How do we get new players into RPG's? Is it even our responsibility? While it's unrealistic to expect WOTC or Chaosium to buy a Super Bowl commercial, there are some things we can and should do.
First of all, represent your hobby well. Be polite to Magic, Pokeman and even WoW players. Who knows, they may be persuaded to come to the Dark Side.
Volunteer. DM some games at the library or gaming store.
Next, start them early. I have two nephews who I've already got playing D&D miniatures. One is 7 and the other is 13 and ready for RPG's. I'm going to DM a game for he and some of his buddies on his Birthday,(here's a secret, it's alot of fun doing this too).
Just recently I sent out a Facebook message to friends who I thought might be interested about the upcoming D&D game day. Included in this message was a link to the "actual play" videos that Wotc is doing with the guys from Robot Chicken.
I would love hear any suggestions from the blogosphere. Remember, each gamer that leaves the hobby needs to be replaced and we could actually grow it. Any growth should be initiated by players and not the big companies.
I certainly agree with you that it is the players who need to be out there, getting new blood into the hobby.
ReplyDelete"each gamer that leaves the hobby needs to be replaced and we could actually grow it"
My thoughts exactly. I had proposed ROAR (Reach out and Recruit) to try and get non-gamers on board; I think Vin Diesel was the first honorary member for getting Judi Dench to play.
I had also put a poster up at our local library but it was removed (twice) with no word as to why.
I'm running a campaign for my 7-year-old son and keep trying to get him to bring some of his friends along.
My local game store, such as it is, sells next to no D&D stuff (it's all trading card games and Warhammer) so there's no point in organising something through them.
It's a good idea to have demo games - I find that people are always more inclined to join in something that they can see, rather than something that has to be described to them.
There is also the problem that I (and possibly some others) have of the geekiness factor making it embarassing for us to admit to playing D&D, especially when we have to explain it and find ourselves going bright red as we realise just how daft it must sound to an outsider.
But I've decided that 2010 is the year that I get out there and make things happen, so I need to overcome all of the above problems and move forward. If even 1 in 10 gamers could bring someone new to the hobby every two months, we'd double the size of the hobby in two years. That's surely something worth aiming for, whether we're Old School or New School.
I have an awkward time with other humans. So does my girlfriend. Zak over at D&D with Porn Stars (http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/ - NSFW) mentioned in one post how D&D helped his girlfriend, Mandy, deal with her social anxiety disorder. I thought it might be good for my family's "social issues" as well. So I invited some people I knew from work to play some D&D with us, and asked them to invite their significant others as well. The result: 3 people who have played D&D in the past (all male), and 3 tabletop RPG newbs (all female).
ReplyDeleteHave I done my part? :) 'Cause I don't know if I could play with total strangers...
Anyway, if anyone is wondering how to get people to play, try that route. I was surprised to find how eager the girls were to join up. It was like they'd been invited to join some exclusive club.
I'm running a game for my children & a few of their friends. They are ages 9 to 14. Wrote the whole area/setting just for them, its been great fun so far. (sadly I've been to busy to update the wiki, but I will soon)
ReplyDeleteCheck it out -
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/fromgrace