So I moved to university and the forums were an acceptable subsitute for playing the beautiful game. But the longer the time becomes since I last played, the more I need to play.

So I go the the local store to ask where the nearest gaming store is(and buy some VS) and the owner says that he doesn't know of a place where people can go to play card/minature games. :cry:

So I join the comic book society and email all of the people with information about the game and ask them if they are interested in learning to play.

I get no replies.

I hear lots of people talking about getting players into the game, but what I really need to know is how. How do I get new players into the game, or should I just abandon ship and play all my games in another town.

Please Realmers, HELP!

ABSOLUTELY ANY ideas are wanted and will be much much appreciated. (about the current topic of course)

Try non-gamers. Coffee shops, comic book stores, outdoor areas.

It may not work, but it's worth a shot.

Get with your Comic store owner, set up Demos in the comic store one afternoon. Call Barnes and Noble, ask to run Demos there. Find the geek group at your school(I know you have to have that group. Every college does) and get in with them, then introduce Vs.

As far as the comic shop goes, run demos twice in November, then have a $5.00 constructed tourney where the prize for first is a subscription to the comic of their choice.

What town are you in, anyway? It's difficult to distinguish possible methods without knowing what's where.

I picked up a guy on craigslist once (wait...that came out wrong).

Around the release of MSM, he posted an "anyone want to play Vs/Magic/whatever?" and I responded. We've been good friends ever since.

Derby,

There is nowhere in the comic shop TO play games, it is packed full. As for Barnes and Noble, I presume that this is the US equivelant of WHSmisths/Waterstones. And in that the problem is that the only way of getting anything done with these, is that they will:

A) Expect payment, they wouldn't do anything for free.
B) Most likely have to implement it in the nationwide stores, so they would disregard it.
C) They have very little descisions that can be made independantly and for the most part are told what,where and when things are happening by the man.

As for the constructed tourney, the thing is, that there are NO players here. So IF anyone came at all, they wouldn't have any cards to play with.

As for the geek group, that would be the comic book society.

Hitting up other game players may be the best option. In our area, we got 3 MTG players to pick up VS. There are a lot of snobbish MTG players, but if you weed through them, some will have an open mind. Look for those that are either into high competitive play, limited play or that are really frustrated with mana screw/flood. No mana issues in VS, excellent limited play and they already understand the basic fundamentals of the stack.

You can target Yugioh players too. Look for high level competitve ones that tend to get bored with the meta. Sell VS diverse meta. Also look for those that tend to build a lot of creative Yugioh decks. Again, sell the vast room for creativity in VS. With Yugioh, even well built creative decks tend to get crushed by the cookies.

I've found the Hellboy EC to be incredible for getting new players into the game. Two pre-built precons that are tailor made to fight against each other? Perfect. New players particularly get a kick out of playing Pancakes and Break off the Horns on their Hellboy, or for trying to win with Project Ragna Rok (even if they make bad moves in doing so... it's the fun of it that sells.)

Also, when the Giant Sized Galactus VS comes out, that's a natural sell. If you have a few people, it makes it easy to recruit others, "Hey, we need one more person for this game... we'll teach you along the way and supply you with a deck to use. Come on, it'll be fun!"

Edit: Oh, and getting free commons/uncommons is a big plus for players starting out. You can actually buy lots pretty cheap off eBay if you don't have boxes full yourself. It's pretty cool when players start sorting through those and then they realize the built in synergy the teams/sets have.

Thanks!

But the problem is, I don't know WHERE the other gamers are, whether they be Yu-Gi-Oh! or MTG, even the store owner who stocks the stuff doesnt know where they play.

Looking up the MTG players was one of my first thought, but I dont know where they are.

Any other suggestions as to where my player source could come from? So far I managed to get my flatmate to say that he will borrow the DS version of the game. Other than that I am drawing a blank.

A lot of Universities have school sponsored MTG clubs, so you can check that out. Similarly, if you go to the comic shop, sometimes MTG groups put up fliers for tournaments/etc...

The way we did it was to hang around the comic shop playing, though now we do it in the local pretentious coffee house. We've picked up one or two players at the comic shop.

Anothing thing? Make your friends play. Or, convince them to try. A friend got me playing. I got two friends of mine playing. We had 3 people playing at first. Now we have 5-6 regulars and 8-10 people we can rely on to play once every couple weeks.

You moved to a place called University, or an actual school?

If it is the ladder, in addition to what everyone else has suggested, many schools have gaming groups. You could introduce it to the group and perhaps get followers in there as well.

If it is an area, you could always email the local college's gaming group and see if they are willing to play.

:edit: beaten to the post

idea:
make posters.
find a public place (like a library) and set that as the location for demos.
You could say something about heroes, good vs evil, a creative way to play games, talkbubbles from comic strips / famous lines (I'm the Juggernaut, B...)

maybe famous pics from recent movies (parker removing venom at the bell)
Maybe a line about the Pro Circuit and the *$1 Million payout* (hahahaha...)
make different ones. each with a date, time and location.
Do NOT reveal yourself.
DO teach your flat-mate the rules, so he can help you run demos if there's a good size of people

If all else fails, OCTGN online for vs play against us.

I'd say library, have the cards out working on a deck, and have a second one ready. Any other accessable public locals parks are rough, but Universities often have sem-enclosed (enclosed)hell I can't judge I'm in SoCal, but places to hang out, hand out there with yuir pertiest cards visible, you're bound to attract someone, just hopefully not the local constaburly.

Sport VS. loudly and boldly everywhere and hope you attract other strange folks like us.

Sorry I aint got more.

You could make up a few decks, say 4-6

Then e-mail the Comic Book Society, stating you are going to hold an intro session to the game (at a certain place, at a certain time)
Tell them there will be comic book talk and stuff that will appeal to them.

Then send reminder e-mails every now and then.

Then on the day that you suggested go to that place and see if anyone turns up. You may find that one or two do. Convince one of your flat mates to go along and you can teach them at least (plus you are not there alone either).

It might be a long shot, but you might pick up one or 2, who then tell their mates.

Then the following week, Same time, same place (keep sending the emails) you may find that more turn up

Arg. Don't hate me if I give bad advice... the closest I've ever been to The UK was watching Father Ted while I was eating a scone. Just looking into Derby a few places I'd hold demos first:

Queen's Leisure Centre. While the owners can't spell 'center', it does boast an activities room, and seem to be open to the public.

I know a lot of L5R Kotei(Regionals) are held in pubs there... I'm checking for any english L5R players in Darby for you... you might have to learn our game, but they'd be more than happy to show you around the Derby geek scene(Play Crane, I kill you). As soon as I get someone, I'll PM you with Contact into. I don't know English Geography too well, or I'd have something for you right now.

Also: Do not forget the sixth sense any gamre(That's how you guys spell it, right?) has, allowing us to find other gamres. Teach a friend or two how to play, then sit in a cafe or pub playing for an hour or two. Almost guaranteed someone will come up and ask you what you're playing.

I have some posters that I made this week for advertising demos too. If anyone wants them just let me know.

Look at the store locater at Vssystem.com