[Lets try this again] Help at rpg.net

[zedturtle]

Okay, a long-lapsed player would like to know if anyone is still playing. It'd be great if any interested parties sounded off.

[Robin Smallburrow]

Have also posted this message at rpg.net:

I was running this last year but have now left this group and cannot find any new players who want to play this wonderful game in my city - everyone here seems only interested in playing D&D 5e - I have put up ads at game conventions and tried meetup.com without success.

A friend of mine has recently opened a new gamestore in Melbourne (called Gatekeeper Games) so I volunteered to run The One Ring there for the last month or so - but no takers sadly.

I feel that unless Cubicle 7 take an interest this game will die in Australia - I did a quick whip around of all the gameshops in Melbourne (there are actually over 15!!) but only two actually bothered to stock the game....

Robin S.

[jacksarge]

Have also posted this message at rpg.net:

I was running this last year but have now left this group and cannot find any new players who want to play this wonderful game in my city - everyone here seems only interested in playing D&D 5e - I have put up ads at game conventions and tried meetup.com without success.

A friend of mine has recently opened a new gamestore in Melbourne (called Gatekeeper Games) so I volunteered to run The One Ring there for the last month or so - but no takers sadly.

I feel that unless Cubicle 7 take an interest this game will die in Australia - I did a quick whip around of all the gameshops in Melbourne (there are actually over 15!!) but only two actually bothered to stock the game....

Robin S.

Take heart Robin, I play and I live in Australia (well Tasmania at least)
I was playing with some Northern Hemisphere folks on Roll20 but had to drop out for health/scheduling reasons. I still plan on keeping up a campaign of TOR that I run down here with a few guys. I hope you find some more takers where you live, this game deserves much wider circulation!

[Jon Hodgson]

I feel that unless Cubicle 7 take an interest this game will die in Australia - I did a quick whip around of all the gameshops in Melbourne (there are actually over 15!!) but only two actually bothered to stock the game....

Robin S.

I replied at rpgnet, but would have done so here had I known it was cross posted!

Also here I won't spare you the rambling on distribution.

So, it's worth knowing that we sell our games into a fulfilment agent who then sells them into distribution. Distributors then sell direct to stores. We don't sell directly to any stores anywhere, and through the distribution channel have very little contact with stores directly.

As the company expands (more on that later in the week!) we're opening more channels of communication to retailers, but it's not really the norm for us to intervene with retailers and sell to them. That'd be stepping on the toes of two other tiers in the process, so it's not really something we do. We do of course work with and through distributors to get our games into stores' hands.

We certainly prefer people to buy our games in brick and mortar stores over any other venue, and regularly take actions to try and support stores - things like recently making TOR supplements available to stores in PDFs via Bits and Mortar as soon as we release them.

I say all this because I don't want you to think we somehow don't care about Australian gamers or Australian game stores. It's not that we don't take an interest. It's more that things are just not really set up that way.

The best way as a gamer to get more stores to carry TOR is to ask them, as a customer, to do so. If they know there are active TOR gamers on the ground looking to spend their hard earned cash on The One Ring then they'll be encouraged to order it.

[zedturtle]

As the company expands (more on that later in the week!)

Intense eyes on the website action!


- - - - - - -

PS Thanks to everyone who visited the thread and made sure that there was a sense of a real community of players.

[zedturtle]

And another thread over there, asking for folks suggestion about a 6-8 hour mega session adventure.

[Robin Smallburrow]

Thanks for your reply Jon (& all the others over at RPG.net), I did not mean to 'have a go' at Cubicle 7 as such, it was just frustration over dealing with the vicious circle that the gaming industry appears to me in my 30 years experience of dealing with it - ie the gamestores will stock a game that they think is 'popular' or likely to sell, but to get to that stage often requires sponsoring from the games company in the first instance, gamers then buy the game because it is 'visible' onshelf, contributing to it becoming more popular etc.

As someone who has tended to play 'less popular' games (not being a fan of D&D) it is a constant source of frustration when you play a game you know is good but can't seem to get any interest, can't seem to break the 'vicious circle'...

