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Getting the word out


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Not wanting to hijack another thread, I saw comments about how the game could be more 'out there' and talked about/played. That is where we as a community come into play. This forum is great and has downloads and resources for people that are aware of BRP/Chaosium/Magic World/RQ6, and while many might have casual knowledge, what it takes is a movement to get books in hands and people playing. I have written an oldschool D&D blog since 2009 which I wrote daily for three years and then slacked off a bit. That is a new monster, spell, magic item, deity, etc daily, given to the community. Other blogs sprang up (this was the time of the Rise of the Simulacrums) and offered game reports, reviews, interviews and other insight into the games in question. Fanzines sprang up and some are still running. And how did this all start? With a group of six of us on conference calls talking and putting our heads together. In the beginning we were dismissed as being 139 people strong, not worthy of notice. I don't know, my blog has more than 250,000 unique visitors and I received a nod in the 5th edition Monster Manual, so the game can get bigger, it can expand and more and more people will notice. And there is a simple way of doing this for ANYONE on this sight that is interested-Someone start a conversation in Tabletop on Rpg.Net, with others contributing. Let that thread grow until it has several pages. Start another in a week or two. Don't spam the site, but keep Magic World and BRP/Chaosium/RQ6 in the first three pages for a while, that alone will get people to buy in. When I see the game mentioned now it is usually in passing, as a solution for someone looking for 'x' fantasy game, in a reactive way, but not in a proactive manner. Together as a community we can get the word out and get the game more attention, doing nothing will cause nothing to change.

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But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum, silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall cease to rest......Lord Dunsany

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I agree.  Devoted BRP fans have pumped out quality, even award-winning, products over the last eight or so years but that doesn't seem to have translated into name recognition, product on store shelves, and eager new players filling local gaming groups.  In my area, I see a stray copy of Call of Cthulhu 6 or Runequest 6 past through stores briefly and then disappear.  D&D and/or Pathfinder dominates the gaming tables, and there are no local groups playing any variant of D100 games.  Some sort of energetic marketing strategy is in order.  I mean, my largest local store stocks a reasonable selection of venerable Palladium (!) titles, but it is as if no one ever heard of Magic World, Runequest 6, OpenQuest, the Big Gold Book, BRP Rome, Mythic Iceland, etc.  As a community, the BRP crowd needs to match its productivity in creating material with aggressive promotion.

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Review d100 products and post them on RPGnet, here, the RPGsite and other blogs. Reviews help enormously.

 

Run games at conventions large and small, and FLGSs. April 11th is World Tabletop Day so start planning something now.

 

Publishers can only do so much. If the community wants the word to spread and the family to grow, then it needs to be proactive - and reviews and games run at public events are two terrific ways of doing it.

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I think there's some discussion out there.  A few reviews wouldn't hurt.  If people are interested in an organized campaign it's certainly something that's not out of consideration.

 

Myself, I have loose plans to do a read through of Magic World and Advanced Sorcery over at RPGNet.  People have expressed interest in something like that.  I was waiting for summer to hit though, as I have more time free then.

 

I may shortly be doing an actual play for Magic World as well.  I'm putting together a small group as we speak, but it probably won't manifest for a few weeks because of previous plans.

 

The way I look at it is, this whole thing is a hobby that I like talking about.  If it helps sell more books, that's great.  If it brings more people to the system, that's great.  Those results are not necessarily my end goal though.  My end goal is playing and talking about playing.

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Those are all great ideas on how the community can help the games. I don't know enough about the games to introduce discussion subjects on rpg.net but I sure as heck will help bump any conversation there. Likewise for any reviews.

 

Whilst we are on the subject of increasing awareness. There are other, low cost ways. For example, I just finished watching the D&D Acquisitions Inc. play sessions at GenCon and wished that one of the d100 games was covered in a similar fashion ie in front of an audience with reasonable production values and entertaining GM and gamers (minor celebrities optional). Cameras, editing tools and production costs are so cheap these days that I feel there is an opportunity for a company to piggy back off the 5th edition marketing machinery, copy this format (on a smaller scale and appropriate budget) and pick up some of the attention as a significant alternative.

 

On a side note, Wil Wheaton is expanding his Tabletop Gaming channel to include roleplaying. He did a 2 episode playtest of Dragon Age RPG, GMed by the games creator that has 1.1 million views:

 

 

The success of those episodes and the recent kickstarter inspired him to create the new rpg show, illustrating that there is a demand for quality p&p roleplaying coverage and exposure. It would be so great to have one of the creators (Loz, Newt, Ben?) of one of the d100 games run through an adventure on the new series. Wil Wheaton is an old school role player (30 years of p&p rpging) and will likely be sympathetic to modern d100 games. Hint, hint.

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Plus Facebook groups. There are a zillion for D&D in all of it's editions, but how many for BRP?

