My 8-point Agenda [for gaming]

[DayTripper]

I agree that most of the time fun does come from those things. I sadly seem to run into a different type of gamer than you it seems. One who's past experiences force-feed them data(video games) and many times they don't really understand how to get fun out of something without being reminded that fun is a goal. Also sometimes their idea of fun isn't actual contribution for contributions sake or the normal things that we all take as the reason to role-play.

For example some of the players we play-tested for AfterEarth rated acquisition of items very high in their reason to play(they were all heavy video gamers), while those who role-played more all listed exploring interesting places and acquiring power(as in levels or political/tactical power in the game-world) as their most important link to fun.

That's just my experience that's why I like to point out when I get new people together that fun is the number 1 rule and we discuss what they enjoy and more importantly what they THINK they might enjoy from role-playing.

Also I have found a good deal of gamers who don't get fun from the same things other role-players do. I think its probably just the different people. You all kinds and for me its always easier to define fun and how they want/plan/think they will get it and then build from there.

I agree with you 100% I see the type of gamers you talk about a great deal as well. I feel that video-games have really impacted role-playing. Bringing in some new blood at times but also offering up a fresh and unique problem set.

Some good insights here. I don't really have a computer gamer mindset so it never really occurred to me that there might be an acquistional approach that might also drive people not to have fun! I've often thought that "newer" gamers from video gaming take a different approach to "older" gamers but never really been able to put my finger on why.

 

[Karak]

Some good insights here. I don't really have a computer gamer mindset so it never really occurred to me that there might be an acquistional approach that might also drive people not to have fun! I've often thought that "newer" gamers from video gaming take a different approach to "older" gamers but never really been able to put my finger on why.

Admittedly I only found out in the last couple years while working on my KickStarter and trying to identify the "rift" as we began to call it.
For us it really started to all begin to make sense. Some people who bridged the gap don't pick up that mindset, but for many newcomers, it is all they know and their expectation of fun is whatever a screen, or person tells them.

For example these are some other numbers I got while having people make characters and play test AfterEarth.

The number of people making a character that asked "What are the colors I can pick for my clothes or another very basic question such as what hairstyle can I have?" = 42
The number of them that identified video-gaming as their #1 source of entertainment. = 39

The number of people play-testing that did not ask that question. = 197
The percentage of those players that referenced role-playing as their #1 source of entertainment. = 100%


Obviously that is not a perfect sample. But when discussing why someone asked such a basic question we received response like.

"Oh I just thought it was primary colors for clothes." 43% of responders
"I thought I had to pick from a list of hair-types." 19% of responders
"Referenced a video-game choice menu directly." All other responses.

Sort of damning.