"Wargaming going truly mainstream" Topic

What would happen if the likes of Lady Gaga, the Kardashians, the cast of Jersey Shore and Justin Bieber were gamers and openly promoting wargaming ?

How would they ruin the hobby ?

- Commission the Perry's to make silver minis studded with diamonds ?
- Would the Duke of Wellington rise in anger from his grave when Beyonce showed her pastel pink Peninsular army at Historicon.
- Valet parking and velvet ropes at Historicon ?
- Would Robin Williams have a sketch where he talks about the good-old days before everybody jumped on the bandwagon ?
- Would Wargames Foundry prices suddenly increase by a tenfold ? Would Bryan Ansell explode in apoplexy ?
- Would people massively choose the Economic Powerhouse of Flames of War after Justin Bieber wrote an extensive review of the latest Too Fat Lardies rulebook out of spite ?
- Would you play against Snookie's Late Elamites in a DBA tournament ?
- Which celebrity would be hiding behind the OFM ?

as none of them appear to exhibit the first sign of being capable of reading a book, I think we can safely rule them out of playing historical wargmaing, and put them into the fantasy / sci fi camp.

at which point, I cease to care.

lol….i doubt they'd bother with historical anyway, and go straight to fantasy/sci-fi where all the action is….

as none of them appear to exhibit the first sign of being capable of reading a book, I think we can safely rule them out of playing historical wargmaing, and put them into the fantasy / sci fi camp.

What are you implying?
That sci-fi and fantasy gamers can't read?

What would happen if the likes of Lady Gaga, the Kardashians, the cast of Jersey Shore and Justin Bieber were gamers and openly promoting wargaming ?

Then it would be a sign of celebrity pop/trash going mainstream.

Historical Wargaming is mainstream anyway (in the UK at least …).. and is generally an integrated part of 'heritage' interests. If the Kardashians want to set up a battlefield visit and wargame, they only need to get in touch and be fairly flexible. … And bring some sturdy footwear …

Phil

Keraunos, I think you meant to finish your post with "Who's that trip-trapping over my bridge!"

It's a brave man who makes a group attack on half the TMP readership. And the younger, better looking half as well.

> And the younger, better looking half as well.

In their thirties and only 30 pounds over weight eh?

As for the topic, never going to happen, so no need to worry about it.

yes, or at least, not books without lots of pretty pcitures and a movie or three to back it up

insert irony symbol

What are you implying?
That sci-fi and fantasy gamers can't read?

Keraunos said:

yes, or at least, not books without lots of pretty pcitures and a movie or three to back it up

insert irony symbol

I do not see any irony in that statement, rather I see it as simply being rude by stating you think I can only read books if they have pretty pcitures in them, whatever pcitures are.

I like books with Chris Foss covers.

I read Fantasy and Sci Fi long before it had pretty pictures. Even the covers in those days weren't pretty.

No I read more fantasy and Sci Fi, it''s just filed in the "history" section of the bookstores. But, when you play Biblicals and Arthurians much of what passes for "history" is really fantasy.

Lady Ga Ga's war music videos….(brain explodes like in Scanners)

I would have to leave the hobby. Wouldn't be able to stand the company.

I quite like Lada Gaga's songs but it's more likely that someone out of Iron Maiden would be a wargamer and since Maiden, though awesome, are very square I don't think it'd have a big effect. After all Vin Diesel is supposedly a big D&D player but that hasn't made D&D mainstream or less dorkish.

Celebrities range from high intelligence to low intelligence. Keraunos' statements denigrating celebrity intelligence is just drivel gleaned from mass media and sound bites. Obviously, TMP also has a wide range of intellects represented.

Keraunos' attacks on Fantasy and Sci-Fi gamers are simply rude and spiteful.

One difference between a celebrity and someone not in the public eye is the need to cultivate an image. Most of the stereotypes about gamers, true or untrue, are not helpful to a celebrity image. If they do wargame, they will continue to do so quietly.

In response to the OP, celebrity adoption has nothing to do with whether wargaming will ever go 'mainstream.' While I don't think it will happen, a more likely scenario for mainstream adoption would be some sort of cultural backlash against the digital lifestyle.

…and what Dave said.

Keraunos..hope you enjoy TMP! This book devouring fantasy/scifi gamer helps make that possible for you.

All wargamers would be forced to wear a vajazzle or, more likely, a pejazzle. I know, the mind boggles…

I was quite disappointed while shopping through Target for some new WWII skirmish rules, and I couldn't find *anything* endorsed by Rachel Ray.

All wargamers would be forced to wear a vajazzle or, more likely, a pejazzle. I know, the mind boggles…

Forced…?

\0/

clearly irony is lost on some folk

Ahem….if you ain't wearing a vajazzle or a pejazle you aren't a REAL wargamer

The actress Ana Ferris collects and paints miniatures. Somebody forwarded me a YouTube clip of her giving an interview, in which she was talking about her latest project: "a Victorian death scene," à la Jack the Ripper, that she was modeling and painting.

"I know," she said, "I'm weird."

So perhaps if her career really takes off, we can enlist her as a Spokeschick. She's cute, friendly, and seems smart enough not to embarrass anybody who is not already embarrassed by this hobby.

