Last time, I was telling you about us not attending the German Nationals and instead running some demos at a fair in Leipzig to draw more players into the game. The whole event can be considered a success as we saw a couple of the guys we met at the fair again in our local gaming store. Let's hope they'll become regular attendees and a part of our playgroup.

I was pleasantly surprised as I received a couple of e-mails as well as some kind messages on Facebook. It seems to me that we have a high number of people who would like to become active and do good things for the game, but not all of them know how to do that exactly. You already know how to organize an event where you can run demos to generate new players. However, I briefly mentioned that giving a demo is actually not that easy. In fact, I realized there are so many things you can do wrong that it wouldn't be such a bad idea to write a follow-up article concentrating on the art of demoing, so here goes!

1^st) Picking Product:

You don't want to hand over your Solo Warrior Deck to a player who's about to make his first steps in a whole new world. There's no way he won't feel overwhelmed with all the different cards and effects that interact in very special ways and which only make sense when you already know what you're trying to accomplish. Maybe he'll end up winning, but if he didn't know how that happened, there's not much point in giving a demo in the first place.

The Class Starters 2011, on the other hand, are a great starting point. The majority of the cards have effects that are easy to understand. Allies easily outnumber all the other card types, which is another plus as you want to keep the emphasis of your demo on them. That's because most attendees don't have a lot of trouble getting familiar with the idea of 2 guys blowing each other's heads off (I don't know what kind of message this sentence is sending, but you'll certainly figure it out).

I've also heard that in some cases, offering interested visitors of the fair the chance to play a 3 on 1 raid could work wonders. While I personally never tried that out, I can imagine that the rich lore of the Warcraft universe can lead to a more positive reception – especially when it comes to fans of the online game that still remember their first time trying to beat Onyxia, Illidan and all the other bad dudes.

That's only one of the advantages, though. In case you've ever given a demo at an event like a fair, you know that there are some guys that only do it to kill time. No matter how hard you try showing him the awesomeness that is the WoW TCG, you can't help but feel you're wasting your time. You have no doubt that this particular attendee of the fair is never going to pick up the game. If you have 3 guys sitting in front of you, most of the times, you only need to win the heart of 1 or 2 of the 3. They'll then automatically lighten the mood of the 3^rd guy, in turn making your job a lot easier!

Unfortunately, there are also some downsides to this style of giving demos. You want to avoid focusing on one player and kicking him out of the game way earlier than his friends. Otherwise, he might turn to the dark side of the force and spoil the fun for the whole group. Additionally, sole attendees of the fair might not feel like you're also offering something for them. Which brings us to...

2^nd) The Power of the Pitch

If you're expecting people to come over to you and approach you with the words: "Hey, that looks like quite an exciting product you're having there. What is it? Can I try it out?", you're living in the dream world, Neo. It's a lot more likely you'll have to be the one to become active and approach whoever is passing your booth. There's no secret formula that will always do the trick, after all, we're all individuals. However, if you're friendly and don't look like you want to sell them something, but rather introduce them to a fun and enjoyable game, they'll often open up and give it a try.

Work with "keywords"; "free" for example is something people really like to hear. "Fun" is another winner. Depending on who you're talking to, they'll prefer a different aspect of the game. Are they a fan of the WoW MMO? Point out that there are a number of similarities between the MMO and the card game (Warriors prefer to wear armor while Mages cast spells; spells that don't cost a lot of mana / have a low casting time tend to cost few resources, and so on)!

Did they play a different card game already? Perfect, tell them that the WoW TCG is one of the best balanced games with a great game engine. If they used to play Yu-Gi-Oh! and didn't like the always changing list of banned cards, tell them there are no banned cards in WoW; if they couldn't stand the high power level of some cards, point out that strong cards cost resources to play and you first have to get there; if they've been playing Magic and were annoyed by mana screw or mana flood, briefly mention the different resource system in WoW that makes it almost impossible for games to end in such a way; by now you should have an idea of how it works.

You see, as long as you're prepared, you can talk pretty much everyone into a demo of the WoW TCG. Don't forget about the "little things". Work on your posture. Don't make it look like your feet are hurting (even if they are) and stand upright. It's OK to wear some branded shirts, but I would recommend a pair of jeans instead of Bermuda shorts that will make it look like your next stop will be the nearby beach (look through the pictures of the European Continental Championship in Rimini to get an idea of what I'm talking about here).

3^rd) Focus on playing, not talking

In one of the articles of Rich Hagon, I read that he's most likely going to turn his back on you if you're telling him you'll explain everything there is to know about any particular game in a 10 minute demo. Gamers know that they're either being lied to or that the game will most likely be dull if you can actually learn everything about it in just 10 minutes. So let's be straight and tell your newfound friend that you'll run him through the basics of the game. You do not want to talk 6 minutes without a break and start playing then. Instead, quickly introduce the different card types and start playing right away!

You can explain what happens in any given turn when you or your opponent is making his first move. They won't remember to ready their resources at first; that's not a big deal, most of the times, they'll figure it out all by themselves. As soon as they try to play their first card, they'll realize that something's wrong and then ready their resources. Don't give them a smug look like "I knew you missed something", but rather look impressed that they already remembered that there's something happening start of turn.

Another good example of the "learning while playing" philosophy are the rules of combat. Start explaining them as soon as your opponent has a guy on the field. Then, it will matter to him. If you're going there before the game even started, that's an entirely different story...

So basically, go one step at a time and don't "preach" all the basic rules to him before the game even started. Make it look like you can get started fast and explain strategy and rules when they start to matter. Let him draw his own learning curve and don't force anything upon him he doesn't seem to feel comfortable with. If he has severe troubles keeping up with how combat works, don't push him too far by introducing Hero flips and maybe save that for another demo.

4^th) Learn to lose

If there's 1 golden rule that absolutely has to remain true for pretty much every demo, it's this: Whoever's receiving a demo wins. There are very, very, very few exceptions to this rule (one would be an experienced player trying to make fun of one of your demonstrators and making it look like he doesn't know how the game's working. Make sure he gets his ass kicked! Another would be someone who's just signing up for his 4th demo that weekend and thinks he's unbeatable. But that's pretty much it)!

Think about it; if you feel like you could have a real shot at this new and fun game you just learned, wouldn't you be more likely to give it a try? Damn right you would!

5^th) The finishing touch

When you're done explaining the game and you have reason to believe your newfound friend feels a little overwhelmed, calm him down and ensure him that he can learn everything about the game one step at a time. So if it seemed to him like there was a lot going on in that little demo to keep track of, reassure him that it's a piece of cake once he's played a few more games.

If he's already asking for more and fears the game is slightly too boring for his sophisticated mind, feel free to go to the next step (if you have the time) and show him one of the decks that tend to do well at bigger events. Explain some of the card interactions and maybe come up with an example where you can mess things up and where better players can gain advantages over their opponents.

As you can see, there's a lot more to giving a demo than what meets the eye. Don't feel overwhelmed, though, that's certainly not what I had in mind. Practice makes perfect and if you were able to follow these 5 steps I outlined in this article, you already know pretty much all there is to it. Ask one of your friends that doesn't play the game already if you could give him a demo a few days before the big event where you'll be giving plenty of them, ask him which parts confused him the most and what you explained best. Learn your lessons from it and you will be all set!

Did I miss anything or do you disagree with one of the points I listed above? Let me know in the forums or send me an e-mail!

- Oliver Gehrmann (soulwarrior@soulwarrior.net)