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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 11:45:45 GMT
Post by methios on Feb 10, 2018 11:45:45 GMT
Im not a herald of the end times. But i did notice that since they stopped with the pressgangers program (or mebbe it was the just the mk3 launch?) there are hardly any tournaments being organised anymore outside of the bigs ones (masters/cons). The local steamrolers are litteraly back at 0 in my country and new players are non existend. I was wondering if other area's have the same. Or that it is a local problem. If its a trend i would hope that PP see's / hears from it and tries to remedy it. As i kinda like / am invested in the game
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Luebbi
BattleBox Champ
Posts: 54
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Post by Luebbi on Feb 10, 2018 12:05:40 GMT
Former PG here. My situation is a bit unique as I'm cutting back on WM/H to focus on adult education. I'm still running local steamrollers when time permits, though. Attendance, however, has been poorer - last normal Steamroller I ran had 8 players out of 16 available slots. Instead I started running 24 man Team tournaments, and they always fill up. German Team tournament format is hugely popular.
As for new players, I don't have the time to actively recruit - and none of the other players do it. I see it as a huge problem. We've lost a couple of regulars, as is usual, but unlike before, no new faces come to replace them. The game seems tougher than ever to get into. Seeing how streamlining MK3 for new players was one of the stated design goals, I think PP dropped the ball in that regard. There are too many interactions and warcasters to wrap one's head around, and every new player has to constantly face new lists that they barely understand, very frustrating and off-putting. Themelists also make it harder to get viable tournament pairings for newcomers, as the old "just buy what you like" will not result in a practical pool of models, and many themelists work on buying multiples of certain units or jacks, while other lists don't need them. Getting a newcomer kitted out seems like a pricey prospect right now. We have two players who only play like once or twice a month, at 35 or 50 points, and with all the different models and interactions there's just no way to learn the game at that pace, I'm afraid they won't ever get to a level where they can comfortably play 2-list, 75 point games and have a solid understanding of the concepts of the opposing army. Learning the intricacies of the game is a huge time commitment.
That, and the slew of high-quality and more accessible Tabletop games on the market right now make it hard to convince people to give WM/H a shot. 40k also saw a surge of popularity with 8th edition, and is far easier to get into. Games with lower financial barriers of entry exist - Guildball has taken lots of WM/H players, and complexity of low-model-count-games run the gamut from Shadespire to Malifaux.
My meta is okay for now - but mostly because people from OTHER metas that shrunk now make the 1-hour-drive to play with us. I'm left with three local regulars and no new players. If only one of my remaining hardcore players decides to switch systems, my meta will be very small indeed.
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 13:45:25 GMT
Post by GumbaFish on Feb 10, 2018 13:45:25 GMT
I'm running a steamroller event today actually! Honestly, I think if someone takes the initiative then people will come. The problem is that the core group of volunteers who did this were PG's and I think many of them lost interest through some combination of the changing edition and disbanding of the program. Recruiting new players has been a problem though, but it has been hard for me to compare to the previous edition because I moved right at the start of MKIII to a different city with a smaller gaming population.
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Haight
Junior Strategist
Posts: 396
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 13:58:11 GMT
Post by Haight on Feb 10, 2018 13:58:11 GMT
The northeast US is still very, very active. While the PG crew was active there wasn't a weekend i couldn't find a steamroller event within a 90 minute drive if i wanted to, and more like 30-60 more often than not. It's still pretty robust, but it has diminished noticeably.
I'm very interested to see what the long term effects of no PG corps, decentralized communication platform are. Star Wars games (armada, xwing, soon legion) are all the rage in my immediate backyard - i have a funny feeling that Legion is going to poach more than a few people out of my local meta at least temporarily.
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Post by 36cygnar24guy36 on Feb 10, 2018 14:05:03 GMT
Here in the UK there is a lot of activity
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 14:31:21 GMT
via mobile
Post by kovnikninehouse on Feb 10, 2018 14:31:21 GMT
Southern Ontario Canada is still going strong
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 14:32:38 GMT
Post by beardmonk on Feb 10, 2018 14:32:38 GMT
I can only speak from my own experience (Essex/London area and SE Engand). While the competitive scene seems to be just as it has ever been with SR's being run in London, Essex and Brighton all the time, the launch of Mk3 was a massive missed opportunity for PP and did a lot to deter any growth especially at at time when there was a lot of "GW hate". While I have a great group of people to play with at a club and in our own little group of players, we lost a lot of people since Mk3 launch for reasons that I think could have been avoided.
I get the impression that other areas of the UK are not doing as well. Which is a shame as I am looking to move to NE England where I understand that the scene is struggling or dead.
