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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Coreyartus" data-source="post: 1696789" data-attributes="member: 5399">Having read through this thread, I want to comment on some things that I gathered from various posts--What should a Gaming Organization do?Here are some ideas:  1) Provide awards for truly creative endeavors in gaming, to both manufacturers and to individuals who have made significant strides in the development of the gaming community, be it recruiting new gamers or providing places to game.  These can be as simple as a plaque or a free trip to the GenCon of their choice, whatever.  2) Provide discount cards or instore specials valid at only the local level FLGS--this provides a sense of community and even the store owner wins. Store owners do this on their own, why not do it under the guise of a larger organization--it's still the same discount.  3) Send Press releases out to campus newspapers providing the connections between game store advertising and campus student bodies at the college level.  How do we keep the hobby growing?Make connections with parents, not the kids.  It's the parents that have the money.  It's the parents that have the cars.  It's the parents that will validate their child's participation in that "wierd hobby".  The state of RPG's would be very different if parents drove their children to Wednesday night's RPG Club like they do Wednesday night's soccer practice.  Older kids can make up their own mind about participation, but usually the tone is already set in stone: total geekville.  Younger kids are more open and aren't worried about peers as much.Where do we game without game stores?Has anyone tried local campuses?  Colleges would LOVE to have kids visiting their campus.  There are literally THOUSANDS of community colleges and even community centers out there that are made for this kind of stuff.  Latino centers, GLBT centers--they're not going to care what's happening as long as it involves the community and brings people together.  Are we, as gamers, too embarrased to employ the same steps to acquiring gaming space as the local Bridge Club or Bingo Night?Why are we so clannish?We stick to what we feel comfortable with.  Inexperience with a gaming system is embarassing.  Period.  No one likes to be embarassed.  There are many, many people in our community that have spent lifetimes dealing with the stigma their gaming interest has caused.  No one wants to be in a situation where they are brought up short among their fellow-stigmatized-associates.  For as smart as we all are, at heart we are also just as insecure as the next person.Why are adventures not money makers?I think the key statement in the post I'm recalling whs that adventures don't generate enough profit.  This is the biggest problem in industry today--and not just the RPG industry.  Profit isn't enough anymore--it has to be a big profit or it's not worth it.  Smaller RPG publishers are actually in a better position than larger ones now--they are still creating product from their hearts, not to feed the capitalism machine.  Adventures do make a profit, just not enough for most people to feel "good" about.  Thus, most publishers won't waste their time.  And that's sad.In summary...All the thoughts about a shrinking RPG consumer base, and the inablity to sell product, and the implosion of GAMA, and the marketing-puppet that is RPGA...  We are a small group of hobbyists.  Albeit, larger than some, but still small.  Our little hobby will never garner the interest that other games do because it takes too much thinking.  You have to know tons of rules, and spend time reading, and organize schedules, and actually write things down... and even deal with people face-to-face in person... Who would want to deal with that unless you really do want to deal with that?  It's so much easier to play a video game, or watch a movie, or go skateboarding.  But we find the "boring" parts of the game to be part of the package, part of the fun, part of what we like about it.  But most people don't.  I think our biggest problem is that we're trying to make the gaming industry into something it isn't.  It is, in reality, a niche hobby driven by a relatively small consumer base when compared to other interests.  We need, as an industry, to learn to accept that.  It's okay.  We need to embrace the small market and set our expectations accordingly.  There is a finite-ness to the amount of growth one can expect in this hobby, and we've reached it.  The boom has passed.  What we should do now is concentrate on keeping what we've got, and enjoying the good times we have, and raising the caliber of expectations from our publishers.  As long as they think we are simple consumers that will purchase whatever they throw our way, than that is all we will ever be.  Until we change their perception, and have them look inward at what they've created instead of outward toward unachievable marketshares, our hobby will continue to get watered-down from every angle, and from every corner. Until it isn't there in any form that we can recognize.My two coppers, Coreyartus</blockquote>

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