Wizards aiming younger audience

[FireLance]

This idea that we must teach rpg's without any combat is just bizarre to me. D&D is popular BECAUSE of combat, not despite it. Embrace the hack. We can get all serious role player later. Let the newbies have the same fun whacking goblins that we did.

Speaking as the father of a 7-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son, the emphasis on combat is why I've held off introducing them to D&D. At this stage of their development, I don't want to give them the impression that the most enjoyable way to solve problems is to hit them until they stop becoming problems.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

Speaking as the father of a 7-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son, the emphasis on combat is why I've held off introducing them to D&D. At this stage of their development, I don't want to give them the impression that the most enjoyable way to solve problems is to hit them until they stop becoming problems.

 

[Windjammer]

A big argument concerning 4th edition was always that art direction and tone seems to aim a younger audience.

Now, with the release of the Player's Strategy Guide (cartoon style) and Monster Slayers - https://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dnd/monsterslayers - it feels that Wotc decided to really focus on kids and teenager.

I couldn't care less for the sales pitch, but must register my being impressed at the new Essentials D&D ruleset. Nice preview, and free of charge at that!

What's your thoughts about this kind of books?

Rules-lite OSR games: be afraid, very afraid! You've got solid competition.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Coolness is overrated.

World of Warcraft is probably the most succesful computer game there is, and probably the largest game brand in the electronic industry. But - Is playing it associated with "coolness"? I doubt that.

What matters is that it's an entertaining pasttime. For the individual player it might matter that you can become a "skilled player" that masted the game, implying a certain degree of intellect and leading to recognition. Even if it's not recognition by everyone in the world and only WoW players.

 

[Mark]

Speaking as the father of a 7-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son, the emphasis on combat is why I've held off introducing them to D&D. At this stage of their development, I don't want to give them the impression that the most enjoyable way to solve problems is to hit them until they stop becoming problems.

That's certainly understandable. I was running some games at Little Wars over the last weekend that were geared toward combat but they are not personalized like a roleplaying game, merely miniatures games where the players are disassociated from the individual actions of the combatants. Once you venture into the realm of immersive RPGing, there are greater concerns involved.

The pictures below are of two games of Medieval Fantasy Combat Miniatures Game and one of Lurch: The Zombie Chess Game.

 

[Imaro]

Wait...these are all cool now? Man I totally should tell all the hawt chicks cuz they'll be all over me now j/k

We are talking "cool" for kids right? I mean that's what this thread is about, I know my 9 year old isn't playing Yugi-Oh to get hawt chicks, but yes to kids these things are cool... D&D not so much.

 

[Imaro]

You think that you are the first person to seize upon the fact that the stereotype gamer is the least likely person to be able to get laid? You think that this hasn't been already tried?

Dude, what's with the hostile attitude. When did I say I was the first to think of anything? And I didn't say anything about gamers getting laid.

Just exactly HOW do you make D&D "cool"? Care to spell the method out - instead of just restating an unattainable goal?

Nope don't have a method, but then again I don't have a marketing and research budget. I know the first step would be to collect some actual data from a sample set of young children (something I don't believe has been done by WotC). A cartoon might help as well. In the end it's not my job to figure out how to make D&D "cool" because WotC hasn't hired me to do that.

Yes, JD Egbert III was sensationalized free publicity - but the point to take away was that the spin on D&D was that it was a "game for genuises". That's the moniker that went with that story. And it *worked*. Better than anything else they have ever tried.

If you say so... still haven't seen any real evidence for this correlation you are drawing... but ok.

If you didn't hear about that aspect of the story at the time - my guess is that you were too young in 1979 to be aware of it.

You are probably right.

BTW - MMORPGS and Anime and CCGS aren't "cool". They may be popular - but they are hella geeky too.

Wrong... for Kids they are hella cool. I have a son who would definitely reject your claim.

 

[Jdvn1]

This is wise and long overdue. I'm not thrilled by the actual .pdf, but that's OK. I DM games with about 20 elementary and middle school students (youngest is 9 years old), and this is much easier than the most simplistic homebrewed game I run. Sometimes I think we underestimate these kids' ability to pick up some of the more complex rules of the game.

What is difficult for them is reading all the books and knowing how to choose their powers, etc - but if you build their choice of character and follow most of the standard D&D 4e rules, they will do very well, thank you!

I'm teaching some 20-somethings how to play, and knowing how to choose their powers and feats is intimidating for them, too. There are just a lot of choices, and knowing what is "best" without ever having played the game before is tough.

 

[buddhafrog]

We are talking "cool" for kids right? I mean that's what this thread is about, I know my 9 year old isn't playing Yugi-Oh to get hawt chicks, but yes to kids these things are cool... D&D not so much.

Good point, and same here for my 9 year old half-elf ranger. I mean son.

Late elementary to middle school aged kids are prime for D&D, at least through my experience. They love video games, Yugi-oh, super hero movies, etc. The step D&D has that others don't is the immersion and kids love it.

Being seen as a "cool" game never hurts. But I think a far more important factor in the success of bringing kids into the hobby is whether the game is available to them. I think very easy starter sets/boxes in more major retail stores will help. This OP idea which targets D&D parents will help. Increasing the availability and possibilities of D&D in various classrooms will help (I teach D&D to five ESL classes). Comic books will help. Comic book package that came with simple rules/dice/tokens would help. Hobby stores having pre-teen game schedules would help (if they could get any kids to show up). Make the game easily accessible, and at almost no profits, and you will grow the hobby and reap profits in the future.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Hobby stores having pre-teen game schedules would help (if they could get any kids to show up).

This one is highly unlikely, except for children with parents who are already gamers, so it won't do much to grow the market.

The hobby store where I learned to play as a kid 30 years ago was a small store in a not-too-big town. The owner of the store was well-known and well-liked in town and had his own kids around the same age. As a result the parents trusted him to keep an eye on the kids who were gaming there.

As a parent myself now, I don't have a game store where I feel I know the staff well enough that I would trust my pre-teen kids to participate in gaming events there, unless I joined in. Imagine what that would be like for parents who are not gamers?