12-17-2017, 02:39 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Cedar Falls, Iowa
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Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
Hey everyone. I've been really happy with my DF boxed set and am about to run "I Smell a Rat" with my family (wife and two kids). And I've been pretty happy to read the reviews that came in early on. But, there don't seem to have been that many. Plus, I haven't really noticed much publicity for the game overall - granted, I'm not spending a huge amount of time looking at every gaming community's website. Honestly, I was expecting a little more buzz, especially since the past month or so would have been a great time to "raise awareness" - what with that gift-giving day fast approaching and all. So, my questions for both SJG folks and everyone who enjoys the game are:
1) What have you done to introduce people to the game and to win it the attention we all probably think it deserves? What more could be done? 2) What are the best venues and means of introducing people to the game, e.g. is it better to post another review in ENworld or on RPGnet? Or is holding an introduction to the game (ala a convention-style session) at one's local gaming store, the way to go (how does one go about that anyways)? 3) How have newbies to DFRPG, especially those with no experience with GURPS, responded to it? 4) To what extent should we emphasize the connections with GURPS, when conducting outreach/marketing? What I've done so far: posted a fairly extensive review on Amazon.com; attempted outreach to one of the Geekdad writers, who'd written about the DFRPG Kickstarter, to see if he'd be reviewing it; and showed the set to a) the workers at a local store (only the one with GURPS experience was really excited), and b) a group of friends who were only moderately interested (they were deeply wary of the GURPS connection.) |
12-18-2017, 03:49 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Re: Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
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2) I don't know enough to opine. 3) The kids I've played with loved it. (As mentioned above, one of them is hoping to get a copy for a the holidays.) 4) For the school games this spring, I will definitely have a selection of GURPS books on display. Probably Characters and Campaigns plus a few support books that connect to genres that students particularly enjoy (e.g., steampunk). This is one area where PDFs suffer, alas, because they don't display as well in physical reality. Moreover, buying a set of PDFs doesn't do much since I can't legally share them with the students. Buying books, on the other hand, and lending them out is fine. I'll probably print some PDFs up, but they end up looking cheap by comparison with properly published books. I am hopeful that POD options will improve over time. |
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12-21-2017, 11:10 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Re: Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
I can only answer question 3, as I am the newbie, to DFRPG, GURPS, and tabletop RPGs. So far, I'm loving it. I'm wishing I could get together with friends and play more often. Here's hoping that after the holidays, things pick up.
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12-28-2017, 02:02 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Apr 2016
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Re: Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
My biggest disappointment with the release has been how poorly SJ Games has marketed the product. It’s like they don’t know how to sell RPGs as a company anymore.
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01-02-2018, 02:27 PM | #5 | ||
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Spain —Europe
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Re: Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
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To enable some sort of limited license (like the one of Savage Words?) for third parties to include the DFRPG along with others like Sword & Sorcery, Runequest, different D&D editions and its clones around. I know that the Dungeon Fantasy RPG isn't a clone, but in any case many people value very highly the compatibility for various RPG systems when it's about releasing and acquiring gaming material.
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"Let's face it: for some people, roleplaying is a serious challenge, a life-or-death struggle." J. M. Caparula/Scott Haring "Physics is basic but inessential." Wolfgang Smith My G+ |
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01-02-2018, 11:27 PM | #6 |
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Seattle, Washington
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Re: Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
Did they ever?
...An answer with less snark: Marketing budgets are an issue, I'm sure. It's not like SJG has the entire weight of Hasbro behind it.
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Natural Encyclopedia: 660 GURPS bestiary entries It Came from the Forums: A Community Bestiary with 160 entries (last updated 2009...someday I will revisit.) |
01-04-2018, 05:17 AM | #7 | |
I do stuff and things.
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
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01-05-2018, 12:36 AM | #8 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
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Re: Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
If it helps?
I had no intention of buying DFRPG thinking with my extensive collection of GURPS products, that I’d not really benefit from it. I don’t much like high starting point characters, and am not much a fan of hack and slash style games. But bits and pieces of “improvements” such as new handling of fright checks and shield bashing made me revisit that thought. Am waiting for the box to be delivered soon. So, the fact that I’m finding various references to the game on the internet means it has some exposure. Short of advertising it on TV, and maybe retailing it TOYSRUS, I’m not certain how much better SJGAMES can improve their marketing strategy. I doubt TV commercials are cheap, and I don’t know if TOYSRUS is helpful or not. ;) |
01-05-2018, 08:25 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Feb 2009
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Re: Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
I have fond hopes of someday seeing it at Target
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01-05-2018, 08:36 AM | #10 |
I do stuff and things.
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Winning hearts and minds to DFRPG?
That will not happen. The box is simply too expensive to have a high chance at success on those shelves. Something priced and sized around Munchkin or Munchkin Deluxe -- $25 to $30 -- would have a greater chance at making it onto those shelves.
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