Now as to some constructive ideas as to how Cubicle 7 can help:

1. sponsor a new event at meetup.com has been suggested and in fact I am talking to my local gameshop about this (http://www.guf.com.au) tomorrow - any suggestions on the wording?? Most gamers I talk to know Middle-earth very well but their response is often "I didn't know there was a roleplaying game available".

2. A podcast which would be recorded and then broadcast - this assumes I get players for the podcast! Also I am not familiar with the technology etc. so not confident about this idea - I would need to talk to one of the other fans who I see on this forum has already done this.

3. Run a sponsored The One Ring event at a Convention - have in fact already done this in previous years (Conquest & Arcanacon) but happy to consider for future events -perhaps at Pax ( I believe this is coming to Melbourne in October this year???

4. Do something special for 'World Hobbit Day' (September 22nd??) this is a good idea and something my friend at the gameshop would probably be interested in so I will be sending them a message about this (their temporary website is ggcompanies.wix.com/gatekeepergames, but they prefer contact via Facebook)

Perhaps there are other ideas I haven't thought of??

Robin S.

[Wbweather]

I am probably more unique in how I came to discover The One Ring and through that, RPG's in general. I never played any D&D growing up. The concept of a roleplaying game never appealed to me, mostly because of ignorance on my part of how they worked. It was the MMORPG genre that first peaked my interest, but even after several years of playing various MMO's, I never really considered a tabletop RPG.

Then a few years ago Nintendo flew me to Denver to try out the Wii U. At the time, Nintendo was using "ambassadors" to promote their products on social media. While on the trip, I stopped in at a local game shop to look around. The owner of the store approached me and asked what I was looking for. I told him I was wanting something to play with my kids that would get them out of in front of a screen and seated around a table interacting. He immediately pulled out a copy of The One Ring: Adventures Over the Edge of the Wild . He had not played the game, he had just gotten it in, but thought it was exactly what I was looking for. I was hooked.

Never having played a tabletop RPG, I was of course overwhelmed. It took me several readthroughs before I really understood what the game was about. I visited several game stores locally (Kansas City) looking for help. I soon found out that no one where I live had heard of it, none of the local game stores carried it. There were no local games to join. I almost gave up on it, but chose instead to push on. It was almost 2 years before I was comfortable enough to try and LM a game. We played 2 sessions and then the group disbanded. It took me another year to get a game going with Fantasy Grounds.

All of this to say, I understand Robin's plight. As a huge fan of the game, I want to see the game promoted and its player base expanded. I don't know anything at all about the role playing community at large, and certainly don't begin to understand development and marketing. Robin's post, however, got me thinking about how I could promote the game locally and what Cubicle 7 might do to help me in that.

As I said, I was a "Nintendo Ambassador" for a while. Nintendo sent the occasional perk our way and in return, we talked about whatever game or event it was on social media and among friends. Perhaps we as fans and players could emulate this "ambassador" idea at our local game stores and among our circles of influence with some support of Cubicle 7.

What if there were a centrally organized promotional event that we as player ambassadors could take it upon ourselves to organize and run through local game stores. Cubicle 7 could support the event through printable posters or flyers, banners and images to use on social media sites, a letter to game store owners explaining the event, etc. For the day of the event, possibly a PDF of a new introductory adventure designed to introduce the basic mechanics in a quick and fun way along with a rules cheat sheet for new players.

I for one would be excited to help support that kind of event. Shoot, I am thinking about trying to do it on my own already. Anyway there are people out there, like me, that don't have experience with role playing games but would really enjoy The One Ring as well as those who might be looking for a different type of RPG. I want to help promote the game. This might be one way.

Anyway, you asked for ideas.

[Glorelendil]

Your experience speaks to the potential utility of a starter and/or kids boxed set version, as Zedturtle suggested in another thread.

[zedturtle]

It sounds like an idea to make Hobbit Day our "Tabletop Day", as a fan created/promoted idea.