Everyone does a lot of blathering on about "reaching the youth of tomorrow" and all that about getting new gamers.

No one ever seems to bring this up.  Once upon a time you could find D&D boxed sets in toy stores.  I know this, 'cause people have told me, and 'cause my friend growing up got his black Classic D&D box from a Target.  His mother bought it for him because she knew he liked fantasy novels, and it had a dragon on the box.

The closest however, that I have seen to that actually occuring, is that Barnes & Noble sometimes stocks that D&D3 "Basic Game" with the paperback PHB on the small rack of boardgames.  Oh and once when I went there, they had some Hordes/Warmachine boxes on a sales table.

Wizards put out a D&D board game, basically distilled D&D in a heroquest like form, and even two expansions for it, but for some damn reason only sold it to Europe.  

I want to be able to go to the toy section in my local Fred Meyer and find, at the very least, some kind of basic D&D.  And not just some shitty glorified demo version, but a fully playable game, like my basic/expert books I got from the Goodwill.

Barring some form of D&D, someone else needs to make some sort of RPG in a box, somehow come up with a shit ton of money, and get it in the stores themselves.  

But D&D's a hell of a lot more likely, they're the ones with the money.

Well, the toy section already has some Hasbro games, so getting D&D in there wasn't that difficult. I'd say that most other companies wouldn't be able to get a box in there even if they had such a beast. Was the RuneQuest 3 box ever sold next to Monopoly?

I used to buy all my games in the toy section, before I found that there are actually things like a FLGS. Nowadays, that wouldn't work either, as the premier German RPG is now published as books. Main reason: Boxes can be sold below price, whereas we have this stupid law where books can only be sold at the list price.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone does a box and puts it back in Toys R Us or Walmart or whatever.

Yes, they should be, J. And beer should be free. And women should be attracted to balding older men. Why won't the universe work like it should? There oughta be a law!

-clash

I wonder whether this would actually be interesting for the companies. When I see people in toy sections, it's the parents buying stuff for their children. In this day and age, most children old enough for RPGs buy things from the Intertubes.

So obviously it's not a boxed game we want, but iTunes selling D20 audiobooks.

Quote from: SosthenesI wonder whether this would actually be interesting for the companies. When I see people in toy sections, it's the parents buying stuff for their children. In this day and age, most children old enough for RPGs buy things from the Intertubes.

So obviously it's not a boxed game we want, but iTunes selling D20 audiobooks.

When did you start playing RPGs?  

I started getting intersted when I was like 13.  And at that point, all the friends I had who roleplayed, had already been familiar with the games for a couple years.  I've talked to folks online who were younger than that.

The average I've seen in my personal experience suggest junior high age is about when msot people get into it, and that's still plenty young enough to find a board game under the Christmas tree.

Just because you're old NOW doesn't mean that's some kind of requirement for getting into the hobby.  That's exactly the kind of insular, exclusionary thinking that doesn't really help the actual getting of new players in the slightest.

Quote from: joewolzI'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone does a box and puts it back in Toys R Us or Walmart or whatever.

The D&D Basic set has been sold at my local Toys R Us.  I don't recall seeing it there last time I was in, but they sold the first two Wizards-produced Basic sets.

My '81 Basic Set and G1-2-3 Against the Giants were both bought at Kaybee Toys.  My original AD&D hardbounds were purchased at K-Mart.

I started when I was 11 - and we didn't have no stinkin Target to buy from

I don't recall ever seeing D&D or any other RPG in a toy store in my life.  Book Stores, General Hobby Stores, FLGS - that's it.

Then again - I killed a lot of brain cells between 11 and 26, so...

My Holmes basic set was purchased at The Emporium, a department store along the lines of Macy's, back in '77. It was a wildly popular gift in Silicon Valley that Christmas.

I agree that you need to put RPGs that normal people can play in places where normal people might buy them if you're serious about this as a business. It may be a long time before that happens, though. It might happen with the minis - they're pretty much our only hope right now.

I heard that Walmart didn't want the D&D hardbacks because of conservative-type 'controversy' and the compromise was that they would list them online at Walmart.com. Never had this story verified though.

I was thinking earlier about youth marketing.  The last time a roleplaying game really broke ground, it was White Wolf when they captured the goth subculture zeitgeist with Vampire: The Masquerade.

You know what all the kids are into these days?  Collectible card games, video games, and imported shonen anime.

What'll hit big is when someone comes up with a deceptively simple, but mechanically sound and interesting power-up game system like D20 has for D&D, and then grabs one of those giganimously hot licenses like Naruto or Bleach.  Package them together with a bunch of hip extras and exclusive content.  Maybe a box set with a limited edition manga in it, or a mini-DVD with a special episode.  That kinda thing.  And marketing blitz it through channels like Shonen Jump magazine and Cartoon Network.

Sell the damn thing through Wal*Mart, Target, and Hot Topic, and get boxes in media outlets that sell CDs and DVDs almost exclusively.

You can bet your ass it would be the hippest, coolest thing since the Pokemon CCG.

Some RPGs are or could be suitable for children; I even have a Webpage on the topic, and I think it would be wonderful to make RPGs more accessible to all.  

That said, I sure wouldn't want all RPGs to have to fit in the kid-friendly category, because I'm not a kid anymore.  In other words, I wouldn't want hysterical parents getting games meant for adults yanked from the market just because, having seen some RPGs at the toy store, they made the leap to assume that RPGs = for kids, and fainted when they saw Kult or Midnight.  Something similar happened to comics for a long time.

Quote from: SosthenesWell, the toy section already has some Hasbro games, so getting D&D in there wasn't that difficult. I'd say that most other companies wouldn't be able to get a box in there even if they had such a beast. Was the RuneQuest 3 box ever sold next to Monopoly?

Yes. My boxed set came from KayBee Toys in the Texarkana, Texas mall.

The thing is, if you want RPGs to be in the toy stores you've got to add more toy elements. A box full of booklets and a few dice doesn't cut it. We're talking maps, cut-out playing pieces, character cards, perhaps a few plastic minis. So D&D is perfectly poised for this, especially if they simplify the system a little, but most systems simply aren't, because the game mechanics aren't designed to incorporate toy elements. No other in-print RPG I am aware of is quite as geared towards miniatures play as D&D 3.X is.

Quote from: WarthurThe thing is, if you want RPGs to be in the toy stores you've got to add more toy elements. A box full of booklets and a few dice doesn't cut it. We're talking maps, cut-out playing pieces, character cards, perhaps a few plastic minis. So D&D is perfectly poised for this, especially if they simplify the system a little, but most systems simply aren't, because the game mechanics aren't designed to incorporate toy elements. No other in-print RPG I am aware of is quite as geared towards miniatures play as D&D 3.X is.

Your talking about the Marvel boxed set.  :haw:

Exactly, or the original Star Frontiers box. Say what you like about TSR, back in the day they could put out a fantastic box set.