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Are wargamers getting a bad press?
By Mike | July 27, 2007
I feel that most wargamers get a bad press, not from the media, but by the reactions of the uninitiated. By uninitiated I mean those who live rather ordinary dull everyday lives and have never experienced the thrill of coming home after a hard days graft to then go to your study and invade Poland before going to bed. When I tell people what my hobby is they look at me in a rather bemused way and ask “why?” at which juncture I move onto something verging on extreme mundanity that they will find more interesting.
I think I have discovered why there is this reaction and it is the word “wargame”. The confluence of the words WAR and GAME I believe might conjure up an image of some strange warmonger who sits at home dressed in combat fatigues and a Rambo headband playing games because they have never matured beyond their early formative years. Perhaps it would be better if we described ourselves as Historical battle simulators and the games as alternative history simulations, it sounds more technical and upmarket just as refuse disposal operative sound more sociably acceptable than binman.
We wargamers are never seen for the intellectual tactical strategists we really are and we need to get some more positive reactions to our hobby, any suggestions?
Topics: General |
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