Roundtable Discussion: New Player Acquisition Strategy

[Rechan]

Honestly, I think "DM training" could deal with topics like "What to do about a disruptive player". "Help, I let a player use a broken class/gave them a broken magical item and it's ruining the game; what do I do?" "How do I make adventures/dungeons/exciting encounters?"

And just provide general tips and tricks.

For instance, I was talking to a new player and he gave me some awesome advice. He said that when he DMed, he'd give the PCs a sheet that listed several notable NPCs, each with a blurb beside them. This list was "What you could find out with a basic Gather Info roll". Like "Helga owns an Inn, but for a fee, she will hide you if you're hurt and in trouble." "Boris is a cheap, honest fence; he won't move anything high priced or rare stolen goods, but he knows people who will." The downside to this list is, anyone can find this out, so the Guards know that Helga hides people, and they will stake her place out, etc.

This way, if the PCs are in need of something, they look down at their paper and go, "Hey, can we get ahold of Helga?" "Sure can."

 

[Meeki]

That is a good topic to cover also; there will be many different opinions on how to deal with it but that would be a sort of open opinion.

I like the idea of handing out a list of notable PC's, great idea.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Dice.

Small d20 earrings. d20 on a necklace. Hmmm nice.

I wonder if its possible to get Stephen Lynch's song "D&D" on the radio?

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Regarding a group to help make better DMs:

• Such a group should be dedicated to making better GMs rather than DMs. Much of the learned skills for running a role playing game are genre and rules independent. Don't limit the audience by making it D&D focused.
• While helping to improve GMs would be a good thing, it does not at its core fix the basic problem: you need to get someone to teach. A group like this would be great for those already interested in RPGs, but how would it appeal to people who just don't know much about RPGs?

I think a significant factor that ordinary gamers can do something about is the social stigma of RPGs. I admit I don't help in this since I am a Weregeek. I don't talk about gaming with people unless I know they are also gamers. I don't want to bring it up with co-workers because there are certain things I don't want to have to deal with at work. It is generally the same reason I avoid discussing politics or religion with co-workers unless I know they are of similar a mind, or I know they are very open-minded and respectful of different opinions.

Anyhow, somehow we need to improve the social view of RPGs. In that respect I think the booming popularity of WoW and things like the LotR and Harry Potter movies are a help. They open the door a bit to talking "geek" with people you might not normally. This might lead to an opportunity to mention RPGs without people instantly assuming you are a freak.

Last point for now: People talk about time - how difficult it is to schedule games, preparation time etc. Schedule will always be an issue. Prep time is another story. Obviously the publishers need to create systems that streamline some of the work, but we also need better resources for busy people to run games.

One thing I think could really help would be if there was a central source for lots of free homebrew adventures organized by genre, length, level etc. Of course the quality of these adventures becomes an issue as I have found many really bad free adventures people have posted on the internet. Maybe this could be something linked in with a GM organization. GMs could post their adventures, get critiqued, make changes, discuss how different groups handled the adventure or integrated it into their own campaign.

 

[werk]

Propaganda.


Math activity books for gradeschool teachers, free, from your friends at WotC.
Short literature readers, for gradeschoolers, free, from your...
Theatre shorts, ...

First and foremost, get a QUALITY weekly cartoon going on saturday morning or cartoon network/nickelodan.

Target the new customers with easily accessible, lovable fluff...then trick them into buying the crunch and accessories.

Stop marketing to existing customers, aim for prospective customers.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Target the new customers with easily accessible, lovable fluff...then trick them into buying the crunch and accessories.

Hmm, take a page from Webkinz. Sell action figure PCs that have a unique code. Enter the code and you end up with a pregenerated PC that looks like your figure that you can use on the Virtual Game Table free for three months.