D&D 5E Full D&D Adventurers League is for Americas only...

[VenomousFiligree]

I don't know where you are, but maybe consider trying to organize a connection there?

Been emailing possible shops offering my services as a GM, no response so far.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Sure, cheap and reliable internet access might not be available to the majority of the world, but there are certainly huge markets in Asia (for example, China, like Morrus mentioned, but also a dozen countries) where there's no obvious economic reason why tabletop roleplaying couldn't have a bigger market share.

Edit: And not just in Asia. The world is changing fast, and internet access is expanding every year.

I must admit, I really don't understand how RPGs aren't bigger in Asia. I've lived and travelled in Asia for most of my adult life and, in many ways, this is nerd-vana. Having a nerdy hobby even if you are otherwise a successful person is not seen as evidence of cognitive dissonance but simply a personal expression. (And, yes, I am aware I am treating Asia as an homogenous whole - which it is not - but that's purely for purpose of brevity.) And yet TTRPGs aren't big here despite obscure MMORPGs - DotA being one example - being huge.

I've tried to "evangelise" among the DotA players in my wife's family who, besides being DotA fans, are part of the national real unemployment rate of around 60% and, consequently, have very little to do most days. But as much as their eyes light up when they see minis and battlemaps, as soon as they are told they have to use a paper and pencil and add up dice it's considered too much hard work and they would rather play DotA.

And that, I think, highlights the biggest battle that TTRPGs have to face regardless of the nation or culture: too many people want a fairly passive entertainment experience and no TTRPG, no matter how simple the rules might claim to be, can be called a passive entertainment experience.

Anyway, this is drifting off topic. On topic, I can understand why WotC would focus its efforts on the part of the world that covers probably 80% of their fan base. It's just the Pareto Principle at work.

 

[VenomousFiligree]

I would say the rest of the world needs to organize some conventions.

Chris Tulach's latest article says that anything in person and in public is a convention for these purposes.

The Bristol D&D Adventurers League on Facbook

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I've tried to "evangelise" among the DotA players in my wife's family who, besides being DotA fans, are part of the national real unemployment rate of around 60% and, consequently, have very little to do most days. But as much as their eyes light up when they see minis and battlemaps, as soon as they are told they have to use a paper and pencil and add up dice it's considered too much hard work and they would rather play DotA.

And that, I think, highlights the biggest battle that TTRPGs have to face regardless of the nation or culture: too many people want a fairly passive entertainment experience and no TTRPG, no matter how simple the rules might claim to be, can be called a passive entertainment experience.

Er, reading what you've said, the problem there is very specific. It's not the minis and battlemats, so I don't believe it would be roleplaying or saying what their PC is doing that would be a problem - I don't believe they want a passive experience - if you've ever played DotA, one thing you could NEVER call it is "passive". It's ultra-involved, ultra-click-y. It's not even "fairly passive". MOBA games are anything but that (they make CoD and the like look passive, frankly).

The problem you identified very clearly "as soon as they are told they have to use a paper and pencil and add up dice...".

That isn't about passivity.

That's about user interface, essentially.

It's the same reason people give up on ASCII games, but happily play the same exact game when it's mouse-and-keyboard with normal graphics (instead of having to use bizarre specific keys to do things, which change contextually, and seeing the world only in ASCII).

So stuff like this vision of D&D where you don't have to roll dice, or use pencils, where you can press a button on your tablet to swing your sword and see the results, which you can either say, or which your tablet passes on to the DM, would eliminate that barrier (if they had tablets, of course - but even those are becoming more common in China).

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Er, reading what you've said, the problem there is very specific. It's not the minis and battlemats, so I don't believe it would be roleplaying or saying what their PC is doing that would be a problem - I don't believe they want a passive experience - if you've ever played DotA, one thing you could NEVER call it is "passive". It's ultra-involved, ultra-click-y. It's not even "fairly passive". MOBA games are anything but that (they make CoD and the like look passive, frankly).

