The rehabilitation of roleplaying games

[Glyfair]

The mud slung at RPGs is the same mud thrown at rock music and video games. It's hardly been the deathknell of those interests. The success or failure of RPGs can hardly be related to those accusations.

While true, there is certainly a big difference in public perception here.

Next time you are talking with a stranger, mention something you do for fun. Compare reactions when you tell a stranger that you play video games, listen to rock music or play D&D. You'll probably get no reaction when you say you play video games or listen to rock music. When you say you play D&D, you are more likely to get an odd reaction.

Admittedly, part of this is because it's almost everyone has played video games and listened to rock music. Still, there is a large amount of baggage that gets attached when you say you play D&D.

 

[Harmon]

Maybe what's needed is an awareness campaign that goes beyond advertising. Right now there doesn't seem to be any formal advocacy, just marketing and various online communities.

Sorry about this in advance- the above quote brought to mind a public service announcement by Paris Hilton- "gaming is hot," <toss diamond crusted d20, and wink at nerd gaming boy>

 

[Victim]

While true, there is certainly a big difference in public perception here.

Next time you are talking with a stranger, mention something you do for fun. Compare reactions when you tell a stranger that you play video games, listen to rock music or play D&D. You'll probably get no reaction when you say you play video games or listen to rock music. When you say you play D&D, you are more likely to get an odd reaction.

Admittedly, part of this is because it's almost everyone has played video games and listened to rock music. Still, there is a large amount of baggage that gets attached when you say you play D&D.

Yeah, and I'm saying the difference in perception isn't the result of DnD being maligned in the media. If other forms of entertainment can be slandered in the same way without picking up the same baggage, what about DnD or gamers makes it unable to shed that baggage?

 

[Glyfair]

Yeah, and I'm saying the difference in perception isn't the result of DnD being maligned in the media. If other forms of entertainment can be slandered in the same way without picking up the same baggage, what about DnD or gamers makes it unable to shed that baggage?

I'm sure there are several reasons here. However, I'll go back to my point earlier. Most people have experienced playing video games or listening to rock music. The few who haven't still probably have direct experience with many who have.

However, it's much more common for people not to have direct experience with roleplaying games, or those who play them. Indeed, its probably not uncommon for people to have a regular relationship with those who play D&D and not know about it.

When you here that video games cause violence and know many who play video games that aren't violent, it's easier to discount the attachment (or at least the level of the attachment). When you don't know anyone who is "normal" and plays D&D, it's quite easy to buy into the stereotypes.

 

[Amazing Triangle]

I think that DnD and even Roleplaying does have a better "public" vibe than it use to. I mean when John Stewart can make a DnD reference and the audience actually laughed because they understood it. Now to say that in the past 20~30 years DnD has gone from being thought of as a satanic ritual to an actual hobby is huge.

I must admit that I myself had the stereotyped view of DnD that most of America/World holds. The thing that I found was that the problem with any large organization (as RPGing is) you have extremes. These extremes become what people think of as the "typical" representitive for this genre. Now if you think DnD/RPGs have actually risen to such notarity that we actually have a stereotype; like most sports fans, races, and groups of people have.

So maybe we don't need to be center stage for people to lose their stigma of our culture. We actually need to teach more people and be more open-minded to letting those that don't know how to play to join our games. Like I said, "I can teach a monkey the mechanics of DnD. I can even teach them how to play without dice. What I can't teach is how to be a storyteller."

Since video games/tv/ and many other things no longer force us to be imaginative. We, as a society, have stopped telling stories or even reading. This is the big obstacle as I see it, how do you get a society of people groomed not to think for themselves, who have let their imaginations atrophy, and who love repetitious plots and ideas,
How do you get these people to play a game that is all about imagination, ever-changing plots, deep-thinking, and reading?

 

[Victim]

I'm sure there are several reasons here. However, I'll go back to my point earlier. Most people have experienced playing video games or listening to rock music. The few who haven't still probably have direct experience with many who have.

However, it's much more common for people not to have direct experience with roleplaying games, or those who play them. Indeed, its probably not uncommon for people to have a regular relationship with those who play D&D and not know about it.

When you here that video games cause violence and know many who play video games that aren't violent, it's easier to discount the attachment (or at least the level of the attachment). When you don't know anyone who is "normal" and plays D&D, it's quite easy to buy into the stereotypes.

Yes, DnD is less popular than video games or rock and roll. The question is "What makes it less popular?" The original poster suggests that DnD isn't mainstream because it was portrayed negatively. I'm not saying that circular situation (DnD isn't popular because it has a bad reputation -> DnD has a bad reputation because it's not popular) is impossible, but it doesn't seem particularly likely. It seems more reasonable that more intrinsic distinctions between DnD and video games (or whatever music style) are the cause of its lack of mainstream appeal.

 

[Glyfair]

I'm not saying that circular situation (DnD isn't popular because it has a bad reputation -> DnD has a bad reputation because it's not popular) is impossible, but it doesn't seem particularly likely.

I'm sure most would agree there are a lot of reasons for this. I do believe that bad reputation has a significant factor. I have one player who, while a wargamer, never tried D&D because he grew up in a very conservative Christian area, where D&D had a very bad reputation. He was open to trying it, but even so the reputation did have him not try it for many years.

 

[Hussar]

I'm pretty sure that the number of female roleplayers is much higher than that.

I agree that this is probably true. But, I'm just going by the readership of Dragon that responded to their polling. 5 %. That was it. Even if the actual number is twice that, who cares? It's still a very small minority. Until we can start making gaming a unisex activity like music or video gaming, it will not lose the stigma.

It's also quite funny. I was reading an article that talked about those decrying various media through the last few hundred years. The same criticisms leveled at TV - it makes us all dumb and unimaginative - were leveled at novels a hundred and fifty years ago. Makes ya think huh?

But, really, the only way to bring DnD in to more mainstream, is to lower the bar for entrance (with something like a Players Pack), more visible play - no one outside of gaming has even heard of GenCon, yet most people know what E3 is, and some beter tie ins with other media like movies and video games.

Stormreach is a good start, but, it's still pretty pale compared to WOW.

 

[cthulhu_duck]

The question is "What makes it less popular?"

I think you have to compare it to the other activities to really perhaps divine why rpg gaming is less popular than it could be - compared with videogames, some ideas of the top of my head:
* Videogames require you have a console/pc/etc - up front cost, and continuing costs to play subscription games etc.
* Role playing games require you to have ... ?

* Videogames you can play on your own. Or on your own, but connected via a network to other gamers.
* Role playing games are largely not designed for solo play - so you need a group to play with, which means seeking out people who play - which isn't as easy as logging into World of Warcraft and roaming about.

* Videogames you can sit down in front of and start to play, learning as you go.
* Role playing games you can do the same with - but some groups expect more of newbies than is perhaps fair

* Videogames are sold in many real brick-n-mortar stores.
* Role playing games aren't sold in many real brick-n-mortar stores.

What other differences can people think of?

 

[DonaldRumsfeldsTofu]

Why on Earth would you want roleplaying games to be popular? I LIKE that it's played almost exclusively by anti-socials.