Why are people not interested in RPG?

[pming]

Hiya.

Engaging "crotchety-old-grognard" mode...again...*sigh*

I blame the education system and technology.

I've had a LOT of success getting 30 and 40 somethings to try it...and pretty much NO success getting anyone in their teens or 20's. For the younger crowd, as soon as you hand them a book and explain that they should give it at least a light skimming they look at you like you're crazy. Read a book? A *paper* book? ...too much work... Mention that actual writing and math will be involved and they pretty much stare blankly, totally confused the the concept that reading, writing and arithmatic could lead in any way to "a fun game". If it's not on Playstation or X-Box, it's not "a read game" or "any game worth trying". If they DO get past that, the first session is probably their last...as not accessing the internet or their cell phones to check Facebook or text message every three minutes will start to have them suffer from withdrawl symtoms (go ahead...search the 'net for young people cell phone addiction...I dare ya...).

Basically, the young whippersnappers nowadays have no idea how to relax and take their time with anything. If they can't have it now, or it's not explained to them via video or audio...they just can't do it. Even the ones who express interest "give up" because they don't have time to do the reading...they're too busy filling their day up with text messaging and answering their phone.

Anyway, maybe when we get a big comet or super solar flare and it wipes out all our cell phone towers we'll have a better chance.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Jhaelen]

Honestly, I think most people are "too straight" by far for such "childish", frivolous activities

That might well be the case, but in my experience 'most people' with that opinion reject gaming in its entirety. They're equally opposed to wasting time playing video games, card or board games, or even party games.

Of course I don't know many people like that because the people I tend to mingle with _are_ gamers. From my point of view people rejecting games are the weirdos
In the best case they're simply incredibly boring, in the worst case I get a feeling they might have an actual mental defect. I mean, can it really be normal to not like games? Unfathomable!

 

[Chalice]

That might well be the case, but in my experience 'most people' with that opinion reject gaming in its entirety. They're equally opposed to wasting time playing video games, card or board games, or even party games.

Our experiences differ.

If you look at the mainstream popularity of some other kinds of games (e.g., casual web/phone games, console games, etc.) it strikes me that my own experiences, or observations rather, might be a little closer to the overall norm. Perhaps there are levels and levels of "non-gamer conformity". Something I don't want to level up in, thanks!

Glancing at WotC's income streams, it's clear that D&D is very low on the list. And how big is WotC, as far as Hasbro goes in general? That's just one example, that I suppose might pass as "evidence", such as it is. And the sheer amount of money / number of players, for things like big console games. Compare to TTRPG sales...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I still run into a lot of (in no particular order):

- It's satanic

- It's childish

- It's too expensive

- It's too time consuming

- It's too complex

- It's too nerdy

 

[Li Shenron]

Because it's a really weird thing to do with your free time.

But is it really...?

A - People like getting together with friends for a night of company, and not always clubbing but also at someone's home.
B - People like console games.
C - People like watching adventure/action movies.

And then people like doing A+B and A+C all the time, it's actually the less nerdy people who get together for a game of Wii instead of playing alone in their bedrooms.

So my question is about why people aren't considering A+B+C=RPG, although that "=" is just kind-of... But it has the social aspects, the gaming/challenge aspects, and the action/drama aspects, so IMHO it has to be because of RPG-specific barriers, like those mentioned here by many already.

 

[Li Shenron]

2. I'll get a lot of pushback about this point, but I think that video games are going to decline. That industry has been driven by technology for the last 30 years, but this trend is coming to an end. We're going to see next gen consoles coming out soon, but people just don't care that much. The games all look good now, and they have for several years. The problem is, the video game industry is out of ideas. I'm talking about the whole industry. There are a lot of people that really enjoy video game RPGs, but are just not getting what they want out of them any more. I should know, I'm one of them, and this has driven me recently to RPGs. People want a deeper, more dynamic gaming experience, and it's already out there waiting to be discovered.

I don't want to derail my own thread, but I just want to well... pushback you

They're not out of ideas. The focus has heavily shifted from improving "resolution" (such as super graphics, surround sound) to expanding "interaction", which means the games developers are focusing on new interfaces (Wii, Kinect... have you read about the leak about XBox 2013 augmented reality features?) and social aspects of the game (online multiplaying), as enablers of new ideas.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There may be hills & valleys in the industry, but the gaming code monkeys are not going to stop improving graphics & stories until they're somewhere near the ST:NG holodeck...or Westworld.

 

[Weregrognard]

I feel genre plays a big part. Not that many people are into fantasy, let alone sword & sorcery.

I've had better luck getting "normal" people to play (and enjoy) modern-day horror (esp. zombies) and Star Wars than D&D.

 

[Umbran]

So my question is about why people aren't considering A+B+C=RPG

Because RPG *isn't* A+B+C. RPGs are qualitatively different from those things, enough so that you can't just slide from one to the other like that.

You do realize there's an anti-intellectual current in some segments of our society, yes? Using your brain is nerdy. Actively using your imagination is immature. RPGs do both of those things, and do so without a veneer of something otherwise socially acceptable to hide behind.

 

[kitsune9]

some people have a very bad image of gamers in general, and they are scared by the idea that if they join the game they will have to spend the night with immature nerds in heavy metal t-shirts

You just described some of my past gaming groups. I should add grossly overweight, unemployable, and living in their mom's basement and then I got several of my past groups down pat, though I was lucky not to get Cat-piss Man in any of them (I dealt with those guys at cons).

My current group is about half and half (half "normal", the other half "A.B. Someone"), but the Mrs. thinks that they are all pretty much losers and there's no gaming allowed in the house because of their unkempt appearance. Even my gaming books have to stay out in the garage so that when "normal" people come over (i.e. non-gamers), they don't see the stuff.

So my point is that you're right, a lot non-gaming people are going to be really turned off by seeing these people. It's one of the reasons why I don't bother to preach the Gospel of Gaming to the masses enslaved to the Darkness of Monopoly and Scrabble.