Great Expectations
Anyone who can remember the days of wargame counters being colored baby blue and soft pink can appreciate what a wonderful time we are living in. Production quality and general design elements have never looked better. Manuals are often readable. Subject choice is plentiful.
So it’s always amusing when someone who has never had any experience with wargames ends up being shocked at what a wargame consists of today.
“Ohmigawd, the map is cardstock! You play the game on a paper map? And the pieces…more paper. You have to punch them out? Look at all those numbers on them, too. And the rulebook! What is this, case numbering? Is it code reference or how to play the game?”
We of course shrug, secure in the knowledge that wargames were once truly utilitarian in nature, but those days are long gone. But for gamers who grew up on popular fare such as Monopoly, or whose gaming knowledge is derived from meeples and tickets to ride, these games seem so ghetto. Where are the wooden pieces? The mounted maps? The four page rulebook with 20 point typeface?
Imagine if they experienced a DTP game!
This same form of debate goes on in the computer gaming world. How often are indie games slagged because they don’t look as lovely as the AAA titles do, without regard to what actually makes them important, the game itself?
It’s interesting that the world of board gaming has the same type of player split. Those that are shocked by wargaming standards tend to be those whose experiences come about only through Eurogaming, just as those who look down on indie gaming have a background only in popular gaming.
Oh well, they don’t know what they’re missing.
I agree that people judge the book by the cover. I have been guilty of it… for example, we ignored some ‘ugly’ Avalon Hill games when they first came out: War At Sea, Victory in the Pacific and Hitler’s War. Then we tried them and became our favorites.
People do the same with miniature game rules that don’t meet their prejudgices: like Commmand Decision: Test of Battles recommendation for (but not required) all troops on the table. I’ve come around.
Lesson is to be open minded. And I’m considered 3mm for North Africa after 6mm was the smallest I thought I could tolerate.
Comment by Bill Owen — 2/16/2008 @ 11:22 pm
Exactly. Sometimes we forget that how it plays is really the most important factor!
Comment by Scott — 2/17/2008 @ 4:03 pm