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Lanz
Junior Strategist
Posts: 685
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 14:48:54 GMT
via mobile
Post by Lanz on Feb 10, 2018 14:48:54 GMT
Still regular tournaments going on but casual play has fallen back a bit in favor of other systems.
That said, however, our meta is old. Lots of multi-year vets going back to early mk1, so a bit of burnout is to be expected.
Lack of PGs probably hurts bringing new faces into the game though.
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 17:06:16 GMT
via mobile
Post by W0lfBane on Feb 10, 2018 17:06:16 GMT
Yes DoomDoom I love doom
Anyways as always our meta has trouble recruiting. But that has been the truth since before mark 3.
I do believe the lack of the of program will hurt in the long term
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Ganso
Junior Strategist
Posts: 932
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 17:32:39 GMT
via mobile
Post by Ganso on Feb 10, 2018 17:32:39 GMT
Im not a herald of the end times. But i did notice that since they stopped with the pressgangers program (or mebbe it was the just the mk3 launch?) there are hardly any tournaments being organised anymore outside of the bigs ones (masters/cons). The local steamrolers are litteraly back at 0 in my country and new players are non existend. I was wondering if other area's have the same. Or that it is a local problem. If its a trend i would hope that PP see's / hears from it and tries to remedy it. As i kinda like / am invested in the game It's a local problem I think. In SoCal you can probably get a tourney each month of you are willing you drive a bit. And the people organizing the events are the old PGers.
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 18:15:59 GMT
Post by chillychinaman on Feb 10, 2018 18:15:59 GMT
Here in New England, our meta seems stable. No new players, but our numbers seem find.
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 18:17:00 GMT
Post by Charistoph on Feb 10, 2018 18:17:00 GMT
Tournaments have slowed down in the Phoenix metropolis, at least as far as I see announcements for them. Used to be 2, or more, a month among the various stores across our wide valley. Now, I think the two biggest stores run one each every quarter, but haven't heard anything from the smaller stores.
There are 3 main reasons for this: 1) X-Wing: There is little hobby here. It is very easy to get in to as all the models come assembled and painted, and painted well. In addition to that, it is tied in to the grand mythos of Star Wars that most of us have grown up with. The rules are basic and simple, and the cards present all the modifiers right there.
2) 40K: With the launch of their 8th Edition vastly simplifying the rules coming in with Mk3, and getting rid of a lot of the more imbalanced aspects (ICs and Death Stars, Vehicles v MCs), brought a lot of people back who left due to 6th and 7th Edition's abuses.
3) Economy: Both of money and time. Many of the people who were in to WarmaHordes either have new demands on both, and so have to simplify and limit what they do. WarmaHordes is now THE complex game of the big 3. With Themes reshuffling what is desirable, it is making new demands on the player that they just don't want to deal with. Changes in X-Wing and 40K re largely minimal, because once you have your initial investment, maintenance is relatively easy. However, maintenance in WarmaHordes can be huge because of the higher price tag that each individual model has as well as the impact those models provide to the game space provide. Just switching a Theme tends to be a larger investment then adding a fighter or two in X-Wing or a new Elite/Heavy Support in 40K.
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boozy
Junior Strategist
Posts: 429
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 22:39:19 GMT
via mobile
Post by boozy on Feb 10, 2018 22:39:19 GMT
I often hear bout the difficulty in recruiting new players, and think that targeting the right people will help.
If WMH is differentiated now by being the complex, competitive game, then we could be better served not trying to recruit fellow gamers, but chess club players. Also worth targeting are the RPG players. The backstory and setting is rich, and D&D has always been at core a tactical game dressed up in storytelling and fluff. Many gamers at my tables have always come to show off brilliant feat combinations to slay everything.
Munchkins are really just nascent wargamers that need to be encouraged by DM's to try wargaming instead.
On related lines but a totally different audience, we need to be much more inclusive and inviting for ladies into our hobby. I've introduced several (outside of dating) into our broader hobby by demo-painting, inviting them into rpg sessions, and pitching the game as a competitive, strategic exercise. On this note, it's a hard truth that our own community norms are often an impediment, but it's not insurmountable.
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 23:08:58 GMT
via mobile
Post by pvtjoker on Feb 10, 2018 23:08:58 GMT
Our college town meta is down to a third of what it was, but I can't be too surprised living in the American Midwest. I will also second financial aspect of the game being a factor since themes and a continuous release cycle can make getting into the game intimidating.
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Doooom
Feb 10, 2018 23:24:03 GMT
Post by leotherat on Feb 10, 2018 23:24:03 GMT
My meta died almost completely (just me and the old PG remain). Some of it was the edition change and some of it is other games (mostly Arena Rex and Guild Ball). I would have to drive 60-90 minutes to get games in on a regular basis or to play in an event.
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