Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

GURPS SPANC?

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

I'd buy that.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

Nah, I'm thinking Tank Girl is probably the closest thing to the zeitgeist.

Well on the fringes anyhow.

The whole, squeaky clean but skanky, upper middle class vapidity that currently dominates the cultural mainstream with dross like American Idol and Big Brother isn't really gameable as anything other than targets.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

Nah - they'd need to get a licence for that. Better to go with one they already have:

GURPS Kung-Fu Killer Mamas on Wheels versus the Motorcycle Aztec Wrestling Nuns

<VBG>

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

I have an FLGS here in Ventura, CA, but not one that seems more than casually interested in GURPS business. Now, in my younger days, when I had no money but plenty of time, I'd organize monthly demos and thank Dana Blankenship for the comp copies. These days, I can afford to buy from the FLGS at list (instead of shopping on Amazon) and bear the wait for a special order (longer than regular shipping from Amazon), but responsibilities professional and domestic prevent me from doing the stump work. The gamers in my group, even two in their early twenties, are in much the same position. Is there something about GURPS gamers that makes them more employable than the other species? Or am I just looking ata limited sample set?

GEF

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

I think a little of both. Part of it is just that gaming as a whole has grown up; much of the first generation of "nerds" have grown up to be successful businessmen. The younger generation that they associate with directly are those with either the connections or the INTEREST to hang out with successful businessmen.

This is true of gaming as a whole.

GURPS itself is a detail-oriented, customizable game. If someone is able to think that critically and creatively about a game, then they're probably going to have a slight leg up in the real world if their social skills are ok.

And, finally - I find that my generation has more DISTRACTIONS than most previous gens report. It's not just that we're busy with family and job. We're busy with family, job, gaming (tabletop), gaming (digital), online discussion groups, our own personal hobbies, our TV fandoms, our social nights out, and our extracurricular activities (gyms, book clubs, what have you) and so much more.

And we're busy with them all at once. The beauty of the current decade is that almost anyone can do almost anything on at least the amateur level.

The curse, is that if you aren't particularly driven you tend to do a little of everything but not often.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

I second that.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

What makes GURPS gamers more employable is that most of us are of employment age (at least on the forums - but I suspect at least this part of the online demographics maps fairly well to the offline folks).

We've been surveyed a few times, and the bulk of GURPS gamers are over 20.

Compare this to D&D, which deliberately tries to market itself to the 12-18 set, and Hasburo/Wizards even have an explicit marketing policy of releasing a new edition to harvest new young players once the last batch of recruits have left that target age bracket and wandered off to post-secondary education or into the work force.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

That's where it starts and finishes, I believe. If it were because we all have genius-level aptitude at salable job skills, then as the game's main developer for over 13 years -- and presumably the guru to geniuses -- I should be getting job offers left and right. But of course I've had two offers, one lousy and one withdrawn for lack of funds, in all that time.

On the other hand, GURPS fans are older than fans of other RPGs. The fact that most Q&A requests arrive in my inbox during 9-to-5 hours, from corporate addresses, tells me most of what I need to know. The semi-annual "How old are you?" surveys in these forums tells me the rest. And I get visual confirmation at conventions, both big and small.

Re: GURPS Heavy Gear?
 

I've mostly switched to ordering RPG books online instead of my local gaming store once I realized that the online store will usually get them to my doorstep after a single day.

Plus, the local gaming store doesn't stock GURPS. Sometimes I visit them when I want to look at the latest Call of Cthulhu releases, which they tend to have...