Excited for the future of the hobby

[Monkey Boy]

I honestly think the biggest problem in Australia in regards to new blood isn't any game but a lack of a decent and well advertised convention.

What about GenCon OZ in Brisbane? I haven't gone myself but I've thought about it. Sounds like it has a broad enough appeal with plenty on offer in video games and anime to bring numbers through the door. I think the Paizo crew were there in 2009.

 

[Pig Champion]

What about GenCon OZ in Brisbane? I haven't gone myself but I've thought about it. Sounds like it has a broad enough appeal with plenty on offer in video games and anime to bring numbers through the door. I think the Paizo crew were there in 2009.

Yeah, it's great for QLD'ers and older people but for teenagers who live in other states, going to Brisbane for a convention isn't in the books.

I should've clarified, every state needs a well run convention that can expose younger poeple to TTRPG's. The main problem I run into when I ask younger dudes why their peers aren't playing is that there is little to no exposure and you need to be already in the TTRPG community to be in the know.

 

[Starfox]

Its very good that WotC is finally getting into the second pahse of marketing. From the very beginning, they said 4E was a two-step marketing process. First get the old players on board (estimated at one year), then start targeting products at new gamers. Well, two years passed and I was beginning to lose faith, but here it comes, finally.

I just hope its good enough, and am far from sure it is.

Like it or not, 4E is the edition receiving the marketing budget. If we want new blood in the hobby, this is very important indeed.

 

[Kzach]

What about GenCon OZ in Brisbane?

It's in Brisbane is what's wrong with it.

Seriously, whoever thought it was a good idea to run GenCon in Brisbane should be shot. It's the equivalent of running it in Cicely Alaska.

 

[Snoweel]

Canberra's the go.

Queenslanders aren't smart enough to play RPGs.

 

[tyrlaan]

Why should younger people play a PnP RPG that focuses on combat when computer games achieve this task in a much better way?

Most of our group is between 16-21 and we all agree that if we wanted to "kill monsters and take their stuff" we'd play Final Fantasy or Torchlight.

This is really just hyperbole though. Everyone here knows that a TTRPG provides the potential to be way more than just "kill it and take its stuff."

Maybe some day in the future CRPGs will match the vastness of options one has when playing a TTRPG, but the fact of the matter is the computer is limited by technology, budget, deadlines, etc. Everything a game allows you to do has to be accounted for in game code. A CRPG can't support a pg. 42.

I'm not discounting that CRPGs are competition for TTRPGs. However, I feel this is only true because people don't acknowledge the actual distinctions between the two, therefore leading to (what I feel is) the misconception that the two should even be in competition in the first place.

 

[Piratecat]

I recently taught a 10 year old how to play, and she loved it. Best thing I did that month.

 

[Pig Champion]

This is really just hyperbole though. Everyone here knows that a TTRPG provides the potential to be way more than just "kill it and take its stuff."

Maybe some day in the future CRPGs will match the vastness of options one has when playing a TTRPG, but the fact of the matter is the computer is limited by technology, budget, deadlines, etc. Everything a game allows you to do has to be accounted for in game code. A CRPG can't support a pg. 42.

I'm not discounting that CRPGs are competition for TTRPGs. However, I feel this is only true because people don't acknowledge the actual distinctions between the two, therefore leading to (what I feel is) the misconception that the two should even be in competition in the first place.

Oh yeah, I agree. CRPG's can't compete but as I said, exposure is a big issue. What I was getting at is, a lot of older gamers have their opinions on badwrongfun and if a new gamer suggests anything against their idea you get lines like "DnD is about killing monsters and taking their stuff".

This comes from personal experience (since I started playing around 12-13) and the experiences of my teenage players to which we all agree, CRPG's do the job better for that style of play.

But the main problem here is exposure, with all these arguments about stats and class optimization and miniature support etc etc The beauty of TTRPG's gets lost in translation.

This isn't just my opinion though but the opinion of some of my players still in high school. I'm not sure if there are any that post here but it'd be interesting to hear from them.

 

[DaveMage]

I came to D&D at age 11...

I did as well, BUT, the game appealed to me beacuse it was NOT targeted towards an 11 year old.

My vocabulary increased significantly by reading D&D books back then.

If books are *designed* for a 12-year old, they may not have the same appeal that they did for us back then....

 

[FireLance]

I did as well, BUT, the game appealed to me beacuse it was NOT targeted towards an 11 year old.

My vocabulary increased significantly by reading D&D books back then.

If books are *designed* for a 12-year old, they may not have the same appeal that they did for us back then....

On the other hand, the game might appeal to a broader cross-section of twelve-year-olds, and not just the smarter-than-average nerds.

Whether that's a happy, scary, or nauseating thought will vary from individual to individual, I guess.