 

Two for BRP, zero for RQ, Magic World doesn't even have an 'About' page to like. Concentrating on the BRP group that is the most popular would be another way to stimulate the community.

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But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum, silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall cease to rest......Lord Dunsany

Responsible for: https://ancientvaults.wordpress.com/

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This is a really good post, and yes we do need to get the word out more about BRP. I started playing AD&D , but gravitated to CHAOSIUMS RuneQuest2 and CAll of Cthulhu RPG because i prefer realism.  

 

What if we produced a pdf or other format document on how to promote BRP, D100 games and  related products.  We could even ask Chaosium inc. for input. Maybe Chaosium already has a document of how to promote, on thier website.

 

I think if we all put are heads together we could do it. :)

 

Great post, and thanks for reminding me, of stuff i had forgot to do. :)

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Please feel free to add to it! Tell people your success stories. Mine might be a bit long winded but I'd love to read more. I imagine there's a lot of people with similar rpg background. I just don't want people to follow the herd blindly if they're not happy with their game, like I did.

Author QUASAR space opera system: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/459723/QUASAR?affiliate_id=810507

My Magic World projects page: Tooleys Underwhelming Projects

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 No, I think that this is really what I think will help-any stories, anecdotes, reviews, play session reports, etc help immensely.

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But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum, silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall cease to rest......Lord Dunsany

Responsible for: https://ancientvaults.wordpress.com/

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This is a really good post, and yes we do need to get the word out more about BRP. I started playing AD&D , but gravitated to CHAOSIUMS RuneQuest2 and CAll of Cthulhu RPG because i prefer realism.  

 

What if we produced a pdf or other format document on how to promote BRP, D100 games and  related products.  We could even ask Chaosium inc. for input. Maybe Chaosium already has a document of how to promote, on thier website.

 

I think if we all put are heads together we could do it. :)

 

Great post, and thanks for reminding me, of stuff i had forgot to do. :)

 

 

A pdf can become a little fanzine type file. A webcomic or two and BAM! People will notice.

****************************************

But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum, silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall cease to rest......Lord Dunsany

Responsible for: https://ancientvaults.wordpress.com/

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Excellent ideas and a very good thread on RPGnet. There have been a few threads about new BRP products too the last few months, but they die very quickly. I suggest posting here if someone is posting BRP stuff there, so we all can chime in to keep the threads alive a bit longer.

 

Some other recent BRP threads (in the Hype Machine):

 

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?750750-RuneQuest-6-The-Taskan-Empire

 

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?729093-BRP-Starships-2-0-(Free-PDF) : )

 

I'm not sure how effective it is to announce new releases in that sub-forum, but by adding a comment the thread is immediately bumped up to the top (as I just did with The Taskan Empire).

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Excellent ideas and a very good thread on RPGnet. There have been a few threads about new BRP products too the last few months, but they die very quickly. I suggest posting here if someone is posting BRP stuff there, so we all can chime in to keep the threads alive a bit longer.

 

Some other recent BRP threads (in the Hype Machine):

 

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?750750-RuneQuest-6-The-Taskan-Empire

 

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?729093-BRP-Starships-2-0-(Free-PDF) : )

 

I'm not sure how effective it is to announce new releases in that sub-forum, but by adding a comment the thread is immediately bumped up to the top (as I just did with The Taskan Empire).

 

I agree - its effectiveness is difficult to gauge. But to ignore RPGnet would be to ignore the largest generalist forum for RPGs on the web, and attempts for a publisher to promote in any of the other streams simply results in the post being moved to the Hype Machine stream. But I do thank you for your comment on the Taskan Empire! Yes, even a few small comments like this help raise the profile.

 

:)

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Wow. Some people really derail like a pro!

It saddens me that someone can take a thread and turn it into a "my di*k is bigger than yours"

A couple pages of good content (IMO )... 7 pages of psycho-babble BS.

Will keep trying.

Author QUASAR space opera system: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/459723/QUASAR?affiliate_id=810507

My Magic World projects page: Tooleys Underwhelming Projects

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Guest Vile Traveller

Hey, it's the big purple. Threads have a 5-page-or-so life (if you're lucky) and then they go to hell. Abandon and restart, it's the only way.

 

  :topic:

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It saddens me that someone can take a thread and turn it into a "my di*k is bigger than yours"

 

 

 

Are these two statements connected in some way?  ;)

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I've followed the thread daily, don't see where it went off the rails.  All the posts (until the last three) involved practical brainstorming suggestions on keeping D100 products alive in the minds of potential players.  Didn't see any comments involving unmentionable body parts.

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Guest Vile Traveller

Going back to Facebook, I reckon pages are better than groups for spreading the word. Groups imply some interaction and people are less likely to sign up unless they are already involved with the game. Pages, you just like. Of course, you need to keep posting cool stuff to your page to keep people interested, while not spamming their feed. It's a delicate balance.

 

Is there a Magic World G+ community?

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