How to Get the Younguns

[Sunwolfe]

"Any you boy's seen a big chicken!?"

[PK Games]

Originally Posted by Dredj

I honestly think the best way to get the younguns is to do the first ever video game/p&p rpg tie-in. Then sell it at video game stores as a sourcebook/stand-alone p&p rpg game. It'll be just like what game companies already do for movie and television series. If you could get a video game franchise sourcebook, plus BRP rules, plus something like the Mythic Game Master Emulator Mythic Game Master Emulator all in one package, that would get tons of new, younger people to play the games. However, I realize licensing might prove very difficult.

Or you could invade the fan fiction sites and post scenarios with stats and basic rules for play.

Didnt they make a Street Fighter RPG?

[frogspawner]

Surely there's already a World of Warcraft P&P RPG?

[PK Games]

Originally Posted by frogspawner

Surely there's already a World of Warcraft P&P RPG?

Yes, I believe its D20. I think Street Fighter used the WoD system so you could have Guile fight brooding Emo Vampires.

[GerallKahla]

Originally Posted by PK Games

I think Street Fighter used the WoD system so you could have Guile fight brooding Emo Vampires.

I type this as the coughing fit subsides - soda was not intended to be consumed through the sinuses...

Thanks, PK Games, for helping me snark my drink through my nose!

[Dredj]

So I stand corrected on the "first ever" video game adaptation to p&p rpgs. But were those rpgs any good?

[Jason Durall]

Originally Posted by PK Games

Yes, I believe its D20. I think Street Fighter used the WoD system so you could have Guile fight brooding Emo Vampires.

There was also an AD&D adaption of of Diablo II by TSR (and later WotC for d20) and Alterernity-based Starcraft (also by WotC). Before that, I believe Steve Jackson did GURPS Myth.

[Dredj]

Wow, I stand very corrected. But I'll bet none of them got sold through a video game store. Which is where the younguns would buy them.

[Jason Durall]

Originally Posted by Dredj

Wow, I stand very corrected. But I'll bet none of them got sold through a video game store. Which is where the younguns would buy them.

Actually, I remember seeing the Starcraft and Diablo II games at my local Gamestop in Seattle.

They also had some other game stuff, mostly WotC material.

I'd disagree with the notion that getting pen-and-paper RPGs into computer game stores would be an effective move, mostly because those stores are struggling to stay afloat now in a world of downloadable games, online retailers, video rental stores that also rent games, and big-box store competitors like Wal-Mart or Best Buy.

(I work in the computer games industry and we see a lot of market data about the condition of the retail games space... and most of it is not very promising.)

If anything, I think RPGs should be making more effort to get into the retail bookstore space (despite the returns policies). I go to my local B&N or Borders, and the only games they have are from WotC, White Wolf, and Games Workshop. There's plenty of Chaosium fiction, but no games. No Steve Jackson games. No HERO games. No Green Ronin or Mongoose stuff.

Another option would be for games companies to provide game clubs free or radically-discounted copies.

Additionally, game companies should focus on more "starter" games that are actually easy to play (D&D is not a starter game), and more emphasis on pre-packaged scenarios and campaigns to overcome the massive amount of work a GM has to do before a game can begin.

But that's just me.

[Dredj]

Originally Posted by Jason Durall

Actually, I remember seeing the Starcraft and Diablo II games at my local Gamestop in Seattle.

They also had some other game stuff, mostly WotC material.

I'd disagree with the notion that getting pen-and-paper RPGs into computer game stores would be an effective move, mostly because those stores are struggling to stay afloat now in a world of downloadable games, online retailers, video rental stores that also rent games, and big-box store competitors like Wal-Mart or Best Buy.

(I work in the computer games industry and we see a lot of market data about the condition of the retail games space... and most of it is not very promising.)

If anything, I think RPGs should be making more effort to get into the retail bookstore space (despite the returns policies). I go to my local B&N or Borders, and the only games they have are from WotC, White Wolf, and Games Workshop. There's plenty of Chaosium fiction, but no games. No Steve Jackson games. No HERO games. No Green Ronin or Mongoose stuff.

Another option would be for games companies to provide game clubs free or radically-discounted copies.

Additionally, game companies should focus on more "starter" games that are actually easy to play (D&D is not a starter game), and more emphasis on pre-packaged scenarios and campaigns to overcome the massive amount of work a GM has to do before a game can begin.

But that's just me.

I'll shut up now