from "Star Search" back in the 80's all the way to Ed Sullivan.Which is not to say you're wrong to bring these ideas up...the RPG industry has a lot to learn from them - particulary poker.  What is useful is to ask, why did pokwer (and American Idol / Pop Idol etc) take off when they did.For poker, the answer is simple -- it became a television spectator sport.  And the reason it became a television spectator sport was because the organizers developed away to let the TV audience 'in' on Poker's big secret - each player's hole cards.   Believe me the WSOP would ba FAR more tedious thing to watch if you didn't have those miniture cameras broadcasting everybody's secret.In essence -- poker was de-mystified.The American Idol example is somewhat less fruitful.  American Idol emerged as the winner from among a large slate of 'talent' 'pop-star' style competitions several years ago.  The reason it succeeded had nothing to do with the 'anybody can win' mentality (every competition shared that), indeed it had very little to do with the competition at all.  It had to do with audience...and the emotional release they were promised every week.  Alone among the talent-competitions, American Idol does not pick 'winners' it picks 'losers'...a different loser to be booted off the show every week.  Sociologists have documented an extremely common emotional release that comes when people watch those who they perceive to be their 'betters' humiliated.  A different humiliation every week is American Idol's dirty secret.Since RPG players often have already run the gauntlet of humilation through the passtime's stigmas in certain quarters...I'd say that that the American idol lesson not particulary approprirate.Which brings us back to poker.  One simple innovation allowed 'outsiders' to peel back the mystery of the game.  The question we should ask is that...to an outsider a group of people sitting around a table tossing dice mystifies as much as anything else.  Is there an innovation that allows people to peel back that mystery and engage the game.I believe so</blockquote>

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