The problem you identified very clearly "as soon as they are told they have to use a paper and pencil and add up dice...".

That isn't about passivity.

That's about user interface, essentially. (snip)

Interesting. I have never played DotA, or any other MMORPG (or CoD... or anything published since Neverwinter Nights...), so I based my pitch to them from reading Wikipedia and similar articles explaining DotA and also asking them to explain what parts they liked over a period of weeks before I suggested they might like to have a go at D&D.

My wife later told me that, in her experience, people here simply don't play games other than one or two local versions of some card game and smartphone/tablet apps.

But your post has me wondering how I can make this a bit more app-like. Some of the other members of the family will be back from their wanderings soon and one my sisters-in-law suggested they might be more interested and, if I can get them interested, some of the others might be prepared to try.

It's funny because it would be nearly perfect for them because they're often looking for something to do and they spend hours watching the local horror and fantasy crap on TV. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed....

(snip) So stuff like this vision of D&D where you don't have to roll dice, or use pencils, where you can press a button on your tablet to swing your sword and see the results, which you can either say, or which your tablet passes on to the DM, would eliminate that barrier (if they had tablets, of course - but even those are becoming more common in China).

Yeah, that is so true. If this was all app-based I would be fighting them off with a stick.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Interesting. I have never played DotA, or any other MMORPG (or CoD... or anything published since Neverwinter Nights...), so I based my pitch to them from reading Wikipedia and similar articles explaining DotA and also asking them to explain what parts they liked over a period of weeks before I suggested they might like to have a go at D&D.

Just to be clear - DotA is in no way, shape or form an MMORPG (it's a MOBA), despite using some concepts common to both. It's a real-time strategy game in which you directly control one "hero" unit whilst attempting to control three (usually) "lanes" (avenues of access between your base and the enemy base), and the goal is to destroy their base. It's one of the twitchiest, most precision-demanding games out there. Personally I can't play them, as in the West, a very large section of the community is ultra-toxic, and most of the current big ones are design in such a way that unless you know dozens of directly counter-intuitive rules, you're kind of screwing your team (upcoming MOBA games are trying to change that, but I doubt they'll be popular with the core MOBA audience).

MMORPGs do tend to be slow-paced and semi-passive for the most part, especially Asian ones, but that's a very different market.

But your post has me wondering how I can make this a bit more app-like. Some of the other members of the family will be back from their wanderings soon and one my sisters-in-law suggested they might be more interested and, if I can get them interested, some of the others might be prepared to try.

It's funny because it would be nearly perfect for them because they're often looking for something to do and they spend hours watching the local horror and fantasy crap on TV. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed....

It does sound like a market with potential, really. A lot of the tropes will be familiar to them. I have to say, I feel that, even in the West, if TT RPGs hadn't appeared until the late '80s, they'd never have gained much a foothold against computer games.*

Yeah, that is so true. If this was all app-based I would be fighting them off with a stick.

I hope so. I think this is WotC's goal. I think we'd see even more casual RPG players if the interface barrier was removed.

* = Equally, though, computer games would be completely different, without RPGs to draw inspiration from.

 

[Mistwell]

From the document, "The Correct Use of Acronyms"

"The first time you use an acronym in your document, the words should be written out with the short form placed in parentheses immediately after. This way, it's clear to the readers exactly what the letters mean. Here's an example: A New World Order (NWO) came into effect after 9/11."

This sentence manages to violate the acronym rule not once, not twice, but three times. And it's not like Ruin Explorer is in such a hurry that he had to do it that way...the guy posts every day, multiple times a day, on multiple message boards at quite some length. He obviously has the time to do it right:

"Just to be clear - DotA is in no way, shape or form an MMORPG (it's a MOBA), despite using some concepts common to both. "

 

[Jan van Leyden]

From the document, "The Correct Use of Acronyms"

"The first time you use an acronym in your document, the words should be written out with the short form placed in parentheses immediately after. This way, it's clear to the readers exactly what the letters mean. Here's an example: A New World Order (NWO) came into effect after 9/11."

