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<blockquote data-quote="CharlesRyan" data-source="post: 4975139" data-attributes="member: 5265">I've played a fair amount with players new to RPGs, players who hadn't played in a decade or two, and (that rarest of gamer) players who had played RPGs in the past, but never D&amp;D. All of them seemed to grasp 4E with little difficulty. Those who were joining our regular gaming group are still in it (a year and a half later), so they must be enjoying themselves!Some people suggest that introducing new players through the act of roleplaying (and glossing over rules) is a good idea. Based on my anecdotal as well as professional experience, I disagree. People expect games to have rules, and grownups are usually OK with the idea that the rules might be complex or hard to grasp initially. (How many times have you sat down to explain a board game to someone, only to have them say, after a few lines of the rules, &quot;let's just play and I'll pick it up as we go&quot;? People are comfortable learning rules--even complex rules--through play.)Because they expect games to have rules, and expect that they are supposed to follow those rules, people get anxious when they feel like they might not be playing according to the rules. This anxiety, in some people, prevents them from enjoying the other aspects of the game (roleplaying, exploration, etc.). They're too worried that they're doing it &quot;wrong&quot; to get any pleasure from the activity.On the flip side, the roleplaying side of the activity is more arcane--it falls so far outside most people's experiences with games that they often have a hard time wrapping their heads around it. It's also frankly a bit more intimate than the competitive games they might be used to, and that might make them a bit hesitant in the first few hours of play.Fortunately, the roleplaying aspect is easy to fall into once the game is going. So my advice is to not &quot;hide&quot; the rules, but let the players come to understand the game in the terms they are used to--the &quot;game&quot; part of the RPG activity. That will give the new players a chance to relax and enjoy it, and the rest will follow quickly.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CharlesRyan, post: 4975139, member: 5265"] I've played a fair amount with players new to RPGs, players who hadn't played in a decade or two, and (that rarest of gamer) players who had played RPGs in the past, but never D&D. All of them seemed to grasp 4E with little difficulty. Those who were joining our regular gaming group are still in it (a year and a half later), so they must be enjoying themselves! Some people suggest that introducing new players through the act of roleplaying (and glossing over rules) is a good idea. Based on my anecdotal as well as professional experience, I disagree. People expect games to have rules, and grownups are usually OK with the idea that the rules might be complex or hard to grasp initially. (How many times have you sat down to explain a board game to someone, only to have them say, after a few lines of the rules, "let's just play and I'll pick it up as we go"? People are comfortable learning rules--even complex rules--through play.) Because they expect games to have rules, and expect that they are supposed to follow those rules, people get anxious when they feel like they might not be playing according to the rules. This anxiety, in some people, prevents them from enjoying the other aspects of the game (roleplaying, exploration, etc.). They're too worried that they're doing it "wrong" to get any pleasure from the activity. On the flip side, the roleplaying side of the activity is more arcane--it falls so far outside most people's experiences with games that they often have a hard time wrapping their heads around it. It's also frankly a bit more intimate than the competitive games they might be used to, and that might make them a bit hesitant in the first few hours of play. Fortunately, the roleplaying aspect is easy to fall into once the game is going. So my advice is to not "hide" the rules, but let the players come to understand the game in the terms they are used to--the "game" part of the RPG activity. That will give the new players a chance to relax and enjoy it, and the rest will follow quickly. [/QUOTE]

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