innerdude
Legend
Bear with me if it takes a minute for this post to "get up to steam."
I bring up this question because I am curious how someone of my basic background and experience would be perceived by the gaming community, and/or game design community at large.
I also brought this topic up because I think the answers to the questions I'm about to pose can be affected by what game companies perceive from their "hard core fan base," vs. those of casual players.
So let me explain a little more.
By some circles, I'd be considered a "hard core" RPG player. I own between 15-20 books across 4 different game systems (I haven't really counted, so this is a guess), six or seven adventure modules, six sets of dice, PDFs of all of my current Pathfinder library of about 12 distinct books and modules.
For the last 6 months I have regularly GM'd a Pathfinder group. I have purchased minis and two small battlemats, I have also created some home-made enemy tokens for battles (because minis can get expensive). I have created my own campaign maps using computer software I purchased with my own hard earned cash. I have three sets of dungeon tiles for creating scenes, I own a GM screen, and I have a running log of campaign notes, old character sheets, maps in both hard copy and digital formats.
All in all, I consider myself fairly "invested" in the RPG hobby.
Yet in observing other players and GMs, in some ways I barely scratch the surface of being "hard core."
For example, one of my players has either played or GM'd no less than 25 different systems, from White Wolf Vampire to GURPS to Deadlands to Traveller and stuff I've never even heard of. I have only ever played or GM'd three systems: D&D BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia, D&D 3.5/Pathfinder, and Star Wars Saga--all based on the D&D/D20 "heritage."
None of my minis are painted, and are likely never to be painted. I just don't care enough to sit down and paint dwarf beards and flowing elf hair with craft paint sets. Compare this to any typical "weekend warrior" Warhammer player at an FLGS.
I've never played a CCG, and the very thought of Magic: The Gathering bores the hell out of me. I've played Heroclix, but know absolutely zero about comic book lore, and am inevitably a liability to my teammate(s) when I do play.
I don't play WoW. In fact, I haven't regularly played a computer or online RPG in close to four years.
I don't have any desire to "power game," or spend endless amounts of time sorting through splatbooks looking for "uber" character class combos. When I read the "Pun Pun" thread on the old Wizards forums, or the "Class Tier" system thread over on rpg.net, I am overwhelmed by the sense of "hardcoreness" that I am lacking as I watch people spout endless amounts of combos and classes from splatbooks I've never even heard of, proclaiming all the while that any player that "doesn't use this" is now playing a sub-optimal character. I'm completely uninterested in "gaming the game" of RPGs, I don't want to argue about rules minutiae.
I've never played in a game organized or run at an FLGS, because most of my experiences with the people at your average FLGS have ranged from "Nice, if socially inept" (which didn't bother me at all, since I've been there), to "Likely to remain single for the bulk of their adult existence." And like most things, it's the extreme end of the bell curve that makes things uncomfortable. I don't mind a good fan boy discussion on the merits of a game, or one system vs. another or whatever. It's the ones who dress in cloaks, prefer you call them "Bradburn the Bearded," and literally shout at you from across the room when you interpret a rule incorrectly that give our hobby a bad rep--and generally make FLGS play largely un-fun, at least from my perspective. That said, I did make an exception one time just over a year ago because I promised a friend I'd give 4e a chance (and he was running the one-shot)--and it basically confirmed everything I've never liked about FLGS game play.
I've never attended a Con, never played a "living" campaign.
I'm in my mid-30s, have a regular 8-5 job that makes me mostly middle-class; I don't have endless amounts of extra cash to spend on games, but I can easily and affordably spend $40-100 a quarter on various game-related material.
So here are my questions:
1. Am I hard core, or not?
2. How typical is my experience? Are there others that are "hard core" but only up to a point, like me? Or am I barely on the "fringe" of being hard core at all?
3. Am I a realistic demographic that RPG companies are currently targeting, and why or why not?
4. How does the "hard core" demographic affect what the RPG companies do to try and bring in new players and the products they produce?
5. If I want to continue to play and enjoy the hobby, what should a person in my position do to promote it, considering that I look on the "FLGS experience" with a high level of distaste?
6. If people like me are now more regularly the "mainstream" of RPG players (which may not even be a valid assumption), is it unrealistic to expect that there will be a sudden "Renaissance" of teen and twentysomething players, given RPGs' challenges as an entertainment medium? Can companies promote products that appeal to both the uninitiated, as well as the "hard core"?
Feel free to add your own questions, or discuss. I'm really curious to hear what you awesome folks have to say.