I'm a big fan of "Do What Works For U" … not necessarily me … To say one type of gaming is better than another … Well who cares …. Just play the game & roll the dice …

I say let 'em play. Like we could do something about it. Or should. As long as they don't hurt anyone. And can we get away from anyone disagreeing with others being a troll?
I thought Robin Williams was a wargamer. I think Phil Collins likes model railroads. Mandy Potemkin (sorry about any spelling issues, Sir) has a wonderfull train set in his house. I've seen the documentary about it with him in it. Frank Sinatra was a model railroad enthusiast of eppic proportions. And why not?
Ok, I know railroading aint quite the same as gaming. But I think they're closely related hobbies. I borrow ideas from the railroading crowd alot.
I don' think it would hurt a thing if it became public knowlege that a celebrity was a gamer.
Wil Wheaton is a gamer with his own show on the subject. Notice the lack of tectonic activity?

The problem we have is that a good number of celebrities have studios and entourages handling most of their work.

You could wedge some pop diva (gender neutral intention here) in front of a gaming table, but they'd need a hired painter to pigment their figures, a team of strategists and grips to plan and move the pieces, and an engineer to remix the bad dice rolls out of the game. Even if they handled it all themselves, it's not as if they're better suited to handle the game than the unfamous schmoe across the table.

It's hard to be a celebrity in gaming. If you become an icon of a particular game/setting/ruleset it only makes you king of a very small hill. The community might know who you are, but what does that get you?

Are folks going to watch battle reports of your games more intently?

I'm not embarrassed … but then again, I'm not in the same hobby as Ana Ferris (judging by the snippet above) …

What is mainstream? And what is wargaming? Patrick R's examples seemed to come from Historical Wargaming which certainly already is mainstream in the world I see.

Why do I say that?

Well aside from my own beginnings discovering it in a local library, today, my stuff is welcomed at our Museum and Gallery, there are magazines on the news stand, and the local Waterstones stocks Osprey and FoG …

My friend Prof. Sabin teaches wargame design at London University, historians like Bennett and Goldsworthy play regulary and nearly every town seems to have a club if not several.

There are wargames events most weekends … and up here the incoming Mayor want's me to come up with some wargame/historical ideas to include on her 2013 social calendar* …

In what world does that not describe a mainstream leisure activity?

As for celebrity endorsement – well, there are plenty of enthusiasts, though it isn't for me to name drop (and as my interests include history and heritage events, I wouldn't reliably know who is more into collecting, and who wargames ..)..

But celebrity endorsement is how you sell training shoes, not what makes you mainstream.

Phil
*I'm thinking something along the lines of a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Little Wars …

Are folks going to watch battle reports of your games more intently?

If they are video reports and done by any of these then yes!

etc etc

Ahh! … You are getting Keraunos's irony, now, I see …

Keraunos was making a joke. A bit broad, but whatever. Mildly amusing, and nothing really to get worked up about.

On the other hand, the real irony is insisting that the "celebrities" are innately stupid or ignorant, when somehow they've figured out how to translate that supposed "stupidity" into multi-million-dollar bank accounts— which I seriously doubt many of us here have been able to do with our "superior" intelligence and knowledge. So, who are the smart ones, then?

Not that the true measure of success is money, of course. But it sure does help buy the miniatures…

Keraunos was making a joke.

Oh, ok.
Sorry for getting my back up, I thought I was being called dumb as I like sci-fi and books with pictures.

But I still don't get it though, as irony as far as I understand it would be something like this:

A town planner is going to a meeting in the city to discuss easing the congestion problems by doing some better town planning, only he misses the meeting as he gets stuck in heavy traffic caused by his poor town planning.

The very thing he was trying to remedy was the very thing that prevented him from remedying it.

Indeed! Keraunos' first post made no attempt at irony. If it was irony then I guess it's fine to insult people all you like and then just say it was ironic. Not very clever, that. He didn't need to dredge up the old historical vs sci-fi nonsense. The dig had nothing to do with the OP.

Nip back and delete the 't' word sentence GoodWood – it can get you into trouble with the content rules …

Maybe it wasn't irony

it could have been copper-y, or aluminium-y, or…..

The dig had nothing to do with the OP.

Indeed.
The OP was funny and well thought out.

I think it would be good for the figure manufacturers. I've seen a number of figs get squashed by some gamers 'Internal food containment vessels' when leaning over the table. So imagine if Kim Kardashian is at the table and turns around suddenly. Her butt would wipe out a division or two each time.

Talk about your "Buttocks of Death"…

Talk about your "Buttocks of Death"…

Why talk when you can see.

"I'm BLIND! I'm BLIND!!!"

"Would you play against Snookie's Late Elamites in a DBA tournament?"

NO, I would never play DBA on a dare, but if that Jersey Sho' Ho had an Ancients Army, it wouldn't be "Elamites," they'd be "Sodomites."

Bitchily Yours,
TVAG

@Angel Barracks,

Baby got back. I can almost hear one of the soldiers musing about Mothra and the good-ol-days.

There are some things in life you wish you could 'un-see'!

Oh the pain, the pain, the terrible pain!

Where does she keep her dice?

Anyway, what we need to do is bring back Callan – he'd sort out the Gaga Gamers in no time at all!

I'm shocked. Everyone knows you don't wear heels with unpainted figures.

The only problem I would see would be the entourages and the press/paparazzi getting in the way at conventions.

Edward Woodward (Callan & The Equaliser) was a celebrity wargamer. Napoleonics IIRC.