Frustration.

[Chev Chelios]

I am frustrated. I am having the most difficult time finding anyone in my area that plays Malifaux.I know that when you get into a game that is coming in on the ground floor it can be difficult to find individuals in your area that play,much less an LGS that supports it.

I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area,one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country. There are plenty of game stores but,there is that huge Warhammer/Warmachine block that you have to crack.When you do maybe find someone that plays,its only on a Thursday at Midnight when the moon is full on an odd numbered day.

Any ideas on where to find players?

I've looked on the locator and there seems to be just me and knightdrake(who I have yet to meet,partly my fault).

[Justin]

That can be tough.

You might just have to convert them yourself.

[Flikfutch87]

Finding players for a new game is always tough. Are there any local stores that carry Malifaux? If so, I would ask the store owner if they could organize a Malifaux gaming day on some weekend coming up. If not, I would instead ask if you could have a table sometime to play it with a friend, and try to convert people who might be browsing in the store and watching you. Like Lalochezia said, sometimes you have to make new players yourself.

[Joona]

Some people (Ropetus and another one) had been showing some interest to the game earlier. When I had some left over money I bought the rulebook and a couple of miniatures(/crewboxes) and started converting people to try it out. It seems we're slowly finding new players as starting the game is quite cheap, rules are nice and the models look great.

If you've got a friend or two who like to play, just go somewhere where people tend to play different kinds of games, play a little bit, answer to people asking questions and if there's someone looking to start playing '40k jump at them with the speed of light before the GW enthusiasts can lay their slimy fingers at the newbie and drag him to your gaming table. With your fully painted crews and a lot of stuff happening on the table, some people become interested when compared to the hordes of gray plastic and bucketfulls of dice piled on the other tables.

[Chev Chelios]

There are no stores carrying yet. To compound the problem,I am new to the area and don't have any gaming buddies yet. Store owners around here are not like the ones you find in other cities either.Their just at the register,not out promoting the hobby.

I just have to keep plugging away.Trying to take my crews and rules around like a travelling bible salesman,converting the heathen masses.

[Thrall_Love]

I am in the same boat you are Chev. My LGS is resistant to promoting anything that isn't GW or PP related. So my plan is to get my crews finished and then finally put in my Henchman application. Hopefully showing people this game isn't going away any time soon.

Then grab my brother, who plays as well, park my butt at a table, play games and spread the joy that is Malifaux.

This won't be easy as the players are much like the LGS, PP or GW.

[Chev Chelios]

One thing that can make it difficult too is learning the game without even having another person that plays.

I wonder how many buy the rules and mins yet,never get on the forums,making it hard to make a connection.

Then you have some LGS that will not let you play anything in their store that they don't sell.

Not only that but,trying to convince someone to buy something when they have just spent hundreds on Warhammer or Warmachine can be a chore.

[ispep]

One thing that can make it difficult too is learning the game without even having another person that plays.

I wonder how many buy the rules and mins yet,never get on the forums,making it hard to make a connection.

Then you have some LGS that will not let you play anything in their store that they don't sell.

Not only that but,trying to convince someone to buy something when they have just spent hundreds on Warhammer or Warmachine can be a chore.

That sounds like a terrible business model for a game store. Perhaps the reason many GW stores aren't around anymore?

[gru6y]

The reason for GW stores vanishing is GW policy, but screw that

I do feel for you Chev, as I have to struggle to get people to play here as well. Apart from me and my girlfriend, there are no players known to me in my entire country.

I have seen a forum on which a couple of guys were discussing the game and actually bought something. they were not from my city, though.

Fortunately, my LGS's owner is my good friend and he is into Malifaux and promissed to start promoting the game. So far, though, there is only a handful of people playing it in Poland.

[Chev Chelios]

The only thing I have close to a player is my 14 year old daughter and she has an attention span like my Jack Russell Terrier.

I wonder if the reason that some don't care for it is because it isn't militaristic enough for them. i personally love it.

By the way,have you ever heard an argument between a die hard Warmachine player and a hardcore Warhammer player about which is better? Its like a Fascist and a Communist arguing. I said that I thought all had their merits.They looked at me like I was an Anarchist.:laugh:

[Wombats]

I leave my Malifaux stuff out at Warhams clubs.

