I just returned from a great family reunion here in Utah. I caught my dad at a vulnerable time. He was bored (no work) and had no good excuse to not play Arkham Horror with my cousins and I. I convinced him to play, along with 6 other people (sheesh, must have been a boring time) and we got an eight player game started. After less than two hours we had sealed six gates and Tsathoggua didn't stand a chance. My dad and uncle, who had never played before, were able to participate fully (just move to the spaces with the green tokens), Anyway, I concluded that anyone can enjoy a good game of Arkham Horror. As long as someone playing knows how to run the cards and be able to guide everyone in the right general direction, this game really isn't that hard to pick up. Tell me if I'm wrong, I dare you!
Who says Arkham Horror is complicated?
Totally agree with you, had almost the exact same experience this past week but in Colorado. Me and my cousins wiped the floor with Nyarlethotep. There is a lot of procedural stuff to remember but so long as you have one person who knows what they are doing things can go smoothly.
I like to assign simple things to first time players like the monster cup or the other world deck to get them used to things.
I dare to disagree! 
I played a game of 8 players with my friends and we completely ruined everything by the slow pace of things and having to explain certain rules at different points. Everyone got bored from all the rules and stuff like Focus and stats changing, so much so that we stopped playing halfway T_T
I recently ran a game with three other people who had never played before. During setup, I heard numerous comments in the vein of, "This looks ridiculously complicated." But after a couple of turns, everyone picked up the flow of the game without issue, and even made comments after the fact about how it was much easier than it initially looked.
Okay, I am enticed to say that it is not recommended to play an 8 player game when there are new guys involved. Can definitely get long.
Everytime i try and convice my friends to play they run in fear cause of the size of the board and rules and the fact it may take 2-3 hours to play. Monolopy they are cool with cause its an easy set up and other stupid reasons. But now that it is summer, I WILL GET THEM to play a game.
Brine said:
I recently ran a game with three other people who had never played before. During setup, I heard numerous comments in the vein of, "This looks ridiculously complicated." But after a couple of turns, everyone picked up the flow of the game without issue, and even made comments after the fact about how it was much easier than it initially looked.
Exactly.
I think setup takes much longer than understanding the rules. But it really gives a wrong impression at first sight.