Newbie drop off last year

[John Hogg <johnhogg@expert.cc.purdue.edu>]

On Thu, 3 Sep 1998, Jevan Furmanski wrote:

> If you are referring to the drop in participation in the newbie games last
> year, (from 17 to what?)  that had nothing to do with the main body of the
> club, and I most certainly was surprised to hear the final number that
> actually came to the Saturday game.  This year's group has only been
> influenced positively by the club (I was there helping with character gen,
> then left) and I really don't see your point about newbies not showing up
> because of the power gamers.  I talked to several of the newbies in person
> and the usual response was "I've never played something this complex
> before."  This would be the major reason for low turn out, or repeat turn
> out, and it can hardly be blamed on the main body of the club, but on the
> gms that set their view of the game from the beginning.
> 
> Jevan
> 
Yes and no, Jevan.

Having had the opportunity to not only work the boothes at the activity
fair and freshman carnivals as well as moderate a good portion of the
Newbie game last year, I took a decided interest in why the numbers
dwindled from the 40-50 + that signed up to the 6-8 newbies who would
regularly attend the Friday games (To be clear about 8 people showed up
for half or more of the adventures, but in groups of 3-6 depending on
availability)

Yes, the main group had little to do with the drop in newbie attendance.

(I'll expand the whys of newbie dropoff below)

However, once the group made the transition to the main group, I only saw
2-3 of them on Saturdays.  THAT is due to the main group.

Now, having called the newbie lists every week to see who was gonna show,
lemmie give you the WHYS behind the drop off.

1)	They're freshmen dealing with classes
2)	Pledge parties
3)	Thought the "Fantasy Club" was something else ;)  (no shit!)
4)	There are people who go around the activity fairs just signing
	stuff.
5)	Friday evening exams :(

Now, we can't do much about that ... However some of the more experienced
role players left because:

5)	Left for a different RP group.  Either because DOP met fridays or
	offered systems they were more familiar with (which is why 2-3 newbies
	popped up on Saturdays)

6)	Tried different groups on Saturday while playing AQ on Friday, and
	upon making the transition to Saturdays, found the experience to
	be less fun
	(this would be the "and no" part)

7)	Live action got canned. (the timing of announcing this to the
	newbie group DID correspond to 2-3 people not showing up again,
	though I'm not sure it was causal)

Now, 6 & 7 are directly due to the main, Saturday Night group combined
with a healthy dose of apathy. We (the club) didn't hold on to newbies
because we (the club) didn't make an effort to do so. 

Now, having my share of dog adventures (make that a couple of shares),
I'll admit there are nights I'm uninspired.  However, the newbie group was
regularly cheering (no shit, cheering), laughing, and most of all, IN
CHARACTER the majority of the night.  You don't get quotes like :

Now where did I put my board with a nail in it?
But I LIKE being a giant lizard! (batts eyelashes)
(Confidantly)It's just a Giant Panda.
(20 minutes later)
Are you SURE that was just a Giant Panda?

from groups not having FUN.

It's been a while since I've been on back to back adventures with the main
group that was nearly as much fun as it was to GM the newbie group.

So as far as it being the GM's fault for coloring the newbies ideas about
the main game ... thanks, dude!


John