deimos3428 wrote:"Promote" D&D?  Heck no!  Where does this bizarre sentiment come from?  Do people go out of their way to "promote" fly-fishing?  Not unless they're selling something -- the rest of 'em just shut up and fish.

A hobby is either worth doing sans promotion, or it's not worth doing at all.  If other people want to collect D&D, great.  But they don't need help, they need interest.

I don't know about that. Try googling "fly fishing basics".  You'll get dozens of articles, links to magazines, courses you can take, etc., all about how to fly fish.  Maybe some or even a lot of those people are looking to sell lures (or magazines or lessons), but I suspect many of them just want to share what they enjoy doing with others.  Making it easier to get into the hobby is certainly one way to increase interest.

And while it may be, as Ian suggests, that the average old school collector has a certain amount of intelligence, there is quite of bit of generally basic information that can be hard to come by without someone's help.  When I started out only a couple of years ago, I know I had a pretty steep learning curve.  (And I'm still on that learning curve, compared to many others here . . . .)  And I had access to the encyclopedia of collecting knowledge that is Stratochamp.  Personally, I found this site to be essential, and still do when I have questions about almost anything related to RPG collecting.  (Even Bill doesn't have enough patience to answer every question I may have.)

I think some of what GamesGuy is suggesting can be found in the Acaeum Library here.  The articles on collecting ins-and-outs and history of the hobby (though now a bit dated) were great introductions when I first started lurking here.

That all being said, I don't have the time to assist in this kind of project, and ultimately think that pointing folks in the direction of this site will be enough to get the ball rolling for most anyone inclined to join in this insane hobby we have.