Worldwide, what RPGs have the most players?

Spellslinging Sellsword · March 05, 2012, 07:23:57 PM

Could also use nearbygamers to get some more data.

Claudius · March 06, 2012, 04:23:09 AM

Quote from: The_Shadow;519060Don't try a career as a marketer or entrepreneur, my friend...

I know!

Anyway, I stand by my claim. D&D was translated into Chinese, so there must be some interest, but what about India?

Claudius · March 06, 2012, 04:27:29 AM

Quote from: ptingler;519691Could also use nearbygamers to get some more data.

I think it would be a mistake to infer any data from that site. Remember it's an English speaking site, and you can bet that most, for example, Argentine gamers, will use Spanish to communicate with each other, even if they speak English.

jibbajibba · March 06, 2012, 08:35:14 AM

Quote from: Claudius;519911I know!

Anyway, I stand by my claim. D&D was translated into Chinese, so there must be some interest, but what about India?

I will go outside and ask.

DominikSchwager · March 06, 2012, 10:10:27 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;519682I doubt that too. There's a computer games INDUSTRY in east asian countries (not really in India as far as I know) but every single kid in south america plays computer games here, probably as much as in north america.

RPGPundit

You do realize that after losing 1.7 million subscriptions (over 10% of subs WoW had at its peak btw) in china there is still over 50% of WoW's player base there?
Or that south korea has a very active scene of people who actually get paid to play computer games, that have fans and are treated like rockstars?
Show me the south american equivalent... I'd really like to see that.
Or alternately, stop talking out of your ass.

Rincewind1 · March 06, 2012, 10:27:05 AM

Quote from: Marleycat;519063I don't see why it hasn't been done, China alone has a Middle class nearly the size of the entire population of the US and India has plenty of knowledge and Euro-western attitudes about capitalism/consumerism.

Except China's middle class would count as paupers by standards of American middle class. By which I mean - they have practically no middle class, at least economically.

Marleycat · March 06, 2012, 11:22:35 AM

Quote from: Rincewind1;519977Except China's middle class would count as paupers by standards of American middle class. By which I mean - they have practically no middle class, at least economically.

Probably given I really don't know much about China. Then again RPG's are a cheap hobby comparably.

Rincewind1 · March 06, 2012, 11:26:20 AM

Quote from: Marleycat;520000Probably given I really don't know much about China. Then again RPG's are a cheap hobby comparably.

Middle Class is big in countries with high income per capita as measured in dollars, to be honest (that is why also in, for example, Poland, there is no real Middle Class).

But yes, RPGs are a cheap hobby. And with Chinese love for everything Western (there is a certain infamous case for cheap American beer being sold as bloody nectar of gods in China, because USA! USA! USA!), it's but a matter of time someone exploits this.

Haffrung · March 06, 2012, 12:15:48 PM

Quote from: noisms;518964An alternative proposition is that India and China were dirt poor in the 1970s and early 80s, when RPGs were at their peak, so they missed out on a crucial 'development stage' when the hobby was laying its roots in the US, Europe, and Japan.

It's hard to imagine a pen and paper RPG taking root in a market where online RPGs are already entrenched.

Géza Echs · March 06, 2012, 02:40:35 PM

There was a really insightful series of articles posted online about six or seven years back that focused on the difficulty of establishing and maintaining a steady role playing group in Japan. Damn, I wish I could remember who wrote them - their notes on finding space and overcoming cultural barriers were really good.

Haffrung · March 06, 2012, 03:12:20 PM

Quote from: Géza Echs;520049There was a really insightful series of articles posted online about six or seven years back that focused on the difficulty of establishing and maintaining a steady role playing group in Japan. Damn, I wish I could remember who wrote them - their notes on finding space and overcoming cultural barriers were really good.

Teenagers having friends over to their house to play games doesn't fit a lot of cultures, where home is a private place, or perhaps a place for formal entertaining by adults.

It's not surprising that an activity fostered in suburban USA in the 70s doesn't translate to China or India in the 21st century.

noisms · March 06, 2012, 05:49:56 PM

Quote from: Haffrung;520057Teenagers having friends over to their house to play games doesn't fit a lot of cultures, where home is a private place, or perhaps a place for formal entertaining by adults.

It's not surprising that an activity fostered in suburban USA in the 70s doesn't translate to China or India in the 21st century.

That's very true of Japan, actually. There's not a great tradition there of kids hanging around at each others' houses. They do their socializing outside or during after-school activities.

RPGPundit · March 07, 2012, 02:43:15 PM

Quote from: DominikSchwager;519970You do realize that after losing 1.7 million subscriptions (over 10% of subs WoW had at its peak btw) in china there is still over 50% of WoW's player base there?
Or that south korea has a very active scene of people who actually get paid to play computer games, that have fans and are treated like rockstars?
Show me the south american equivalent... I'd really like to see that.
Or alternately, stop talking out of your ass.

There's also a more sizable chunk of the world's population in China than in South America. But you might note, if you get your head out of your own ass for a moment, that I was comparing S.America to NORTH america, not to korea.

I also notice that you keep directing your argument toward China rather than India...what's your excuse for why there isn't an effort to expand the hobby there?

S.America PROVES that there's nothing particular about RPGs that means they'll only work in north america and europe.

RPGPundit

Rincewind1 · March 07, 2012, 02:45:22 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;520289There's also a more sizable chunk of the world's population in China than in South America. But you might note, if you get your head out of your own ass for a moment, that I was comparing S.America to NORTH america, not to korea.

I also notice that you keep directing your argument toward China rather than India...what's your excuse for why there isn't an effort to expand the hobby there?

S.America PROVES that there's nothing particular about RPGs that means they'll only work in north america and europe.

RPGPundit

Except that South America is much, much closer culturally to Europe and North America then Far East. A simple example - there is no positive- or neutral - connotation word for "privacy" in Chinese.

RPGPundit · March 07, 2012, 02:51:36 PM

India is in some ways culturally closer to anglo-saxon culture than S.America is.

RPGPundit