Writing for people who have never heard of are-pee-gees

[Elliott]

I'm writing a Shoujo Manga Storytelling Game. 

It features Guan Yin as a dim-sum delivery girl from Anywhere, Japan, training those who are detached enough to see Hungry Ghosts - yet love enough to care that the Ghosts are making their victims obsessed to eat the good in people's passions - training the player characters as Magical Psychopomp Guardians, who give the Dead the rest they crave and the Living the love they need.

Cool stuff, but I don't think it's the kind of thing that would fly for most Gamers.

I think that this, in fact, the sort of thing that would get new blood, especially Girly Narrativist Yingers (as opposed to Macho Narrativist Yangers, discussed in jest at length on www.lumpley.com) into the hobby.

Now, I am not afraid of my capacity to approach girls about this Cool Thing:  Now that I have accepted that I will always be afraid of staring into places other than their eyes and babbling about hit points and armor class, I am paradoxically much more likely to look them in the eye and have normal, interesting conversations with them.

What I am afraid of is presenting them with the core concepts of one of those are pee gee thingies without confusing them and hence, boring them to tears.

How does one present a game to people who have no concept of "storytelling game?"

[MartiniPhilosopher]

The story my wife tells me about when her grandmother asked her is pretty amusing and instructive.

She says that he called it what it is. Grown up make-believe.

We can get caught up in putting it in fancier terms like "storytelling game" but at the heart of it all, this is exactly what we are doing. We are playing with a grown up version of make-believe.

I have found that once you have people understand that then it becomes a lot easier to get them to understand why you have the dice and the rules and all of the other niggley-bits which many of us are so found of using.

[Elliott]

Amusing and instructive.  Thank you.

[xenopulse]

I think it's easiest when you can find a common frame of reference. Playing pretend is one of those, though that focuses on the "pretend you're the charater" aspect of play. You could also present it as "collaborative writing, just spoken," and people who've written stories with other people might instantly have a pretty good idea. Or "long-form improv at the table" for people with that background.

[Elizabeth P.]

As MP states, it's "grown-up make believe".  I did tell my grandmother that, and it was something she understood.  My best friend and I (in college) were having lunch with my grandparents one afternoon between classes.  And as most grandmothers are wont to do, she asked us about our Friday Night "activities", which was just a large gaming group.  Everyone knows what storytelling is, it's really not that much more of a stretch to help them figure out that a Storytelling "Game" is just an interactive story.  A story in which everyone involved gets to tell a piece of.  My grandmother really liked the idea, and mused that she probably would've had a lot of fun with that type of 'game' at our age as well.  Ever since then, she often thinks to ask me how our games are going.  And if we've been playing something relatively interesting, I share it with her.  She's always amused.

[David Artman]

My grandmother really liked the idea, and mused that she probably would've had a lot of fun with that type of 'game' at our age as well.  Ever since then, she often thinks to ask me how our games are going.  And if we've been playing something relatively interesting, I share it with her.  She's always amused.

Sounds to me like you ought to invite her to a game with your (most respectable and mature) friends. The "at our age" thing really struck me: did you pursue that with her further, as in "why do you think you've 'aged-out' of such activity?" After all, traditionally, the eldest is the storyteller of the tribe.

I realize that this is almost a thread-jack, but we are talking about how to present RPG concepts to non-gamers, though the OP seems mainly interested in nubile young female non-gamers.

But, hell, the elderly might be the single largest untapped market for RPGs in history: they have the time; they are (I hear) becoming more and more net-savvy, using chat and forums a lot more; and when in retirement homes, they've got a bunch of peers with whom they could strike up a game almost at any time.

Hmmm.... What sort of RPG system and situations would spark older folks' interest enough to try it out? Or, put more in the mode of this thread, how could an RPG be presented--in a pitch and in its text--to make it appealing to non-gamers over fifty or sixty old?

David

[Elizabeth P.]

Sounds to me like you ought to invite her to a game with your (most respectable and mature) friends. The "at our age" thing really struck me: did you pursue that with her further, as in "why do you think you've 'aged-out' of such activity?" After all, traditionally, the eldest is the storyteller of the tribe.

At the time, I didn't pursue that discussion line, I was pretty new into gaming myself and was just pleased that I'd managed to describe what I was doing with Vampire or D&D games in a way that made her interested in them.  I think maybe it was more the subject matter that she knew would've appealed to her at a younger age.  She's still great at telling stories. 

The older generation would be a perfect market for RPGs.  I think some of the biggest hindrances would be getting them to toss aside some pre-concieved notions about gaming (like D&D) and getting them to admit they have the time.  Many, are already becoming casual gamers in the 'electronic gaming' market, and it's easy to pick up and play a game like Brain Age on the DS, versus sitting down to tell a story that could take hours.

[Elliott]

I realize that this is almost a thread-jack, but we are talking about how to present RPG concepts to non-gamers, though the OP seems mainly interested in nubile young female non-gamers.

I resemble your attempts to accurately describe my intentions! ;b

All joking aside...

I just made a game that I think girls would really like.

I don't have a girlfriend.

These two things suggest possibilities.

They do not force outcomes.

And I'm going to pitch this/write this for all nongamers, but primarily for Girly Nar Yingers, whether or not they are in fact nubile young female nongamers