I bring up this question because I am curious how someone of my basic background and experience would be perceived by the gaming community, and/or game design community at large.
I also brought this topic up because I think the answers to the questions I'm about to pose can be affected by what game companies perceive from their "hard core fan base," vs. those of casual players.
So let me explain a little more.
By some circles, I'd be considered a "hard core" RPG player. I own between 15-20 books across 4 different game systems (I haven't really counted, so this is a guess), six or seven adventure modules, six sets of dice, PDFs of all of my current Pathfinder library of about 12 distinct books and modules.
For the last 6 months I have regularly GM'd a Pathfinder group. I have purchased minis and two small battlemats, I have also created some home-made enemy tokens for battles (because minis can get expensive). I have created my own campaign maps using computer software I purchased with my own hard earned cash. I have three sets of dungeon tiles for creating scenes, I own a GM screen, and I have a running log of campaign notes, old character sheets, maps in both hard copy and digital formats.
All in all, I consider myself fairly "invested" in the RPG hobby.
Yet in observing other players and GMs, in some ways I barely scratch the surface of being "hard core."
For example, one of my players has either played or GM'd no less than 25 different systems, from White Wolf Vampire to GURPS to Deadlands to Traveller and stuff I've never even heard of. I have only ever played or GM'd three systems: D&D BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia, D&D 3.5/Pathfinder, and Star Wars Saga--all based on the D&D/D20 "heritage."
None of my minis are painted, and are likely never to be painted. I just don't care enough to sit down and paint dwarf beards and flowing elf hair with craft paint sets. Compare this to any typical "weekend warrior" Warhammer player at an FLGS.
I've never played a CCG, and the very thought of Magic: The Gathering bores the hell out of me. I've played Heroclix, but know absolutely zero about comic book lore, and am inevitably a liability to my teammate(s) when I do play.
I don't play WoW. In fact, I haven't regularly played a computer or online RPG in close to four years.
I don't have any desire to "power game," or spend endless amounts of time sorting through splatbooks looking for "uber" character class combos. When I read the "Pun Pun" thread on the old Wizards forums, or the "Class Tier" system thread over on rpg.net, I am overwhelmed by the sense of "hardcoreness" that I am lacking as I watch people spout endless amounts of combos and classes from splatbooks I've never even heard of, proclaiming all the while that any player that "doesn't use this" is now playing a sub-optimal character. I'm completely uninterested in "gaming the game" of RPGs, I don't want to argue about rules minutiae.
I've never played in a game organized or run at an FLGS, because most of my experiences with the people at your average FLGS have ranged from "Nice, if socially inept" (which didn't bother me at all, since I've been there), to "Likely to remain single for the bulk of their adult existence." And like most things, it's the extreme end of the bell curve that makes things uncomfortable. I don't mind a good fan boy discussion on the merits of a game, or one system vs. another or whatever. It's the ones who dress in cloaks, prefer you call them "Bradburn the Bearded," and literally shout at you from across the room when you interpret a rule incorrectly that give our hobby a bad rep--and generally make FLGS play largely un-fun, at least from my perspective. That said, I did make an exception one time just over a year ago because I promised a friend I'd give 4e a chance (and he was running the one-shot)--and it basically confirmed everything I've never liked about FLGS game play.
I've never attended a Con, never played a "living" campaign.
I'm in my mid-30s, have a regular 8-5 job that makes me mostly middle-class; I don't have endless amounts of extra cash to spend on games, but I can easily and affordably spend $40-100 a quarter on various game-related material.
So here are my questions:
1. Am I hard core, or not?
2. How typical is my experience? Are there others that are "hard core" but only up to a point, like me? Or am I barely on the "fringe" of being hard core at all?
3. Am I a realistic demographic that RPG companies are currently targeting, and why or why not?
4. How does the "hard core" demographic affect what the RPG companies do to try and bring in new players and the products they produce?
5. If I want to continue to play and enjoy the hobby, what should a person in my position do to promote it, considering that I look on the "FLGS experience" with a high level of distaste?
6. If people like me are now more regularly the "mainstream" of RPG players (which may not even be a valid assumption), is it unrealistic to expect that there will be a sudden "Renaissance" of teen and twentysomething players, given RPGs' challenges as an entertainment medium? Can companies promote products that appeal to both the uninitiated, as well as the "hard core"?
Feel free to add your own questions, or discuss. I'm really curious to hear what you awesome folks have to say.
Last edited: