Improving the gaming industry

[William Ronald]

I think one of the few statements that most of us on these boards can agree to is that we love role playing games and wish to see good products and more people joining our little hobby. However, I have meet a few gamers who are worried that we are not adding new people to our hobby.Others have said that gaming companies and organizations associated with gaming need to do more to serve the gaming public.

A few opinions related to this topic can be found on the thread: Dancey resigns as GAMA treasurer

Originally posted by mearls:
This entire thread demonstrates why a lot of people just stay the heck away from GAMA and ignore the entire mess it has become. GAMA politics are decisive, polarized, pointless, and ultimately harmful to the aims that GAMA is supposed to work towards. In the long run, all both sides have done is render GAMA a disaster zone that few people are willing to deal with. It would take a Herculean effort, one that would require a team that has nothing to do with either side of the feud, to repair it.

At this point, I'm not sure anyone who doesn't have an emotional stake in GAMA politics could be bothered to take part in reforming the organization.

Originally posted by eyebeams:

I think matters with GAMA are reflective of problems within the whole industry. For the past few years, there seems to be a terminal failure of the imagination when it comes to honestly confronting our common situation and looking at ways to improve it. When company owners can tell you with a straight face that the shrinking number of gamers is not a problem and they'll recoup it all from collectors, you have a problem. You have a catastrophic failure of vision.

What changes should companies, gaming industry support organizations such as GAMA or the RPGA, and the gaming public do to improve the health of our hobby? I think that with a community the size of EN World, we might be able to come up with some ideas to make a few positive changes. Nor do I think we need to limit the ideas to just D20 games and gamers. People who play other systems such as White Wolf's Storyteller are also members of our hobby and I think both the D20 gaming industry and the larger industry benefit when new people pickup our hobby.

Here is one idea: more support for introducing new people to gaming. In the past, the RPGA used to give members credit for running demonstration games. It might be good is the RPGA or even a new organization might support demonstrations of different games in stores and at conventions. (Perhaps several RPG companies could work together on this effort.) Two gaming shop owners I know try to have a variety of games played at their shops, or run games. This helps exposes people who collect miniatures or collectible card games to try gaming.

Other ideas are "entry" products like the upcoming D&D boxed set. Many people on these boards were introduced to D&D through different versions of the boxed set. Entry products are an easy and inexpensive way to introduce people to gaming.

Any other ideas or suggestions? I have found EN World to be a great source of ideas, so please feel free to share your ideas. For the most part, I am optimistic about the future of our hobby. I think that we have many more companies and gaming systems than in the past. However, it would be wise to make sure that the hobby is gaining new people as well as serving the needs of its existing members.

 

[mearls]

I have this thing where, if I have the time and inclination, I put "industry" in quotes when I'm talking about the game "industry". I don't think that game companies mean much when compared to gamers as a whole. When all's said and done, it's gamers who choose whether more gamers come into the hobby, or if publishers make books and games that are worth buying and playing.

It all comes back to you. All of it. Without gamers, there are no gaming companies. Without your money, all of the RPG companies can just pack up their bags and go home. GAMA, the Origins awards, these things only matter as much as you let them matter.

I think that if gamers demanded more from RPG companies, if they refused to buy books that didn't receive any playtesting, if they returned a book to their FLGS for a refund because it has sloppy editing, if they stopped thinking it's OK for a game to have messed up mechanics because you can always houserule them, then things would change.

The RPG business isn't a charity. If people stop buying games, game companies will either go under or start making better ones.

I think that's where it starts. I think if games are cool, fun, and engaging, then new gamers will naturally flow into the hobby. If they aren't, then all the marketing campaigns in the world won't draw people into the hobby. If RPGs are dull and badly made, the battle has already ended.

(As an aside, the notion that the RPG market has shrunk is not one I buy into. My research shows that a successful, non-D&D title from the 1980s sells about the same number of copies as one today. I think there are just as many gamers out there as ever. They just don't buy anything, because they don't see much worth investing in.)

EDIT: Turned a nonsensical sentence into a more coherent one, or at least as coherent as I can get.

 

[d20Dwarf]

EDIT: Turned a nonsensical sentence into a more coherent one, or at least as coherent as I can get.

That's good, I was about to return your post to Morrus for a refund.

 

[Belen]

This highlights the need for a RPG society. We cannot leave it up to the industry. Their primary goal is making money. They compete with each other for people's wallets, so they will never be a good way to promote the entire industry.

If we want to grow the hooby, then we need to do it. We need a society for gamers. The RPGA is just a club for playing living games and GAMA is a club for industry people. We need a society for gamers. An organization that can communicate with the industry, yet can remain apart from it.

If we rely on industry to keep the hobby alive, then we're doomed. Nothing prevents them from dropping RPGs if a new source of revenue becomes hot. They will only support us if their is a profit and the second the profit is gone, then they will move on. We'll be left there and they will be dust or making money elsewhere.

