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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 1692970" data-attributes="member: 2013">Some of us are trying. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Personally, I think it's interesting to see the (vocal) views of so many current gamers... "we don't want something that's watered down to the level that it's accessible for n00bs."  ALL of us were once "n00bs" and according to a poll I ran here on ENWorld, we often were introduced to the hobby in our pre-teen years.  I think the pre-teen years is actually the ideal time to expose people to ANY hobby you want them to really incorporate into their lives... by the time they hit high school, they're being pulled in too many directions (getting a car, getting a job, hitting the books, making career plans, boyfriends/girlfriends, sports, clubs, and other concerns).  When they hit their teen years, they start getting incredibly self-conscious... and may be wary of things that are "geeky" or even "immature make-believe" - while younger children don't have that sense of self-consciousness and are more readily able to play at "make believe" - and thus, inherently more receptive to gaming.There is a large portion of the audience of RPGers that have "grown up" with RPGs, and they now have a certain comfort level with them and - more important - a certain body of "back knowledge" that they can draw on.  New players simply don't have that.  The reason you saw (excellent) introductory products in the early 80's was that nobody was that experienced and could make the assumption that ANYONE would know this and that and thus take for granted an understanding that a newbie just doesn't have.I have been saying for a long time that we need to bring "new blood" into the hobby... because all of us "older folks" don't have the time to game that we used to (I remember spending weeks at a time in my summer vacations doing little else).  Family responsibilities, economic circumstance, ill health, or a million other things can take us "out" of gaming - temporarily or permanently.  If we're not "refilling the pool" with younger gamers, eventually there will not be enough gamers out there to sustain the companies.Often I am met with an attitude among current gamers of, "tough crap!  I want stuff published to suit ME, the experienced gamer - I can't waste my time with stuff that isn't 'adult-themed' or 'rules-complex' to the degree I want it so as to make it accessible to the darn kids."  Nobody expects that gamers will always stay innocent and naive... but to demand that NO "kid-friendly" products be made is just as bad as demanding that no "kid-unfriendly" products be made (a notion these folks find appalling at best and anathema at worst).  A little enlightened self-interest will go a long way here... can you imagine what our hobby would look like today if there had been something "easy-to-learn" in the early-to-mid-90's?  I'm not saying ALL of those kids who started on Pokemon or Magic and have since graduated to Yu-Gi-Oh (or whatever they're playing now) would have found D&D, but I'm convinced that if there had been something available (there wasn't - everything catered to the experienced player), there would be a lot more younger players in D&D today - and imagine the RPG industry getting even a tenth - or a twentieth - of the money that's currently being thrown at Yu-Gi-Oh cards by the under-15 crowd.  The RPG industry would be a LOT healthier financially than it is today, I guarantee you.I feel an introductory product is necessary on two fronts, then.  (1) I feel we as the gaming community have an obligation not to "pull up the ladder behind us" - we need to take the effort and time to teach new gamers - and we have to "sacrifice" by allowing ourselves to play in an "inferior, watered-down, kiddie-fied system" for a while when doing it.  (2) While the effects might not be felt until 5 years down the road, it will be incredibly helpful to the long-term growth - or possibly even survival - of the industry.I have done an introductory product.  I want to do more.  I know it's not the best product that could be out there, and I know its exposure is limited because it's a PDF, but at least I'm TRYING in whatever way I can.  I *truly* hope WotC's upcoming "Basic Set" or whatever is that introductory package the hobby needs.  We'll see.Someone needs to do it.  And if someone needs to do something, and I'm capable, I have always asked, "if I don't do it, who should?  If I don't do it, who will?"--The Sigil</blockquote>

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