Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Bluenose" data-source="post: 4936386" data-attributes="member: 49017">That's the basic reason. There is a steady attrition of people in any hobby, and when you can't attract as many new members as you lose old ones, well... Bit there's one really major factor.&nbsp;Computers do some of it better.&nbsp;There were games, some of which I own, which required they be set up on a large table for hundreds of hours. Where a curious cat could wander over it and spread thirty or forty hours of play across the floor (or eat it). The investment in time and space was large. Then there's the fact that computers can handle the &quot;sim&quot; aspects better than people, can keep track of more variables, can enforce the rules without having to look them up. The computer wargame killed the complex tabletop wargame by doing it better and cheaper. And the internet meant you could play against other people rather than rely on a computer AI of doubtful quality.&nbsp;Note that simpler games didn't die. Games like Settlers of Catan and Carcasonne survive and even thrive. Figure wargaming, which at one time seemed to be in terminal decline, is doing reasonably well. Some of this is down to face-to-face interaction and it's advantages, some is down to aesthetics. But I think it's fair to say that the type of detailed hex-based wargames that were SPIs main product can be done on a computer better than a tabletop.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bluenose, post: 4936386, member: 49017"] That's the basic reason. There is a steady attrition of people in any hobby, and when you can't attract as many new members as you lose old ones, well... Bit there's one really major factor. Computers do some of it better. There were games, some of which I own, which required they be set up on a large table for hundreds of hours. Where a curious cat could wander over it and spread thirty or forty hours of play across the floor (or eat it). The investment in time and space was large. Then there's the fact that computers can handle the "sim" aspects better than people, can keep track of more variables, can enforce the rules without having to look them up. The computer wargame killed the complex tabletop wargame by doing it better and cheaper. And the internet meant you could play against other people rather than rely on a computer AI of doubtful quality. Note that simpler games didn't die. Games like Settlers of Catan and Carcasonne survive and even thrive. Figure wargaming, which at one time seemed to be in terminal decline, is doing reasonably well. Some of this is down to face-to-face interaction and it's advantages, some is down to aesthetics. But I think it's fair to say that the type of detailed hex-based wargames that were SPIs main product can be done on a computer better than a tabletop. [/QUOTE]

Verification