Roleplaying outside the U.S.

[Mr Samedi]

Dungeons & Dragons is and always has been king in Australia. We don't really have a roleplaying industry of our own - we're too small and too culturally close to the United States and the United Kingdom to sustain a unique instantiation of the hobby like Germany, France, or the Scandinavian countries do. Just as D&D dominates roleplaying here, for instance, Warhammer dominates the wargaming hobby.

Basically, we're not that different from the U.S. White Wolf games are popular, probably most closely followed (at a distance) by GURPS. Our gaming shelves are dominated by d20 and OGL products first, and everything else second.

When I worked at Games Paradise in Sydney we had a lot of the more prominent minor games - Legend of the Five Rings, Shadowrun, Gear Krieg, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, that sort of thing - but they weren't particularly successful. Lots of back stock on our sales tables, while White Wolf had about two-thirds as much space as the d20/OGL section (and GURPS about half of that).

I will say that I don't get the impression that Palladium Books has been as successful with its games in Australia as it has in the U.S. - which isn't to say that they're unknown. I know at least one guy who was really into Nightbane back in the late Nineties - but whenever I hear people on, say, RPGnet asserting that Palladium is or once was the second- or third-largest player in the industry by market share, it surprises me greatly.

Though we don't have much of a native industry, we do have our share of designers involved in major games thanks to the magic of the Intarwebs - Steve Darlington in Brisbane writes for Games Workshop/Black Library's Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Second Edition, for instance, and Patrick O'Duffy in Melbourne (formerly in Brisbane) wrote for White Wolf's Hunter: The Reckoning and Demon: The Fallen (at least) and more recently for Green Ronin's new Freeport products. Off the top of my head.

From what I've seen of roleplaying here, the Heroes/Champions system is pretty popular too.

 

[Kaladhan]

Canada = the US in all respects as we are treated as the same domestic market for virtually all purposes.

But you all knew that already, right?

In my canadian province of Quebec, DnD is by far the leader, but there is a slim percentage of people open to new systems/games like In Nomine, Nephilim, Shadowrun, etc... But there's something a growing movement of players toward boardgames. It's gaming more and more popular, already outshining RPGs.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

From what I've seen of roleplaying here, the Heroes/Champions system is pretty popular too.

Ahh, that is also true. Mostly among the older gamers, but what apart from D&D and White Wolf isn't?

 

[Turjan]

Dungeons & Dragons is and always has been king in Australia. We don't really have a roleplaying industry of our own - we're too small and too culturally close to the United States and the United Kingdom to sustain a unique instantiation of the hobby like Germany, France, or the Scandinavian countries do.

That's probably the reason. RPGs had to be translated to native languages in order to be successful in the larger European countries. In case of Germany, the creators of "The Dark Eye" first asked for a D&D license. When they heard the price, they decided to do their own game. They paired up with one of the major boardgame companies that had enough money to do ads, and they were really successful. They even had TV ads running. With that headstart, they have been able to stay the number one for decades now.

 

[Agamon]

Canada = the US in all respects as we are treated as the same domestic market for virtually all purposes.

But you all knew that already, right?

We need a Canadian RPG. Beer & Bodychecks?

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Exactly. Language and culture make a big difference. Most Europeans I've known read, write, and speak English very well, but the appeal of translated works is always there (assuming the quality is respectable).

There's also population to consider. Germany alone has more than four times the population of Australia, and German-speakers in other European countries just add to that market.

Compare Australia to the Anglophone world, especially the U.S.; the whole of Australia would make up only the third most populous American state, behind California and Texas, and we're the same size as the contiguous states. Any Australian game company has to compete with American, British, and Canadian companies, and economies of scale mean it's extremely difficult to be competitive on the international scene; it's expensive to ship product from Australia (and having distribution partners in North America and Europe just adds to your costs). North American game companies tend to print in Canada, too, and we just don't have that option - book production here is expensive.

 

[Turjan]

Exactly. Language and culture make a big difference. Most Europeans I've known read, write, and speak English very well, but the appeal of translated works is always there (assuming the quality is respectable).

That's why I said "larger countries". The smaller European countries are used to English from TV. It's not economical to dub everything for a few million people, so they get to see film originals with subtitles. In the larger European countries, everything is dubbed. Adaptation to the native language is an expected service. In this regard, D&D came often a bit late.

 

[kenobi65]

We need a Canadian RPG. Beer & Bodychecks?

I put on my +2 toque of protection, and attack you with my hockey stick of smiting, hitting you aboot the head and shoulders.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

It's also worth considering that, in Finland for example, "roleplaying" pretty much automatically means "live-action roleplaying".

 

[Glyfair]

It's also worth considering that, in Finland for example, "roleplaying" pretty much automatically means "live-action roleplaying".

And which sort of "live-action roleplaying is that"? Is it the improvisational acting sort, or the hit each other with foam weapons sort?