Roundtable Discussion: New Player Acquisition Strategy
- Thread starter dmccoy1693
- Start date
the Jester said:
Maybe DM's need an organization to support the training and education of DM's world wide. Perhaps DM's can have a special section on EN world for posting running the game, dealing with players, etc. I know it can be posted in the general gaming forums but also in homebrew or rules section etc. a centralized posting location may help.
I would be interested in a DM organization, one that focuses on sharing ideas about DM'ing, interacting with players, attracting new players, creating story lines, etc and of course training new DM's. Of course the organization doesn't have to be selective just a way to promote a more attractive and a more enjoyable game.
I'm not sure how this would be done but would anyone else be interested?
Jack7
First Post
The escapist elements could be downplayed, and instead the more general entertainment value emphasized, as well as making the game far more relevant to the real world and far more useful generally. (Of course I think the entire role play gaming industry could benefit a lot from the idea of increased relevance, in many areas of operation.) The more relevant a thing is to the entire world, or a more universal market share, instead of merely being relevant to a small sub-culture, or a series of segmented market niche blocks, the more popular a thing becomes overall. Because, simply stated, more people can apply a relevant product to something important in their own lives. But if a thing is only applicable and interesting to a small subculture then it is forever restricted not to population growth by conversion and import, but merely by dwindling replication and eventual rates of attrition which outrun rates of replenishment from future generations. Irrelevance on a wide scale is a sure method of dooming any movement, activity, or group.
I also agree that the idea of simply inviting new players is a good one, some kids at our church now play in our kids group because my kids and I invited them too. As is the idea a sort of training program for DMs and writers/developers of products.
I'm not sure any kind of forward training for players would work very well because part of the fun of playing to me, and to many others I have noticed, is that when you first start out you are basically ignorant of everything and part of the lure and enjoyment and excitement of play is the slow gaining of experience and skill and acumen. But then again I guess it depends very much upon how such player training were approached. Inexperience often leads to excellent gaming scenarios and very exciting situations. So any player training should not endanger those considertaions in my opinion.
With DMs or any referee or game leader you have the opposite problem. Ignorance and lack of capability leads to poor overall game construction and execution.
Yeah, it could be done in basically two different ways, though both ways could be used in conjunction. Orally - people could teach each other orally or over the internet, which although using writing would basically be the same thing.
The second way is to write a training manual/book and/or program that the DM could study at their leisure.
In either case the first thing to do will be to develop the various elements of the Training Program, write the outline, and sketch out the components that need to be included.
I also agree that the idea of simply inviting new players is a good one, some kids at our church now play in our kids group because my kids and I invited them too. As is the idea a sort of training program for DMs and writers/developers of products.
I'm not sure any kind of forward training for players would work very well because part of the fun of playing to me, and to many others I have noticed, is that when you first start out you are basically ignorant of everything and part of the lure and enjoyment and excitement of play is the slow gaining of experience and skill and acumen. But then again I guess it depends very much upon how such player training were approached. Inexperience often leads to excellent gaming scenarios and very exciting situations. So any player training should not endanger those considertaions in my opinion.
With DMs or any referee or game leader you have the opposite problem. Ignorance and lack of capability leads to poor overall game construction and execution.
Yeah, it could be done in basically two different ways, though both ways could be used in conjunction. Orally - people could teach each other orally or over the internet, which although using writing would basically be the same thing.
The second way is to write a training manual/book and/or program that the DM could study at their leisure.
In either case the first thing to do will be to develop the various elements of the Training Program, write the outline, and sketch out the components that need to be included.
Dragon Snack
First Post
So many things...
The success of WoW shouldn't be a negative. Sure, it may have pulled some people away from RPGs, but I also know it has drawn people to RPGs. It's not mutually exclusive in any case.
Armed conflicts? 200,000 troops in a combat zone (not all of which are gamers) shouldn't be destroying a hobby of 5+ million people (WotC's 2000 numbers). Enough said.
Discounters? Simple economics, lower prices equals more people buying. This isn't destroying the hobby, it's probably helping it. Not so good for game stores, but there are plenty of places for people to play other than a game store (and I think their ability to draw new players in is vastly overrated).
Substantial erosion of disposable income? We are talking on average US$30 (MSRP) for a book that gives you hours of entertainment. Compare that to movies, computer games (and the system to play them), whatever. It's not that people can't afford it, it's they have other things to spend their money on (that they feel will give them a better return) - most of which is more expensive.
Failure of the market leader should be moved up in the list, if not be the number one reason. Certainly not snuck in near the end of the list...
I agree with the "new DM" idea. Lowering the cost of entry for DMs would be the best way to encourage that - but I don't see the "market leader" looking in that direction.
