From: "LaPierre, Bob" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Ok folks, we are all agreed that Maggie was using her past to show
> the perceptions that non-gamers might have about gaming/comic book stores.
> However the problem remains: How do we get these non-gaming types to see,
> want, and buy our products? Whether or not we perceive ourselves as
hulking
> menaces or nerdy dweebs _that is how we ARE perceived_ by most non-gamers.
> Now while I don't mind that sort of public personna, I need to reach those
> others to expand my customer base. So while this has been entertaining we
> haven't been looking at the key problem. I gave some possibilities in a
> previous email but those were specific to a convention. We need new blood.
It can be summed up in one word.
"Advertising"
Of course, I'm not talking about your local game shop buying 90 seconds
of Superbowl airtime. However, this was the one true silver lining I saw
when I first heard about Hasbro buying WotC... I thought "Hey, maybe now
we'll start seeing television commercials that expose people to roleplaying
in a positive way!"
Most people still think of roleplaying games in one of three ways: A)
Something a few kids played in high school/college B) That satanic thing
the pastor was ranting about back in `88. C) Those cults where the kids
drank human blood and thought they were vampires.
I think the only real way this is going to change is with advertising.
Even a simple 30-second commercial (shown with the regularity of a Taco Bell
campaign) where a bunch of normal-looking teens and adults are having fun
sitting at a table would do the trick, I think. Something to put it into
the heads of the public "roleplaying isn't just for geeks".
Anyway, that's my two yatmas.
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For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
