Neverwinter Nights = Pot?

[Jeremy]

Heh. Fun title.

Ok, so I play big 10-12 hour games every single saturday. This dramatically affects my relationships with non-D&D friends.

My best friend (and previously my best man ) will hopefully be moving out here early next year and I want to include him in our games but he's never played D&D and I'm a closet gamer. I fear all the stereotypes that D&D has.

So I wanna hook him slowly by feeding his addiction to video games. Get him in here and play a few LAN games of Neverwinter Nights and teach him all about little intricacies about how the game works without ever mentioning D&D. Then maybe crank out a character for him and let him try it with mini's and more options.

Move him on to bigger drugs--er games.. What do you think? Might work? Stupid plan that will backfire?

 

[Teflon Billy]

Should that title have been "Neverwinter Nights=Crack" ?

Not as any real comment on the nature of drugs, but rather just as a common turn of phrase.

"(X) is like Crack" is used all the time in these parts.

"(X) is like Pot" ...not so much

Your plan sounds solid though. Assuming Neverwinter Nights is his kind of thing.

If he's all big on Quake and suchlike I doubt he'll be all that impressed.

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah just because someone plays computer games doesn't mean he'll like CRPGs. Though it helps if he already DOES!

I don't know about ADDICTIVE but it sure it fun! It would be more addictive IF I could run NWN as the Scarred Lands.

 

[Jeremy]

Mixed my metaphors.

I wasn't trying to say NWN is like crack, i.e. EverCrack, you'll never see the light of day. I was trying to say NWN is like pot, it's a gateway drug that leads to other bigger drugs. In this case, tabletop.

Pique the interest, suck him into geekdom with flashy graphics and spell effects, teach him the workings of the system, then gently slide him into miniatures and table top gaming.

 

[alsih2o]

he's never played D&D and I'm a closet gamer. I fear all the stereotypes that D&D has.

read a little about rosa parks and others, suck it up and come out!!!!

and watch the drug references, i find this funny as all get out, but if you wanna hide something, make it drug references associated with our hobby, and not your gaming.

i submit the previous thought respectfully but firmly.

 

[Jeremy]

Heh. Point taken.

Though I'm very proud to say, the reason I mixed my metaphors is because I've never touched the stuff. It was a humorous attention grabber and analogy for strategies to suck a friend into gaming.

No offense to those who enjoy the stuff, but IMHO, it smells really bad. Even worse than cigarettes. I wouldn't want to smell like that, much less suck it in. Ewww.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Mixed my metaphors.

I wasn't trying to say NWN is like crack, i.e. EverCrack, you'll never see the light of day. I was trying to say NWN is like pot, it's a gateway drug that leads to other bigger drugs. In this case, tabletop...

Actually, that's really clever Jeremy

I apparently need truly clever stuff explained to me

 

[Neowolf]

If he's all big on Quake and suchlike I doubt he'll be all that impressed.

I've gotta say, I disagree with that statement. Granted, many Quake players wouldn't appreciate the more subtle rewards of roleplaying and would probably end up trying to use the diplomacy-at-gunpoint (well, sword point, but you know what I mean) approach, but that's not always the case. I myself am a HUGE Quake fan, I play that probably more than D&D (not necessarily because I like it more, just that it's easier to hop into a Quake deathmatch than it is to just suddenly start a D&D game). I'm not saying you're absolutely wrong, but it's a bit unfair. Kinda like saying that all bikers hate poetry.

 

[Draco Argentum]

Yeah just because someone plays computer games doesn't mean he'll like CRPGs. Though it helps if he already DOES!

I don't know about ADDICTIVE but it sure it fun! It would be more addictive IF I could run NWN as the Scarred Lands.

You can if you want to make your own module. Of course thats even more work than a PnP module.

 

[madriel]

A local shop has NWN for $20 off, so I'm buying it tomorrow. Now I too will understand the addictiveness of this game.

Jeremy, some friends of mine tried to expose a non-D&D buddy to NWN at the last LAN party we had.

What we learned from that:

Tell him it's a team game. Everybody works together doing their own bit to help the team. Our friend didn't understand why he couldn't hurt the other players at first. Then he started opening doors before the rogue could check for or disarm traps and wondered why he kept dying.

This may sound like a no-brainer but, give him an idea of what the different character classes do. Trust me on this one.





Don't assume he won't enjoy NWN or D&D. I know two women who were brought into campaigns by their boyfriends and enjoyed themselves. A female friend got her husband into RPGs. They hesitated at first, but they loved the social aspect of the game. It's a great way to hang out without just staring at a TV screen.

And hey, it's not like you'd be admitting to dressing up in woman's panties and performing unnatural acts with barnyard animals you know.