Community

How Do I Grow the Game in My Area?

New posters frequently come to the message boards frustrated about getting the game going in their home towns.  The reasons for a lack of players in an area could be many.  In this article, I’ll focus on some general tips that a wide variety of players have compiled over the years that a person can use to actively pursue a Star Wars Miniatures Community in their area.

It is a lot of fun to get together with a group of people that you know and share something.  For the gamer, the local game store is usually the place where these interactions happen.  I think that many new gamers think that fostering a play group is as simple as getting people together in close proximity to each other.  If only it were that simple!

Leading Through Action

You can start by being a leader.  Someone will have to be an advocate for the game in your area.  Why not you?  Go the extra mile.  Post flyers at your local game store letting people know that you are interested in playing.  Give a date and time in which you will demo the game and stick to the time.  Be prepared ahead of time and get people involved right away.  Give them choices of squads to play.  If no one comes, don’t give up.  Not everyone goes to game stores every week.  They may have missed the appointment this time, but it doesn’t mean they’ll miss the next one.  You may have to show up several times in order to start building a play base.  When people see your passion and the fun you are having, they may be inspired to play along!

Talk to other players.

Be honest.  Tell people what you like about the game and what you don’t like.  Don’t make certain elements of the game look like something they are not.  Find out what people like most about Star Wars.  Do they like Jedi?  Blaster fights?  Vehicles?  Creatures?  Tailor your demos to what a person is interested in and be honest about how many of those types of pieces there are in the game.  In what ways are they competitive and in which ways are they not competitive?

You may find out that regulars at the store are into certain “styles” of games.  You could help them understand how Star Wars Miniatures matches their style.  Do they like to build customized games like the decks in Magic: The Gathering or in modular board games like Settlers of Cataan?  Show them how Star Wars Miniatures squad construction works.  Do they like coherent, well-executed strategies that rely on different tools working together to achieve victory?  Show them how a game can play out, emphasizing the importance of the synergy of a squad.  Do they like the thrill of chance and knowing how likely they are to succeed?  Explain how dice, attack rolls, and saves comes into play in SWM. 


You may also discover that players aren’t playing a game simply because they did not know how to play.  Work to be an effective teacher.  Think about what you struggled with when you first started the game and make a point to be honest about those things with new players.  Be patient.  They shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel when they are learning and the more you work to save them time, the more accessible the game will be for them.  If you thought about some aspect of the game in a different way in order to fully understand it, share that with the new players. Focus on those things that you struggled with and be extra careful to make sure they don’t need to spend as much time as you did in discovering the “unwritten” rules.

Is it about the money?  Star Wars Miniatures is expensive if you collect every piece, but you don’t have to collect to play!  Share your collection with interested members.  They may not be ready to invest in it now but the more involved they become the more likely they may be to want to have a collection of their own.  People love to get free stuff.  Do you have some pieces you aren’t using?  Give them away to new players!  Better yet, give them a pre-fabricated squad that they can use to get started.  That way they have something that is their own to work with and they’ll feel like “one of the collections gang”.  Money is often something that chases people away from hobby gaming.  People invest money in a game and then find that they don’t like it or can’t keep buying to “compete”.  If you lead through lending or giving away miniatures you’ll eliminate this all-too-common frustrating experience from a new player’s mind and make them more likely to stay.

Talk to the manager of the store.

Ask what sort of support they could offer to help you attract players.  The support doesn’t need to be monetary and may simply involve help in advertising.  You may ask if you can leave a note with the manager in which they can give details to interested individuals over the phone.  I find that people call into game stores frequently and ask if there are regulars that play certain games.  Get yourself on that list of “games played” at that location!  The manager may also be willing to post flyers inside the store to help people know about the game.  Remember that the manager wins too by bringing people to the store.  When people come to game stores they tend to buy things and the more product the manager can move the better for them!

You may want to use contests as a way to motivate people to show up.  Organize a tournament and offer prize support.  If the store can’t offer prize support, put up a small amount yourself that you can afford.  It doesn’t have to be extravagant.  Certain players are attracted to higher “stakes” official tournaments and certain players would rather just have little pressure in a “fun” tournament.  Do both and find out which one draws people.  You may have to do a mix of both or you may find that your players prefer one over the other.  Ask your players to find out what they want!  Involve them in the process and they’ll be more likely to come back.

Whether official or not, you can work with the store to get together prize support that will get people coming back.  Prize support given to every player will always go far.  My personal experience is that opening up boosters and distributing the contents to all players fosters a much more jovial environment than giving away whole boosters to just a few players.  Open up your boosters and let the top winners pick first.  If they pick a rare or very rare figure they are done picking and the rest gets divided among the other players.  You may pick in order of tournament result ranks, or you may just shuffle the cards and deal them out randomly.  If someone doesn’t get exactly what they want, they can trade.  Pass up good pieces that you already have to let other people pick them!  It isn’t about winning miniatures!  As the leader, you want people to come back.

Being a leader is not easy.  Growing the game in your area won’t happen overnight, and if you want something to happen, your actions are the best resource you have to make something happen. 

