Total War and non-gamers

[Stella]

I live in a small town in a rural area in Virginia and nobody I know really plays games. A lot of my friends don't really understand why I waste my time with it and my family members don't seem to get it either. I've tried showing them different games to try and get them to appreciate the hobby (Fallout 3,, Portal, CoD 4, Audiosurf, World of Goo, to name a few) but nothing seems to impress them enough to say anything other than a dismissive "Well, it looks pretty."

So one of my skeptical friends comes over to hang out and I decide to show him M2TW. Needless to say he was impressed. I started on the campaign map and he remarked that it was kind of like Civilization (I think he had played some Civ 2 earlier in life) but when he saw that I could actually fight the battles and came to understand the depth of it all he was really enthralled. He sat and watched me play for almost two hours, and at one point he was actively cheering on my valiant spear militia as they defended Constantinople's city square from the Jihading hordes. He kept asking me questions about the game and saying that he had never seen anything like it before.

Anyway, I think I was finally able to make an impression. I don't expect him to go out and buy the game (though I did make quite a pitch) but I think he has an appreciation for our little hobby that he didn't have before. I think I've found the perfect game for impressing non-gamers. My guess is that it's the stunning depth of the game and the epic scope that can't really be found elsewhere. Also the historical elements appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in history.

So why do you guys think TW is so impressive to non-gamers? Feel free to share any stories you have of showing TW to non-gamers. I'd be interested to learn their reactions.

[Dewy]

i'm the only gamer in my family, but most of my friends, are hardcore FPS fans that play online. People never get online games if they don't play them, they think they are for nerds. But if you ever see my freinds and i on Xbox live, we sound like an averge person (well an averge aussie )

[Leonidas_I]

i'm the only gamer in my family, but most of my friends, are hardcore FPS fans that play online. People never get online games if they don't play them, they think they are for nerds. But if you ever see my freinds and i on Xbox live, we sound like an averge person (well an averge aussie )

Thats the same with me and my friends lol.
Happy Australia day from yesterday Dewy.
To bad we lost the cricket.

[Platomasso]

Maybe because everything in the game is recognizable? The map is a part of our world, it's full of knights (everyone knows what they are) and it is semi-historic. There are no laserguns, zombies or monsters, no mushrooms that make you larger and princesses walk around themselves instead of being kidnapped over and over again by the same giant green turtle-dragon. My point is.. I think MTW2 is easier to relate to for people who never play videogames

[browns47]

There are three types of gamers, shooters gamers, sports gamers and strategy gamers. Most non-gamers are not skilled enough to play shooters and pick it up right away. Most sports gamers just like taking their team to the championship they wish they could win, but this often involves lots of micomanaging, especially the off-season parts. Strategy games, as stated above, offer a recognizable purpose, usually with two parts (battles and campaign/strategy). It appeals to alot of people and are often very easy to play.

[D.B. Cooper]

The battles turn heads whenever a nongamer sees TW. A couple of Asians brought RTW to school on their laptop, in history class, and when others saw the Greeks lining up to do battles with the Romans they were like "Holy that's ing sick!"

[Dewy]

There are three types of gamers, shooters gamers, sports gamers and strategy gamers. Most non-gamers are not skilled enough to play shooters and pick it up right away. Most sports gamers just like taking their team to the championship they wish they could win, but this often involves lots of micomanaging, especially the off-season parts. Strategy games, as stated above, offer a recognizable purpose, usually with two parts (battles and campaign/strategy). It appeals to alot of people and are often very easy to play.

There is a hell lot more then that, like the biggest one you forgot, an MMO gammer

[browns47]

There is a hell lot more then that, like the biggest one you forgot, an MMO gammer

ya, I just took three i could think of off the top of my head, but my point was each game fills a niche in a person's interest, but I think the multi-dimension aspects of MTW make it very appealing to non-gamers.

[Owain Glyndŵr]

It's not just that it's so epic and visually pleasing... people see something like Gears of War and think "Oh, another nerdy science fiction game with excessive amounts of gore and pus." They see this game and see things that actually could have happened. That's one of the greatest appeals Total War has always had for me; I finally have the potential to have my Saxon ancestors send William the Bastard fleeing from Hastings, squealing like a little girl... or adjust the results of the Crusades in another side's favour, or a myriad of other things. It's exciting to have such power(simulated or otherwise) over the outcome of history.

[Abel12512]

It's indeed recognizable, epic and realistic. Also knights speak to the imagination.

@browns47: I play shooters (on the ps3) and strategy games on the computer. So combinations are possible

[browns47]

It's indeed recognizable, epic and realistic. Also knights speak to the imagination.

@browns47: I play shooters (on the ps3) and strategy games on the computer. So combinations are possible

I no doubt. I also love console sports games.

[France]

I also love console sports games.

I know, while I'm not playing M2TW I find myself stuck on Madden 09.

[Traitorfish]

The battles certainly impress people... Even my 44 year old mum was impressed by the battles in Rome, although the fact that she's an archaeologist and life-long history nut may have something to do with it...
She's the only non-gamer in my family, though. Me and my four younger sisters all play games, and my dad's been a fan of shooters since he got Doom for the PlayStation. Strangely, despite being a PE teacher and a life-long rugby fan, he's never shown much interes in sports games...
My girlfriend, though, chides me for frittering time away on such "childish" pursuits, in between constructing lavish Sims palaces.

[Artetius]

I grew up on the non-gamer side of the fence, as computers were horrible when I was kid. I didn't even play many games on the computer until 1998 when I started to play Age of Empires... that was my true launching point into RTS's, which lead to RPGS and then the entire universe of computers. At times I look back and try to figure out what I did before the computer.. I think I used to mountain bike, I mean I do have a nice Fuji in my garage with decade old mud covering the tires. *ponders in lost memories*

[king-nord]

I think age of empires was my first strategy game too, but more on ps 2 than pc.

Playing pc games ect has only just started to kick off with more and more people buying them. It use to be pretty much socially outcasted where im from .

[Dewy]

I grew up on the non-gamer side of the fence, as computers were horrible when I was kid. I didn't even play many games on the computer until 1998 when I started to play Age of Empires... that was my true launching point into RTS's, which lead to RPGS and then the entire universe of computers. At times I look back and try to figure out what I did before the computer.. I think I used to mountain bike, I mean I do have a nice Fuji in my garage with decade old mud covering the tires. *ponders in lost memories*

Thats like me, but i didn't ride, i played sports. Age of Empires was a great game, the first game to really hook me into games. Looks like alot of people got hooked onto games by it

[AytchMan]

Stella--

I think it's the look of the game. The graphics engine has finally reached a point where, when the settings are maxxed up, the battles look darn near photo-realistic. I think this ability to envision yourself in the middle of a major historical event -- a large medieval battle -- is what grabs people. If you crank up the volume and fuzz your eyes a bit, you can almost believe you're down there in the mud and the blood and the beer. We've come a long way since Space Invaders and, if I recall correctly, the TW engine was used to recreate battle scenes in a PBS special. That's an impressive testimonial.

[Old_Scratch]

I'm surprised that Portal didn't interest anyone you know. I love that game, it's mentally challenging and darkly humorous. It pretty much has everything that I appreciate in entertainment. Well, I guess I perplex the local lunatic baseball fans with my indifference though too.

[Callawyn]

For people who understand, no explanation is necessary, for people who don't, no explanation is possible.

[Fishrudder]

I started out with sports games, and i saw medieval 1 on a shelf for cheap, so i bought it, greatest decision of my life, lol, i think i might have played some civ 3, that was a good game, but, 360=sports pc=Strategy and MMORPGs, lol, they're my life