Re: Discussion topic - rewriting (future) history....?

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>
>  From Mark:
> > I understand, Jer, that if you are basing your premises on what's
going
> on
> > immediately around you you would think the industry is evaporating,
but I
> > would suggest that you're working with a limited data set. Down here
in
> > Maryland, minis gaming is going on pretty strong.
>
> Well, we're just working with the same concept of limited data sets. 
:)
>

As a point, I was actually not basing my views on the miniature gaming
industry on the Maryland gamers alone. I know there's been a growing
swell
in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio, to name a few  places that
are
not directly influenced or affected by Maryland gamers.

> Like, does that mean the local miniatures gaming club has tripled in
size
> with a whole gaggle of new teenagers ready to take the helm?	Does it
mean
> that clubs have stopped the bleeding and they're no longer shrinking
in
> size?  And what does it mean in terms of the industry as a whole?
>

Again, I'm basing my perceptions on not only the people I know in the
states
noted above, but listservs, gaming blogs, etc. From everything I've been
seeing, the miniatures gaming industry is doing okay.

>
> That's where I'm happy to admit (and have admitted) that the only way
to
> know for sure is to see national sales figures, which we'll never get.
> We can draw analogies, but they're only analogies.  I've heard the
happy
> stories too -- but I've heard more stories like what we've got around
here
> in Hamilton then stories about growth, continuity, etc.
>

I'd like to hear those stories, because other than your note about the
Hamilton gaming environment, I'm not seeing any declines.
[...]

> Look, trust me, I'm hoping I'm wrong on this.  But, what hard data is
out
> there seems to suggest that glory days of miniature gaming are over,
and
> it's going to be a niche segment in an industry that is turning more
toward
> more 'traditional' boardgames.

I want to see the hard data you're looking at. Seriously. I'm just not
seeing what it is you're seeing. I think we're now in the glory days of
miniatures gaming, not at all past it.

>  I'm not saying miniature gaming is going to
> completely disappear (at least within a timeframe that anybody on this
> mailing list considers even remotely important.)  I'm not saying you
can't
> get great stuff.  But, in terms of the size of the industry as a
whole,
> it's reached a maturity, and unless something radical happens, there's
> going
> to be a decline as the people leaving the hobby aren't replaced by
people
> coming into the hobby.
>

But, again, I'm seeing the replacements coming in, moreso than those who
are
leaving the hobby.

>
> That's my opinion, because that's what the data suggests to me. 
*shrug*
> It doesn't mean gaming is bad.  It just means we're in a niche hobby.
>

It's always been a non-mainstream hobby, and I don't think anyone, least
of
all you, said gaming was bad.  I'm just hearing you say that miniatures
gaming is done, whereas I, Tom, and several others are suggesting to you
otherwise.  :-)

Mk