How to Get the Younguns

[soltakss]

Originally Posted by kustenjaeger

Some of my university friends have certainly had some success getting their own children to play but I think it has all been 'at home' with friends rather than in a game store environment.

Most of my games have been with friends. I tried a RPG club once but it was too geeky and they played lots of different games, not my kind of thing at all.

I've never played in a RPG shop, again the participants tend to be far too geeky for me.

An RPG club would definitely be a good idea as teenagers tend to congregate in clubs of various kinds. Those who would be naturally attracted to Roleplaying Games would be a bit geeky themselves (myself obviously excluded - that's why I am on an RPG Forum on a Saturday night) and would find a home-from-home there. (Us loners need to stick together).

[mrk]

Unless maybe one of the players turned their son or daughter onto RPG's and brought them along, I tend to prefer gaming with older people.

[FunGuyFromYuggoth]

It's going to be an uphill fight to get pen & paper games back into the spotlight. Teens are typically distracted and pulled in different directions by overscheduling, console and PC games, part-time jobs, iPods, a new blockbuster every weekend of the summer, and the Internet to name a few. Pen & paper games depend on a level of focus that demands planning and preparation. See the rise of collective card games. Easy to sell, package, and play. No prep time needed and addictive (never liked them myself, but alot of others sure did). Also, faddish and ultimately people put them down as quickly as they picked them up.

Perhaps something in the mass media? Comic books have clawed their way back to the spotlight with movies based, but few pen & paper games translate well to cinema (see the D&D movie) and even a moderate level of collateral interest (see LOTR) the effect on the demographic may instead spark an interest in selling toys or video games, not pen & paper books.

I agree with Jason. If the big box stores had more GAMES in the shelves besides WotC products, people might actually flip through the pages and buy them. The problem is the price, but with video games hovering at around the $60 price point, perhaps getting them to buy a $40 book isn't as much of an issue as getting them to read it, convince their friends its worth spending a few hours with, and fitting it into their schedules.

Or not.

To be truthful, I think the future are the online MMORPG who have effectively moved into the heroic fantasy genre, science fiction, superheroes, etc.

[Ars Mysteriorum]

Originally Posted by FunGuyFromYuggoth

It's going to be an uphill fight to get pen & paper games back into the spotlight. Teens are typically distracted and pulled in different directions by overscheduling, console and PC games, part-time jobs, iPods, a new blockbuster every weekend of the summer, and the Internet to name a few. Pen & paper games depend on a level of focus that demands planning and preparation. See the rise of collective card games. Easy to sell, package, and play. No prep time needed and addictive (never liked them myself, but alot of others sure did). Also, faddish and ultimately people put them down as quickly as they picked them up.

Perhaps something in the mass media? Comic books have clawed their way back to the spotlight with movies based, but few pen & paper games translate well to cinema (see the D&D movie) and even a moderate level of collateral interest (see LOTR) the effect on the demographic may instead spark an interest in selling toys or video games, not pen & paper books.

I agree with Jason. If the big box stores had more GAMES in the shelves besides WotC products, people might actually flip through the pages and buy them. The problem is the price, but with video games hovering at around the $60 price point, perhaps getting them to buy a $40 book isn't as much of an issue as getting them to read it, convince their friends its worth spending a few hours with, and fitting it into their schedules.

Or not.

To be truthful, I think the future are the online MMORPG who have effectively moved into the heroic fantasy genre, science fiction, superheroes, etc.

What about college-aged kids? I think BRP has a certain aspect of maturity that kids of today's culture may not appreciate as much (I realize this is a broad generalization...). Would getting in contact with organized gaming groups in larger universities be a method of getting people to try out the system?

Perhaps Chaosium could create some quickstart rules with an introductory scenario (but what genre?) and pre-gen characters, like they have with CoC, to be run at conventions?

[frogspawner]

Originally Posted by Ars Mysteriorum

Perhaps Chaosium could create some quickstart rules with an introductory scenarion (but what genre?) and pre-gen characters, like they have with CoC, to be run at conventions?