Usually end up playing intro games for newbies.

Just rock up with two crews and ask someone, Malifaux has caught on around Brisbane like nothing else.

People are bored of Warhams and the Warmachine crew tend to be anti-social in Australia for some reason.

Put it out there, most people react with delight when they see the card mechanics and realise there is a game that doesn't smell of star wars / lord of the rings.

[Raintar]

Honestly the rules system is good enough where 70k/Warmachine players will be like oh wow this is incredibly different, and stay because it's incredibly well balanced. Warmachine and 40k have some issues with both of those lol.

[Trag Sifarin]

I find the easiest way to sell it is to break it down to dollars and models. People are a lot more interested in the game after you tell them it only uses 5-8 mini's and will cost them only about $80 total. After that they are usually pretty interested in at least trying it. Many people have been curious only because of the low model count (big selling point to people who play Warhammer it seems, me included). The usually reply of "I play to many games already" doesn't cut it when you say it only uses about 6 models.

[Chev Chelios]

Its almost like they get their gaming fix through Warhammer/Warmachine and they have nothing left for anything else.

There seems to be two factions in the hobby now. One that wants as many miniature as possible(40k Apocalypse) and one that wants fewer for a more skirmish type game(Malifaux).

Warhammer/Warmachine always struck me as so super competitive.Where as smaller games like Malifaux seemed to be what us old guys called "Beer&Pretzels".

I hope it stays that way.

[nerdelemental]

Me, too.

How to infuse the fun into a tournament scene is tough, though, but I'm convinced that it should be done.

[paperbag4]

You could always move to Detroit. There's all kinds of players. Finding a job might be tough though.

[Chev Chelios]

How extreme would that be? Move to where the gaming is.Thats what I thought I was getting when I moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.I was wrong.

[nerdelemental]

You can be my butler!

Pay sucks, but we can play Malifaux as soon as you get my place all cleaned up. Benefits!

[paperbag4]

The job comes with health and dental as long as you never get sick and the only Teeth you have is a gremlin.

[Buhallin]

I think stressing the low cost of the game is key to getting new people to try it. For the same price as my Lizardman Battalion box, which is the seedling of my WHFB army, I got three starter crews. A full 35SS crew for Malifaux should cost about the same as a starter box for Warmachine or Hordes. You might take a look at one of the army builders the Privateer community has produced, as they tend to include a cost calculator. Run a few basic armies that you see people playing with so you can cost compare. It's really startling - the Feora army I was running at the tail end of my Warmachine time was over $250, and that was before their latest round of price hikes.

Once people realize that they can try the game for less than the cost of a single warjack, they might be more willing to give it a shot.

I'd also suggest working more on the PP players than the GW ones. The general playstyle of Malifaux has enough in common with Warmachine/Hordes to be a pretty comfortable conversion.

[nightgaunt98c]

I'm in a similar situation. Our game store just got Malifaux in this week. My friend who plays and I went to the store and ran demos at the store, and we got two new players. The low cost of the game is a big upside, and the gameplay makes it an easy sell. The trick is getting people to try it out.

[WombatCowboy]

Procreate or begin creating spawn somehow, nurture them and in time you'll have both tax breaks and "gamers"!

[Beermonkey]

Stress the fluff too! My room mate wouldn't touch another minis game at all. I told him that's cool just read the fluff it's SO worth it. He did, he now owns 2+ starters sets and several blisters. Basically he was so hooked by the fluff he had to play in Malifaux. Course I also bought him his first starter set cause I'm a pusher...

[kbdrand]

There are currently two places to play in the DFW area (that I'm aware of). One is Area-51 gaming in Grapevine (kind of far for me since I like in Plano/Frisco area) and the other is Hobbytown in Plano. Each of those places only has Malifaux play once a week though. I'm also in the same boat. The only other person I've played Malifaux with is a friend of mine but he doesn't have any of the figures, etc. I just let him borrow some of mine. We need to get a Malifaux gaming group setup for the DFW area.

[nilus]

Have you thought about signing up as a Henchman and starting to promote the game yourself. See if your FLGSs ever run mini demo days and find out about small cons in your area and go try to recruit people.

Malifaux is still a new game so the best way to find more players is to spread the message and convert them. And remember it takes time.