"Amateur or Professional? A response to Richard Clarke" Topic

"Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine issues 130 and 131 have both been corkers. Every now and then I get to thinking that wargames magazines have had their day, then I get proved wrong, usually by WSS. In both issues there were interesting articles, some useful scenarios, and interesting review sections. Oh yes, and some decent maps as well.

I know some of you find the 'think piece' articles, where issues around the way the hobby is developing are aired, a bit uninteresting – too much navel-gazing when we should be thinking about painting figures and playing games. For myself, I find them worthwhile. I spend a lot of my average day thinking about and planning my wargaming, plus the time I actually spend gaming, and I like to try and understand what I'm doing and why…"

KEITH'S WARGAMING BLOG

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Armand

Excellent piece except for the positive view of 3D printing. I find that horrifying.

Management's duty is to get returns for its investors.

Companies are not forcing people to buy their products.

I can understand that if you already have hundreds or even thousands of dollars invested in a game system, you are pretty much forced to buy the new releases.

Golf and fishing are leisure activities, but I don't hear people complaining about all of the new equipment hitting the market every year.

Because IGYG and unit activation rules are so abstracted (and widely accepted) and not standardized, companies can generate a new rulebook every few years and recycle old ideas and mechanics. Here is the new boss, same as the old boss.

I think the game publishing companies should be nervous. I took a 20-hour online AI course, and I've been playing around with it for game design. AI still has a long way to go, but you can get good results and ideas now.

Eventually, there will be an AI for wargamers to design their own games, videos, generate the rules, and even set it up for print-on-demand. It can also be used for scenario generation and graphical play aids.

Eventually, it may allow players to design their own figures and terrain and generate an STL that they can 3D print and/or sell. This will allow players to generate their own lines of figures.

Once that happens, we won't have much to complain about anymore. I don't know where that will leave large game publishing companies. Maybe they could get into the AI race and allow players to license their AI and products to make their own.

Wolfhag

Shagnasty – whether you like it or not, 3D printing is having a massive effect on the hobby. In fact, it supports the amateur aspect of the hobby. Most of the files I buy are from individuals or small "cottage" operations. I print exactly the number of figures I need for a project. Now you have larger companies getting in on the act and selling files in addition to printed or plastic figures, Wargames Atlantic comes to mind.

Thanks

Armand

Companies are not forcing people to buy their products.

Don't let the OFM hear you saying that … you'll get on his naughty list.

if you already have hundreds or even thousands of dollars invested in a game system, you are pretty much forced

This is the sunk cost fallacy.

link

arxiv.org/pdf/1307.2177

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arxiv.org/pdf/2107.07491

Keith has a point in there about the article he's critiquing. It goes on about "amateur" and "professional" wargaming as if they were things with definitions. The argument boils down to "anything I like is this and anything I don't is that".

AI was not necessary for people to write their own wargames. AI doesn't create content, it rehashes content put into it based on algorithms someone gave it and parameters you give it.

You can get novel outcomes, but they require novel parameters going in. If you are using it to conduct asynchronous collaboration with others (the people who made the source content and the algorithm designers), you can get results that are faster and less reliable.

That said combining bits in different ways grows geometrically. Given a template for games you like (always an important parameter – what I am looking for), an AI can take 10 "realistic" force compositions for each side, run the 100 combos, and pick the ones that best match the pattern of your preference. Quickly and reaonably accurately.

If there are 10 possible terrain locations with 10 possible variants each and 10 initial geometries and 10 sets of initial conditions for the forces, an AI can run the million combos and filter it in roughly the same user time as the 100. That should probably give you enough to go on.

And if you stop liking it, a small, quick tweak to your preference template or the combinatorics and you get a new scenario book – functionally instantly from the user perspective.

Thanks also…

Armand