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 Sqorgar wrote:

 Skinflint Games wrote:

That's an interesting perspective and I wonder if that's something that actually bodes very well for the hobby- people actually wanting a physical creative experience rather than one that's been designed for them. I recently stumbled across this video which posited a crossover between a higher tech and a more traditional experience:

Apple is committing pretty heavily to the AR kit, but I think it is a non-starter. Why would you superimpose a battlefield onto a real life table when you could just have a 3D rendering inside the app? Why be in the room with another person when I can just play online or play an AI? And, what happens when Apple decides to stop supporting the AR kit or whatever OS the app was written for? The app ceases to exist, period. And this happens to apps only a year or two old. Meanwhile, people are still playing Battlefleet Gothic and 2nd edition 40k.

Plus, I think several people have tried to use it for tabletop gaming (Eye of Judgment for the PS3 tried to mix CCGs with AR, and I think there was a miniature game recently with golems or something) and it has failed spectacularly every time. 3D printing is going to make a difference to the hobby though. AR has all the problems of tabletop gaming and video games with none of the charm of either.

This is spot on. What that video, which I watched a while back, doesn't get is that wargamming is a physical medium. The real crux is that tech has a very short shelf life, meanwhile I can pull out models from Rogue Trader and play a game with them. Even further I can actually back convert Primaris Marines and make them operable under Rogue Trader rules.. or visa versa.

Tech has a very short life cycle, being formerly in the industry as well it is dizzying on the inside. Consumers have it easy compared to developers and hardware guys. The race is so dizzy fast that tech gets dumped on the wayside. It becomes "old" and "worthless". I can't easily run Doom from floppies on a new computer (in fact I don't even own a drive that would enable me to access the disks). But I can take modes that I collected in middle school and play a game with them today.

That is why AR won't take over wargamming. It might add to it but with the tech life cycle all AR will be dropped soon again, as it always has been. I was working in depth with certain DARPA VR tech back in the late 80s. SO yeah, I've been down the Augmented Reality road before. People need full dive immersion before something takes over for physical reality or an interface console.

I tried the 40K wargame simulator it was clunky and ineffectual. Poor fun. Getting around the table, feeling the dice in the hand, talking to my opponent, joking, even the poor air quality in my LGS. It's all part of the flavor of wargamming.

That's a pretty key point for me as well. I enjoy video games, enjoy online gaming, etc. I'm sure I'd enjoy VR as I like flight sims and racing sims.

However, nothing really matches meeting up with buddies for a game which involves pushing models around, and rolling dice. The games will never 'break' or go out of date unless you lose a bunch of pieces (like a savage!).

Our family copy of Scrabble dates from 1964...and it's still complete and playable to this day (quite nicely made by a now defunct Selchow & Righter). That's a hell of a value from a board game bought 50+ years ago.

My entire Eldar army is made from rescued Eldar metals from the early to mid-90's. I'll keep them for quite some time and eventually they'll probably be sold off to someone else and continue their life cycle there. Again, a heck of a term of service for the poor Eldar soldiers.

Perhaps Blood Bowl would be an intersting way to look at it. There is a computer/electronic version and a physicla version. I wonder which gets more "play"?

What got me into the hobby? A kid at my high school gave me a copy of Rogue Trader, as well as about a dozen Beakies. My little brother and I half assed our way through those rules with some robot toys he had for years. Flash forward to 3rd Edition, and me seeing the Crimson Fists on the cover of the Codex. After not really gelling with the complexity of RT and 2nd Ed, breezing through the 3rd Ed. codex and a store copy of the BRB was a breath of fresh air, and I immediately bought two copies of the starter set to split with my brother.


As far as what keeps me in the hobby? Having a small circle of people who are willing to play older editions, and the chance of expanding that circle. If I was only able to play current editions, I'd be gone right now. I almost hit that point, but it was my brother who pointed out we could simply carry on by ourselves if necessary.

To meet women. That's what is keeping me in it as well!

<adjusts fedora>

Thank you everyone for the comments. Please keep them coming. Today I bought a new box of minis. I don't even have the codex (sorry I forget what the Age of Sigmar version is called. Battletomes?)

I bought the Stormcast start collecting set. The ones with the gryphons minus the wings. I don't care how they play, I just love the look of the riders so will get them for a modelling collection.

So now I have started the project, building some minis. I am finding the joy of modeling again. Hoping painting doesn't discourage me again LOL.

I am also going to try something else. I am going to make my own rules again, but that will be a new thread. This will hopefully keep me going even though they are not going to be used most likely.

The passion has been rekindled.

It used to be the collecting of miniatures and building full armies. Now I dont have those motivations, I just have my armies to play With a few friends. I think I lost my will to invest any real effort in the hobby last year or so due to well real life requiering more of my time and effort.