captainjack23 said:
Not to completely derail the thread, but. . .
This is actually something we have been looking at. Almost every hobby or pastime 'sells' a lifestyle along with the actual product.
Hobby games do not or, at best (worst), they portray a negative sterotype. The geek. The unwashed gamer. WotC recently launched an advert that targeted WoW players, but did so in a way that suggested solitary geekdom, and how geeks should unite.
We thoroughly reject that idea here at Mongoose. If someone (say) knows almost everything there is to know about Russia in the 1940's, for no other reason than he plays a _game_, we think that is pretty funky. That guy is _smart_.
As another parallel, we are very big fans of Top Gear here at Mongoose, and we think they have hit a tremendous nail on the head. For those of you who remember the original Top Gear, the new series with the Hamster and Co. are streets ahead - indeed, you might argue it is one of the best things on British TV at the moment (they certainly have a worldwide audience _much_ larger than the population of the UK).
The new Top Gear was built around one fundamental idea - that there are no really bad cars any more, so they would concentrate on which cars were _cool_ and what they said about their owners.
That was a good idea.
And I think it can be applied to games.
Now, we have been looking at all sorts of ways of doing this (including a Top Gear-style video podcast thing) with games, but we have not got it locked yet.
However, the fundamental point is this. Yes, you can be a geek and play hobby games. But most players aren't.
Especially if they play Traveller, of course. That automatically identifies you as intelligent, well-educated, and likely to be successful in your working life. Not like those dorks who play Conan. . .
(Of course, we tell Conan players that they are real red-blooded men who will drink Traveller players under the table, and then pinch their women).
You get the idea. . .
)