 

[William Ronald]

Originally posted by mearls:

I think that if gamers demanded more from RPG companies, if they refused to buy books that didn't receive any playtesting, if they returned a book to their FLGS for a refund because it has sloppy editing, if they stopped thinking it's OK for a game to have messed up mechanics because you can always houserule them, then things would change.


The RPG business isn't a charity. If people stop buying games, game companies will either go under or start making better ones.

I think that's where it starts. I think if games are cool, fun, and engaging, then new gamers will naturally flow into the hobby. If they aren't, then all the marketing campaigns in the world won't draw people into the hobby. If RPGs are dull and badly made, the battle has already ended.

(As an aside, the notion that the RPG market has shrunk is not one I buy into. My research shows that a successful, non-D&D title from the 1980s sells about the same number of copies as one today. I think there are just as many gamers out there as ever. They just don't buy anything, because they don't see much worth investing in.)

Mearls, thanks for posting. I tend to agree that it is up to gamers to set the course for our hobby. For myself, I have become a much more discriminating buyer. I also tend to avoid products without playtesting, unless they have really received strong reviews and endorsements by people I respect. (I would argue that more playtesting is something companies can do to improve their products. There are enough gamers who are willing to volunteer. Also, some better proofreading would be welcome.)

It is a bit hard for me to gauge how many gamers there are compared with the 1980s. However, I would argue that efforts to keep current gamers and attract new ones are good ideas.

BelenUmeria originally posted:
This highlights the need for a RPG society. We cannot leave it up to the industry. Their primary goal is making money. They compete with each other for people's wallets, so they will never be a good way to promote the entire industry.

If we want to grow the hooby, then we need to do it. We need a society for gamers. The RPGA is just a club for playing living games and GAMA is a club for industry people. We need a society for gamers. An organization that can communicate with the industry, yet can remain apart from it.

If we rely on industry to keep the hobby alive, then we're doomed. Nothing prevents them from dropping RPGs if a new source of revenue becomes hot. They will only support us if their is a profit and the second the profit is gone, then they will move on. We'll be left there and they will be dust or making money elsewhere.

I like your idea for a gaming society. However, I wonder how gamers can build one. There might be at least a few publishers and industry people who might want to work with an independent gaming society.

Locally, I do see people making efforts to draw in new gamers. However, I think we can do more.

 

[Belen]

I like your idea for a gaming society. However, I wonder how gamers can build one. There might be at least a few publishers and industry people who might want to work with an independent gaming society.

Locally, I do see people making efforts to draw in new gamers. However, I think we can do more.

ENWorld could do it. There are enough members here to form a stable core. You'd need at least 2000 members to form a core group for this to happen. They must be willing to shell out money to be a part of the society as well, but I think that can happen.

ENWorld is the best bet. We are the most stable of online communities because there is a real family feel here. I do not think any other group could achieve the desired results.

There is a link to a thread in my sig about how to do it.

 

[Crothian]

EN World is too d20. You need a site that is not as oriented to just one game system.

 

[William Ronald]

BelenUmeria, I believe that EN World could help organize a gaming society as well and perhaps reach out to a few other interested people and organizations. However, your sig is not showing up on my browser. My sig also has vanished. So, can you post the link.

What do you think a summary mission statement for an independent gaming society, and what issues besides gamer recruitment and retaining gamers do you think it should address?

 

[William Ronald]

EN World is too d20. You need a site that is not as oriented to just one game system.

You may be right, Crothian, but EN World might be a good place to discuss this and begin organizing it. There are some people who are respected members of other boards who might be able to help with such an effort. Mouseferatu is one of our members who is respected both by people in the D20 and Storyteller camps.

I agree that an effort tied to just one game system may be a bit limiting. I have played games in several different systems, and I think that gamers from different systems may have similar interests and issues.

 

[A'koss]

Originally posted by William Ronald:
What changes should companies, gaming industry support organizations such as GAMA or the RPGA, and the gaming public do to improve the health of our hobby?

Good question.

My feeling is that RPGs need to market themselves better and generate more awareness. Perhaps do a better job of positioning themselves as an alternative to video games. Advertising needs to be done outside the trade magazines, promoting games and cons and feature articles. If WotC were to release a new edition of the game, I would expect TV spots, print ads and perhaps some sort of bookstore promotions. And the thing is to keep the interest up. I would always have major bookstores keep a poster in their windows promoting the latest d20/D&D product.

The game needs an absolutely *fantastic* entry-level product as well. Very clever and eyecatching. It's must be fun from the word - go. The box set is a good idea, but could you do something even more interesting? A "tome box" perhaps that opens like a book, or some kind of psuedo-chest or some other clever idea. And I think packaging is important for everyone if you want to distinguish yourself from Brand X.

I think the core game can do with some "slimming down" as well as presenting the rules themselves better and more succinctly! Get the books down to half the page count they are now and make them cheaper. You can always add more books later. If you're not a gamer already, those huge books can truly be daunting - it's a *game* after all, not a novel. The prospect of having to learn several hundred pages of rules vs turning on the computer any time you feel and blasting demons in Doom is often a moot decision.

Just my 2 bits...

A'koss.