It's a good idea. From what's been said on this forum (or was it Mr. Durall's blog?) there's one already submitted...

[Atgxtg]

Originally Posted by frogspawner

It's a good idea. From what's been said on this forum (or was it Mr. Durall's blog?) there's one already submitted...

I think Jason said he was working on a Quickstart, but was waiting for BRP to be finished/released first (makes sense to me.-you definitely want to be certain about the rules so that the Quickstart is up to date with the published rules).

I think the key to attracting new fans, young or otherwise, is to figure out what are BRP's attractions and try to draw attention to them. Basically, what makes BRP a good choice for someone to pick up rather than, say D&D 4th edtion. (Yeah, we "know" that BRP is a better, simpler, and less expensive system, but new players don't "know" that.)



One problem BPR has is that it is sort of has to torch passed to it from several similar but different Chaosium games. What might be appealing to some players could very well alienate others. The controversy over hit locations and major wounds is one example.

Even the game's various optional rules can be both a merit and a detriment. Some people like to have lots of options and choices so they can fine tune the game to match their style of play. Others would rather have fewer options but a more streamlined and consistent rule system.


Personally, I think one advantage that BRP might have is in price, especially in product received for the money spent. A copy of BRP costs less than a copy of the new D&D rules. BRP products are probably going to be larger and have more content than a typical "module". That's a bit plus when trying to sell a product to people with limited income (vi9rtually all students, college level or otherwise).

A ad or two showing what it costs to get a set of the rules, a campaign setting, and an adventure in BRP vs. D&D might be very helpful.

I also think BRP really needs a magazine, either official or a fanzine that fans can go to for new adventures, game aids, errata (a Q&A column with Jason's answers to some of the questions that have been asked would be nice). If someone put together a PDF at regular intervals, it would help a lot. The more stuff out there, especially free stuff, the greater the chance of snaring new fans.

[FunGuyFromYuggoth]

There's potential at the college level, sure, but those are adults (or near enough) and with rising college costs, they are probably working even more than the high school kids. Plus, I don't know about you, but I don't think pen & paper can compete with discovering the joys of coupling and partying and, oh yes, studying. The gaming group at my university were not good and hopefully they're not representative of what college organized gaming is like and my impression is that they didn't do any better job of keeping gaming alive in the U.S. than the rest of us.

One idea, though, is to get these games to college books stores and to have the product placed prominently alongside other books. With the death of the FLGS, the college bookstore may be one of the few bricks and mortar outlets for gamers that hasn't been fully exploited by gaming companies.

[mrk]

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

One problem BPR has is that it is sort of has to torch passed to it from several similar but different Chaosium games. What might be appealing to some players could very well alienate others. The controversy over hit locations and major wounds is one example.
.

And that's what's great about the rules. If you take out hit locations and major wounds, the core of the combat system is intact and still very much enjoyable to use. Severed body parts and gushing blood are all dandy and nice, but it's nothing more then then icing on the cake--tasy as it may be

[Rurik]

Originally Posted by mrk

And that's what's great about the rules. If you take out hit locations and major wounds, the core of the combat system is intact and still very much enjoyable to use. Severed body parts and gushing blood are all dandy and nice, but it's nothing more then then icing on the cake--tasy as it may be

Now I am a big fan of severed body parts and gushing blood - but I must say I 've never actually tasted the severed parts or blood. You are kind of scaring me.

[Dredj]

Originally Posted by FunGuyFromYuggoth

The gaming group at my university were not good and hopefully they're not representative of what college organized gaming is like and my impression is that they didn't do any better job of keeping gaming alive in the U.S. than the rest of us.

.

The gaming group at one of the universities I attended had all the women around them. They were the only people who had something going on besides hitting on--or trying to impress--women. I think there's a promo opportunity that most--if any--game companies are not picking up on.

Oh yeah, some of those women would actually join in the role playing.