This sentence manages to violate the acronym rule not once, not twice, but three times. And it's not like Ruin Explorer is in such a hurry that he had to do it that way...the guy posts every day, multiple times a day, on multiple message boards at quite some length. He obviously has the time to do it right:

"Just to be clear - DotA is in no way, shape or form an MMORPG (it's a MOBA), despite using some concepts common to both. "

Oh, I'm not the only one unable to decipher "DotA"?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

From the document, "The Correct Use of Acronyms"

"The first time you use an acronym in your document, the words should be written out with the short form placed in parentheses immediately after. This way, it's clear to the readers exactly what the letters mean. Here's an example: A New World Order (NWO) came into effect after 9/11."

This sentence manages to violate the acronym rule not once, not twice, but three times. And it's not like Ruin Explorer is in such a hurry that he had to do it that way...the guy posts every day, multiple times a day, on multiple message boards at quite some length. He obviously has the time to do it right:

"Just to be clear - DotA is in no way, shape or form an MMORPG (it's a MOBA), despite using some concepts common to both. "

<3<3<3

Can you imagine if people here did do that? Every discussion would involve stuff like "Player's Handbook (PHB)", and it would slow things down so much!

(On a more serious and less "Oh Mistwell, why do you troll me so?!" note, even if I did spell out DotA and MOBA, you'd be no clearer on what they meant, because they're acronyms of meaningless terms without context - context that can only be gained by using the mighty GOOGLE - I mean, DotA = Defence of the Ancients - and I guarantee that unless you knew what DotA meant, that leaves you as confused as ever).

In fact my explanation cleared things up perfectly, I think Proving that the "The Correct Use of Acronyms" is in fact wrong! DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN!

 

[doctorhook]

Interesting. I have never played DotA, or any other MMORPG (or CoD... or anything published since Neverwinter Nights...), so I based my pitch to them from reading Wikipedia and similar articles explaining DotA and also asking them to explain what parts they liked over a period of weeks before I suggested they might like to have a go at D&D.

My wife later told me that, in her experience, people here simply don't play games other than one or two local versions of some card game and smartphone/tablet apps.

But your post has me wondering how I can make this a bit more app-like. Some of the other members of the family will be back from their wanderings soon and one my sisters-in-law suggested they might be more interested and, if I can get them interested, some of the others might be prepared to try.

It's funny because it would be nearly perfect for them because they're often looking for something to do and they spend hours watching the local horror and fantasy crap on TV. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed....



Yeah, that is so true. If this was all app-based I would be fighting them off with a stick.

D&D market penetration has a similar problem in western markets as well: in 2014, with a plethora of attractive, engaging computer RPGs available, it's hard to get people to consider analog games. Its not impossible, mind you--I think 4E actually did a pretty decent job of attracting new players to D&D, for a while--but it's an uphill battle, and at least in western markets (especially English-speaking ones), TTRPGing has the benefit of 40 years of cultural presence and a widely- (if thinly-) spread diaspora of fans. In new markets, D&D still has to convince people why the hell they should try it out when other, prettier options exist, and it has to do so without established domestic support and history.

It might also be worth talking about D&D in a cultural context. Even though D&D is a blank slate at its core mechanic, elements like classes, races, monsters, spells, deities, adventures, and established settings all speak to a decidedly western style of fantasy storytelling that people in Asia may have difficulty relating to. To look at it from the other side, if games like Final Fantasy (except possibly its earliest episodes) are any indication, then the style of fantasy stories popular in Asian markets are pretty far removed from that of J. R. R. Tolkien or R. A. Salvatore. If nothing else, if I were in charge of marketing D&D in Asia, the first thing I'd do is hire an art director exclusively for this market.