Set A Tone That Will Keep Players Coming Back

Through a lot of time and work you manage to get a group of people together to play the game.  Yay!  But your work is not over.  Now you need to help to keep them there.  This is where social skills, the often over looked necessity of retaining a group of players, come into play.

Why do people play games?

Games are a way for us to unwind and relax while still challenging our minds.  Whether a teenager decompressing from school or an adult taking a break from their career, gaming is supposed to be fun!  My personal experience is that a lack of attention to fair play and a healthy social environment is really what keeps players away from game stores most of the time.

Model good sportsmanship and positive interactions with your players.

Talk to people about what they are doing well and be gracious in helping them understand what they can improve upon.  Saying “there is something that I noticed in our game that I did a lot when I first started to play. I don’t want it to keep happening to you so that you can become a better player” goes a lot farther than: “you messed that up.”  Be specific when you help people and make sure they understand that you are commenting on it because you want to help, not because you want to gloat.  Be a gracious loser.  Compliment people when they do well and celebrate that with them.  Share their positive feeling.  There is no greater downer than re-buffing a positive feeling with a negative one.  It kills the fun play atmosphere.

When you discuss rules with new players it is important to be able to explain the rules fully and to quote sources.  Help them to understand that your goal is to enforce the rules correctly, not to use them in your favor.  Admit mistakes.  Show people that errors on your part are not intentional and that you want fair play above all else.  If you can’t make a satisfactory ruling at that moment, promise to look it up.  Follow through and come back with a detailed explanation as to why something should work one way or another.

Do not tolerate cheating or unfair play and make it clear to players from the beginning that you are trying to foster a fair play environment.  Let your actions speak just as loud as your words.  The more players see you enforcing fair play in your own games, the more likely that they will believe that that is what you want.  If you accidentally break the rules don’t ignore it.  Stop the game, apologize, and explain what your error was.  Offer to go back, if feasible.  Show people that you genuinely regret your mistake so that they KNOW that you want fair play at the store.

What if things aren’t going well?

Do people swear and yell?  Do people cheat?  Do people treat others poorly?  Do people care more about winning than having a good time?  Answering yes to any or all of these questions makes your job as the leader very difficult.  What should you do?

Well, you’re trying to have fun too.  It’s not reasonable to expect that you can change people.  But that doesn’t mean that you can’t try to foster a positive environment.  Some people need to mature before they are even able to understand how to treat others well.  So what are your options?

Work on the problems. 

Model good sportsmanship and a good attitude for others.  Be confident and politely ask others to follow the store rules.  Explain the reasons that the rules are there and explain what you are trying to do to attract new players.  Honesty goes a long way in diffusing uncomfortable situations because people see that you are doing it for a good reason, not to be a tyrant or dominant.  Remember that, unless you are the organizer of a tournament, the store owner is in the position of authority to request that rules be followed.  If you are a tournament organizer and are in charge of an event running smoothly, give a warning for first time offenses.  Someone may just be having a bad day.  If people keep behaving poorly, make it clear to people that there will be serious consequences for poor behavior and then follow through with those consequences, especially if people challenge them.  This is difficult because many leaders don’t feel comfortable approaching people with poor behavior and asking nicely for them to stop.  If you don’t ask, then nothing will change.  Having the guts to engage in an uncomfortable conversation is hard, but it may be what is necessary for you to keep your players at that location.

You’re not alone. 

Most game stores do a good job of enforcing the golden rule and fair play at their stores because they understand that those things keep customers coming back to buy.  If you struggle with engaging a problem directly, talk to the store manager about your concerns and work with them to develop a plan to improve the attitude at the store.  Be patient because while the manager probably wants fair play at their store, they also don’t want to do something so drastic that they lose consumers.  After all, they are feeding themselves and their families with the store.  They may directly intervene when people are being poor sports, or they may more prominently post store guidelines.  When you work together to change behavior, it will take everyone in a position of authority consistently enforcing those rules to get people to change.  Most stores can do it, but some struggle.

If you come up with a plan to improve the play environment at the store, everyone should be involved.  What if some store employees emphasize the rules and others don’t?  The environment isn’t very likely to change.  Be patient and work with the store owner to address the concerns.  You may both find that people are very set in their ways.  You may need to find a different store.  Think carefully about this decision.  On one hand, you want to find a play area where people feel welcome.  On the other hand, if all of your hard work isn’t working, it may be better to try a different location with a better attitude.  Game stores are often small businesses.  Small businesses have it tough, but it is important to consider that they can make decisions that impact their business as well.  You aren’t punishing a store for changing to a different one.  You’re rewarding a different store that has worked through their own difficulties in fair play.

I hope that this article will be a good springboard for discussion to help new players looking to begin building community in their area.  Veterans should also be able to offer sound advice and their input is welcome and encouraged.  New players that have questions not covered in the article should feel free to ask them so that we can help you grow the game in your area.  Good luck and remember that you have the power to make changes happen with some patience and a good work ethic! :D

I look forward to the input that will be added by you and other experienced players.

Great article! I intend to attempt to build a group in my area when my permanent schedule becomes more clear & this will be very helpful.

I started playing around KOTOR. Since then, I have taught my sister and my friend to play. Me and my friend taught two boys from my sister's class, and two of my teachers.

Really good - K&R