Já cheguei a referir no meu blogue como este assunto parece se estar a repetir na RPG.net, com alguns contributos bastante interessantes. Não gosto particularmente de transpõr discussões de um forum para outro, mas acho que valia a pena ficar com algumas ideias. Esta é uma citação geral (negritos meus):
[quote=Why isn't the general public into FRPGs]"It's the way people in general look at stuff like this, these role playing games with strange people sitting around a table with no visible means of winning and no real tactile forseeable goal, and it's all in the head.
And it doesn't help that when a non-gamer asks, "What is roleplaying?" and it is kinda hard to give a straight up good answer without sounding like an idiot (and for the majority it really is hard to answer and still keep them interested).
And it doesn't help that even WITHIN the rpg community, and it is a whole community to itself, you have players that are so into one game that they won't try another, and you have groups that won't let new potentiates sit in and watch,
And it hasn't helped that rpgs haven't been really marketed in such a way as to show non-gamers that it's not just a geek fandom thing, but roleplaying games could quite possibly be the greatest intellectual form of storytelling creation ever designed and could actually be one of the greatest forms of group molding for children and teaching them racism and differences of cultures, and teaching them right and wrong, and teaching them to think for themselves and at the same time teach them that being a part of a group and thinking about others and how they would react to them if they make a decision that can affect them...
Roleplaying games are, in my opinion, one of the greatest social achievements designed, especially in the aspect of story creation and teamwork and how one works within a group and the social aspects of group creation and social skills... and yet the majority of gamers themselves treat it as nothing more than a hack game, put no thought into it, and just want to kill the next monster."
"There is currently no large-scale marketing effort underway to sell the game to a wide, non-committed audience. WotC sorta does something, but given that the D&D basic game doesn't capitalise on the merits of D&D like, say, the Moldvay or Mentzer sets did (by this I mean, among others, the ability to quickly generate your own characters, and emphasizing that this is a game where your imagination is the only limit. The D&D basic set really sells the game short.) - it tries to appear as a game like all the others instead of a game like no other - it probably isn't as effective as it could be, CRPGs or not. In addition, the market leaders seem to prefer hardcore fans providing a solid revenue stream to a wider but more uncertain demographic. Thus, entry products focus on people who are more willing to immediately upgrade to the hardcore rulebooks and supplements-buying demographic, as opposed to a more gradual involvement. Small publishers, of course, don't have the resources to do anything at all. They don't matter."
"Not only do RPGs require a certain amount of time (mostly from the GM in many standard games), they also require all the participants to be present every time the game is played in order to really enjoy it. As a result, you end up trying to get the schedule for 5 people to work and if it doesn't work you end up doing something else. It's not a coincidence I find it easier to run "boardgame nights" which take just as long (and as much brainpower), but can be run with whoever is there."
Of course, unlike say "your weekly golf game," saying "I'm sorry, I can't come to your party because I'm pretending to be an elf" is still pretty uncool."[/quote]
Há quem diga que esta é uma discussão cíclica sobre o hobby, mas ultimamente tem havido um factor novo, que é o sucesso dos MMORPGs. Afinal o conceito de andar por masmorras a matar monstros, pilhar corpos e subir de nível não está assim tão distante dos gostos do mainstream. Há décadas atrás, jogar RPGs era a única forma de obter este tipo de entretenimento, explorando mundos para lá da nossa imaginação. Agora, o aparecimento de uma multitude de experiências interactivas de roleplay, nas mais diversas plataformas, deixa o tabletop um pouco no ar. É como se, no momento em que o RPG se apercebeu que tinha concorrência, já ficou para trás.
Quanto é que as pessoas valorizam o convívio cara-a-cara para jogar e o que é que está a ser feito para aproveitar essa vantagem competitiva?
Será que roleplay tabletop consegue apelar às massas sem perder aquilo que o define?