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

On Fri, Oct 21, 2011 at 12:54 PM, Indy <indy.kochte@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> 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.
>

I agree -- the gaming situation is pretty darn good in MD.  I'm about
20-40 miles (MD & VA) away from 10 game shops that I know about
(granted three of them are actual GW stores but they still count).
That may have something to do with the population compressed into this
part of the world so is by no means typical I'm sure.  Having said
that...

The local groups have been pulling in new players at a pretty constant
rate IMHO -- it's not a massive bow wave of new players by any stretch
but they easily seem to keep up with the number of folks who exit the
hobby permanently.

One of the differences today compared to 20 years ago is that I find
it's VERY EASY to find gamers pretty much where ever you go thanks to
the Internet.  Before moving to Fredneck (I mean Frederick, MD) I
posted a message on TMP asking about the local gaming community.  The
responses weren't overwhelming by any stretch but there were a few --
that led me to finding AoCM, gaming shops I should check out, etc.

Having talked to GW reps about the demographics of the (and they will
say "their market" but you got to let that stuff slide) market, at
least as far as their product line goes, they pretty much assume folks
will start with 40k and stick with it a few years until they discover
"other distractions" (along the lines of females).  They assume a
number of these players will come back to "The Hobby" and they do.
Once these gamers reach a certain age they gravitate to Fantasy
Battles.

You can see this in the product lines and the relative weight and
complexity of the rules.  In general you can visit any store and see
these demographics play out -- youngin's play 40k and graybeards lean
towards fantasy.  It's not 100% mind you because folks like me still
like 40k and play it for what it is -- a simple fast game.  I've
managed to find close to 20 people at work who still play 40k.	I
haven't really searched for Fantasy folks because I'm mostly not
interested in the genre (though I've got a collection of fantasy figs
to create HoTT armies...).

The ONE thing I have difficulty with is convincing folks to try other
rulesets.  Some gamers are even scared to try anything else.  I can't
explain this -- in my case I came up as a RPGer in the 80's.  It was
nothing to jump from system to system to system.  When I go to shops
today I don't see a vast selection in RPGs - though they are available
online.

I've had a few great successes in getting 40k players to try SG2 with
their figs because the system lets you model just about anything.  One
complaint a lot of 40k gamers have is that Space Marines aren't the
super heroes on the table they should be (or that "Elites" are
generally only "Elite" in the area of the toys they have access to and
not really on the inherent capabilities of the troops).  Using SG2 I
could contrive a scenario where a handful of Marines could hold
against a vast horde of alien bugs, etc.  Or you see the shock on
their face when a squad of Elite (in the SG2 sense) Imperial Guard
actually have the stones to face down a squad of Chaos Marines and win
(the horror!).

In wrapping up this tome I'd like to weigh in on the side of "more
vibrant" than "stagnating or declining."  There is more access to
games, genres, and gamers than there have ever been in the past.  The
HMGS cons are still overcrowded.  My buddies and I are constantly
tempted by existing and new product lines.  Tomorrow's War should be
at my door Saturday -- GZG is going to be producing minis for this
book and if the game lives up to the hype (friends LOVE FoF) then I'll
be getting some 15s when they become available.  In the meantime I'll
use my 28s.

D.