"Read the Rulebook!" Topic

You were asked – TMP link

Preferred Way to Learn a New Ruleset?

51% said "read the rulebook"
39% said "have someone show you how to play"
3% said "watch a video"

I'm surprised by the results. Good intentions aside, I know many gamers do not read the rule book before the first game.

I tend to have a flick through then try to play as I learn – if I don't like it I stop…

I have actually read a lot more rule sets than I have played

I collect/read rule sets. It's almost a second hobby in and of itself. At last count I owned 940 rule sets…..

Not as bad as I thought it would be. Board wargaming is having a major issue with gamers posting tons of questions about games where it's obvious no one really read the rulebook. There seems to be this urge that since you bought something you should get it to the table at least once, which is great if you're only purchasing a few items a year. However, many gamers are buying everything in sight and are in a hurry to play it before the next item arrives!

Perhaps more readers took the pole because they are readers.

Polls don't always find out the answer you think – we can all point to multiple polls in the real world organized by professionals that blew it.

Any poll here is absolutely meaningless for anything other then finding out what the takers of that TMP poll think. Not a knock against TMP, in order for a poll to have any meaning it first has to be random and second from as many sources as possible.