As for "DM training", I like the idea in theory. However, the problem lies not only in implementaion, but also in how you define "good DMing". There will always be a difference of opinion in what makes a good game, even if you ignore the rollplay vs. roleplay debate.
The success of WoW shouldn't be a negative. Sure, it may have pulled some people away from RPGs, but I also know it has drawn people to RPGs. It's not mutually exclusive in any case.
Armed conflicts? 200,000 troops in a combat zone (not all of which are gamers) shouldn't be destroying a hobby of 5+ million people (WotC's 2000 numbers). Enough said.
Discounters? Simple economics, lower prices equals more people buying. This isn't destroying the hobby, it's probably helping it. Not so good for game stores, but there are plenty of places for people to play other than a game store (and I think their ability to draw new players in is vastly overrated).
Substantial erosion of disposable income? We are talking on average US$30 (MSRP) for a book that gives you hours of entertainment. Compare that to movies, computer games (and the system to play them), whatever. It's not that people can't afford it, it's they have other things to spend their money on (that they feel will give them a better return) - most of which is more expensive.
Failure of the market leader should be moved up in the list, if not be the number one reason. Certainly not snuck in near the end of the list...
I agree with the "new DM" idea. Lowering the cost of entry for DMs would be the best way to encourage that - but I don't see the "market leader" looking in that direction.
As for "DM training", I like the idea in theory. However, the problem lies not only in implementaion, but also in how you define "good DMing". There will always be a difference of opinion in what makes a good game, even if you ignore the rollplay vs. roleplay debate.
Dragon Snack said:
It's not that I'm was suggesting forcing a style of DM'ing on someone and claiming it "good". There are, however, core abilities that all DM's must possess to be a successful DM. Few of these are knowledge of the rules, ability to communicate the DM's ideas, story clearly and communicate with the players successfully, and fairness as far as treatment of the PC's go (not in the sense that the adventure be fair to the PC's but that all the PC's be treated with some sense of equality).
There is no need to go into rollplay vs roleplay or high fantasy vs low or anything of that nature. There are fundamentals that could be developed that all DM's should possess and in this idea lies the training of DM's.
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Pseudopsyche
First Post
Very true. It's how I got started. Or am getting started. I ran my first session of a 1-on-1 game with my fiancee last night, and later this month I'm trying my hand at running a one-shot for the local Meetup group. It's nice to know that either I'll be a good DM (someday) or I'll be encouraging the growth of the DM pool.Nifft said:Sadly, the only sure-fire strategy for new DM creation that I've seen work with repeatability is to have a thoughtful player chafe under a bad DM.
There must be less stressful education / recruitment techniques, but I don't know any.
(Although I hope it won't be my fiancee suggesting that we run her game instead.)
dmccoy1693
Adventurer
A number of good ideas here.
As far as "DM training" goes, would people be interested in something like a DM's Workshop? Not a typical Con where people go, game, listen to a speaker talk, visit the dealer's room, etc. I mean something like where everyone spends time learning and using tips and tricks of being a good DM. Not a series of lectures, but something where where everyone was divided into game-group size groups and worked with them all half-week/weekend and learned different advertising ideas, how to resolve player-vs-player/player-vs-dm conflicts by roleplaying those types of conflicts, handling players that know the rules/setting better then the dm and so on.
As far as "DM training" goes, would people be interested in something like a DM's Workshop? Not a typical Con where people go, game, listen to a speaker talk, visit the dealer's room, etc. I mean something like where everyone spends time learning and using tips and tricks of being a good DM. Not a series of lectures, but something where where everyone was divided into game-group size groups and worked with them all half-week/weekend and learned different advertising ideas, how to resolve player-vs-player/player-vs-dm conflicts by roleplaying those types of conflicts, handling players that know the rules/setting better then the dm and so on.
Evilhalfling
Adventurer
I find that clicker training works fine with DM's.
You keep some candy in a pocket, and everytime they do something you like you make make a clicking sound and give them a treat.
You keep some candy in a pocket, and everytime they do something you like you make make a clicking sound and give them a treat.
dmccoy1693
Adventurer
Lets not focus on the past (and not just because its easy to blame a faceless corporation). Lets instead focus on the now and the future. A new edition of D&D is coming out soon. Now is the perfect time to launch of a new player strategy, whether you are for the new edition or not. A rising tide raises all ships. Increased interest in D&D would serve to benefit every other game out there, even if it mostly helps D&D.Dragon Snack said:
As such, I am openly asking for anyone from Wizards of the Coast (esp those familiar with their marketting strategy) or any other RPG company to join this conversation. We, the gamers, are a resource that can be utilized, and we can work together for the gaming good.
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