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<blockquote data-quote="MoogleEmpMog" data-source="post: 3719338" data-attributes="member: 22882">For everyone who DOESN'T think the three-book model is a problem, let me know the last time you bought a game that WASN'T an RPG that REQUIRED:1. A person with 'more experience' or 'more stuff' than you to participate in the game.2. Material you are not given in the package you purchased (in this case, dice).3. A book that was more than 20 pages long.Number one is a real deal-killer, which essentially says &quot;If you don't know a gamer, you can't be a gamer.&quot;&nbsp; Number two is an annoyance at best, an evening-killer at worst (&quot;I bought this new game and thought we could try it out, but it says we don't have what we need to play it - what a rip off!&quot;).&nbsp; Number three is intimidating to a new player, although not strictly bad.Red Box D&amp;D was once widely available at toy stores.&nbsp; Then the 'box' form was dropped in favor of a 'book' (the otherwise lovely Rules Cyclopaedia) and the line was eventually discontinued.&nbsp; D&amp;D moved from the toy stores and into specialist stores and, at best, general bookstores.&nbsp; Much flap is made about the satanism and suicide scares pushing D&amp;D into these markets - but if so, why didn't other RPGs take its place (and take its market primacy in the process)?&nbsp; What RPGs would those be, with convenient, accessible boxed sets that could have hoped to do so?&nbsp; None?Nintendo had to package the original NES with a toy robot (which then went basically unused) because they knew, above all, they had to get it on the shelves in toy stores and general stores like WalMart.&nbsp; The NES essentially resurrected the dead console market and became the bestselling unit of its time.Wizards' own Pokemon Jr. RPG belatedly got on the Wal-Mart shelves - and promptly outsold D&amp;D.&nbsp; But the line wasn't continued because of the license being pulled and the lessons ignored; it was a kiddie product, based on something distinctly ANIME - Principle forfend any lesson be drawn from THAT!The fact is, RPGs are not just inaccessible to new players, they are ANTI-accessible to new players.&nbsp; That they attract anyone new at all is nigh-miraculous and speaks to the potential they still have.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MoogleEmpMog, post: 3719338, member: 22882"] For everyone who DOESN'T think the three-book model is a problem, let me know the last time you bought a game that WASN'T an RPG that REQUIRED: 1. A person with 'more experience' or 'more stuff' than you to participate in the game. 2. Material you are not given in the package you purchased (in this case, dice). 3. A book that was more than 20 pages long. Number one is a real deal-killer, which essentially says "If you don't know a gamer, you can't be a gamer." Number two is an annoyance at best, an evening-killer at worst ("I bought this new game and thought we could try it out, but it says we don't have what we need to play it - what a rip off!"). Number three is intimidating to a new player, although not strictly bad. Red Box D&D was once widely available at toy stores. Then the 'box' form was dropped in favor of a 'book' (the otherwise lovely Rules Cyclopaedia) and the line was eventually discontinued. D&D moved from the toy stores and into specialist stores and, at best, general bookstores. Much flap is made about the satanism and suicide scares pushing D&D into these markets - but if so, why didn't other RPGs take its place (and take its market primacy in the process)? What RPGs would those be, with convenient, accessible boxed sets that could have hoped to do so? None? Nintendo had to package the original NES with a toy robot (which then went basically unused) because they knew, above all, they had to get it on the shelves in toy stores and general stores like WalMart. The NES essentially resurrected the dead console market and became the bestselling unit of its time. Wizards' own Pokemon Jr. RPG belatedly got on the Wal-Mart shelves - and promptly outsold D&D. But the line wasn't continued because of the license being pulled and the lessons ignored; it was a kiddie product, based on something distinctly ANIME - Principle forfend any lesson be drawn from THAT! The fact is, RPGs are not just inaccessible to new players, they are ANTI-accessible to new players. That they attract anyone new at all is nigh-miraculous and speaks to the potential they still have. [/QUOTE]

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