You bring up another cruel outside influence,
Nightstalkers, that of kiddie games. Damn, I go to my local card shop and YuGiOh makes it so the Magic players always get pushed off to the side, sometimes having to take refuge in the junk area of the store.
Then again, Magic is weak right now, anyway. Were those YuGiOh players not there, we'd be something like 3-7 players (varies by week) not able to run a tourney, and with the sudden focus of the store owner on us, we'd be kicked out rather than cloaked by the YuGis.
The solution, I think, is not in converting other gamers, but in somehow appealing two two different categories: The heart of what we love; and the common link we may share with other gamers.
This is not to say we should cover other games. A few months ago I woulda been like "Hell yes!" to the idea, and slapping up Jyhad articles. Now though, I have a better perspective with dealing in newspaper media during crisis.
The solution isn't in getting people to like you in the first place, its getting them to like about you what you already do, even if you have to tweak what you do a little bit.
Damn, its three thirty in the morning, I'm about to call in sick to work (I hate the friggen super flu, or whatever the hell this is), plus I wouldn't have any ideas normally. But, when I asked Spidey what had larger readership that normal here, he mentioned interviews.
Could somebody among us work on getting interviews? It will be hard, certainly. But when you look at it, its appealing to people who already like us, and not trying to convert the alien masses.
Rather than trying to set a standard, or be a focus of hardcore casual gaming (please forbid the idea from ever manifesting...the "regulation" of casual gaming is something I fear), or cover other games in the hope of getting new readers, we should just stick to what we've liked the best.
Interviews are one way. And since I'm tired and lazy right now, all I'm gonna try to think far enough to mention. What makes you warm and fuzzy when you read it? What makes you read an article over any other? What is it you would come back weekly, or even daily, to see?
If we can answer those questions as they pertain to our general audience, I think we can work on a solution.
My two cents, though. Tired, momentarily uncreative, and ready to puke up my medication...
-SeFRo
Ferret: Sorry man, we had two reporter openings, but they've been filled. We do have openings a lot, though...but a high turnover rate (and me being senior reporter) sort of say something...maybe. There is currently a desk receptionist position open, if you wanna be a secretary, though