Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Henry" data-source="post: 1569420" data-attributes="member: 158">I have an example of an RPG sub-activity that IMO shows trying to remove all &quot;competitive&quot; aspects is not that productive:LARPing. Compare the subset of Live-Action Role-Players (who have been active for at least 15 years now) to the populace who play Tabletop RPG's. LARPers are a VERY small minority compared to RPG'ers as a whole, and BOTH are smaller than GAMERS as a whole. Insistance on non-competition will satisfy a small portion of gamers, but the majority do not game for that reason. They game to tell a story in which they are ULTIMATELY successful. Whether it's the hack &amp; slashers who get upset if they don't beat the &quot;boss fight of the night&quot;, or whether it's the deep immersive roleplayers who handle the setbacks along with victory, it's not as fun when here is NO sense of accomplishment. This not a slam against LARPers; this is a recognition that LARPing appeals to an even smaller populace than Tabletop gaming does. The secret to success of RPG's, to me, is NOT to call it a &quot;hobby&quot; exclusively (which sounds too pretentious for me to use), but to package it as JUST ANOTHER GAME, which DOESN'T take a doctorate to enjoy, that's fun for the whole family, and which is ultimately (like any other game from Golf to Parcheesi) a reason for people to come together and socialize or network.Hobbyism is not the sole extension of RPG'ing; Hobbyism is a side-effect, like it is with any other means of entertainment. Golfers have hobbyists, American Football (and European) have hobbyists, Stamp collecting has hobbyists; heck, I'm pretty sure that the world of stamp collecting has its own &quot;comic book guys&quot;:&quot;This, sir, is a 1907 Soloman Islands stamp in fine mint condition, previously owned by a collector in Port au Principe. Only a Dullard would not know that information. Good Day.&quot; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="Henry, post: 1569420, member: 158"] I have an example of an RPG sub-activity that IMO shows trying to remove all "competitive" aspects is not that productive: LARPing. Compare the subset of Live-Action Role-Players (who have been active for at least 15 years now) to the populace who play Tabletop RPG's. LARPers are a VERY small minority compared to RPG'ers as a whole, and BOTH are smaller than GAMERS as a whole. Insistance on non-competition will satisfy a small portion of gamers, but the majority do not game for that reason. They game to tell a story in which they are ULTIMATELY successful. Whether it's the hack & slashers who get upset if they don't beat the "boss fight of the night", or whether it's the deep immersive roleplayers who handle the setbacks along with victory, it's not as fun when here is NO sense of accomplishment. This not a slam against LARPers; this is a recognition that LARPing appeals to an even smaller populace than Tabletop gaming does. The secret to success of RPG's, to me, is NOT to call it a "hobby" exclusively (which sounds too pretentious for me to use), but to package it as JUST ANOTHER GAME, which DOESN'T take a doctorate to enjoy, that's fun for the whole family, and which is ultimately (like any other game from Golf to Parcheesi) a reason for people to come together and socialize or network. Hobbyism is not the sole extension of RPG'ing; Hobbyism is a side-effect, like it is with any other means of entertainment. Golfers have hobbyists, American Football (and European) have hobbyists, Stamp collecting has hobbyists; heck, I'm pretty sure that the world of stamp collecting has its own "comic book guys": [I]"This, sir, is a 1907 Soloman Islands stamp in fine mint condition, previously owned by a collector in Port au Principe. Only a Dullard would not know that information. Good Day."[/I] :) [/QUOTE]

Verification