Community Growth - We have a new opening

Maybe I’m too much bias about tactics.
I like to talk and learned more and when reading, and more watching about them, I love to ear and enjoy all little details to see if I miss something about the general idea so I can learned more in-depth lessons.

In the specific case we are talking, I knew the principles of switching ground based and carrier based aircrafts. What, I was asking myself was: is this he talking about or it is something more specific?
And without details, I cannot tell for sure.

Nonetheless, this tactic is a really good choice to show and help people improve the use of Carrier.

Also, you are right about not telling all the details of moves for a given battle.
But still, I think that focusing to the one specific moves help everyone without being a full lesson.
In the videos we are talking, it would have been probably took 30 to 60 seconds at most.

Thanks Baron. I will keep it in mind for the new videos I make

Having thought about this I think our problem is not attracting new members but rather retaining them. We have many thousands of members but a tiny proportion of them current. If this is true then efforts to attract new members will achieve far more after we have improved our ability to keep them.

D jensen will have the data to tell us whether this is correct.

Without that data I would say that new members are drawn here by the forum being a repository for extras such as FAQs and playing aids and an informal opportunity for newbies to interact with more experienced players seeking advice and guidance.

So what might retain the interest of those new members we currently lose?

One example would be to try harder to attract them into the League, which is rather daunting if efforts are not made to draw new players in.

Definitely having solid getting started videos would be great.

A few other points:

• TripleA supports 100s of maps based on various sets of A&A rules and some even beyond. Need to better advertise and educate folks on cool maps to try to keep things fresh. There are both simple maps and vastly deep/complex maps. This should help to retain existing members.
• Figure out how to attract new members from other TBS communities. I’m sure almost all of us have played other TBS (PC or board) and figuring out how to reach into those players bases is essential.
• Get more marketing presence through reviews, youtube videos, tournaments, etc.
• Work to close the gap between the community here on A&A.org and the TripleA forum/lobby.
• Finding more TripleA developers and map creators as well as folks to moderate this forum, TripleA forum, and TripleA lobby.

It never hurts to offer

FREE BEER

Is the arrival of balanced mode creating a barrier / fracturing the community?

I’ve been sticking to second edition in order to keep the option to play table top / stay true to the official version.

I think Omega is right.  Its hard enough for someone to try playing online, then they see this new bunch of rules and stuff called balance mod.  It makes a barrier

I was wondering where all the new members are going to?
I mean, they sign up here and only 5% of the new members post in here on any of these threads.
Where are they going to? Do they only play online? Is the community different then here?

Is BM a barrier?

No. If that would be the case, then any new A&A game would be a barrier starting from the oldest Edition to the Brand new ones.

Omega you should try.

yea always try and make a point of being cool to someone with a legit question who is a new conscript as opposed to belittling them for their ignorance (of which there aren’t that many that do that). Think most people are pretty helpful.

@Gargantua:

Maybe we should start checking each day who’s newly registered and reaching out to them with PMs every time to plug them in to whatever part of our community they are interested in?

This is an excellent idea

Although the message thingy needs to be more high profile imo. It was months before I realized I ever had one the first time

@Gargantua:

Lots of people still play OOB.

If we get balanced mode tuned just right, I could ask Larry for an “unofficially” commentary, and maybe have it considered 3rd edition cannon.  But that’s besides the point.

Maybe we should start checking each day who’s newly registered and reaching out to them with PMs every time to plug them in to whatever part of our community they are interested in?

Yupp, send them a:

Hello, Welcome to the Forum.
Here are three links for a Forum walkthrough.
We the community ….
If you are interested in …
If you like Garg leave a Comment below…  :wink:

Allready in the last Hour two new members!
Get your gear on!!!

Pronto

When you walk in a shop you will be greeted immediatley within of your First three till four steps.

I was reading this earlier today and I thought it was interesting, I decided to start an account after watching various youtube channels regarding A&A.

Speaking for my fellow teens, we don’t like playing “chess by mail.”  Triple A might be good for busy young adults that can only manage a turn a day, but if you really want to make people get in on this game, show them a physical copy.  1941 is a great starter because it offers simplicity and good action.

I know this is an opinated view, but I just don’t think playing virtually is an interest catcher.  I have had immense success just convincing someone to take the dice and IPCs and go.  Unfortunately, the only easy way to get players is to recruit independent A&A gamers that already exist, or physically introduce the game to those you know.

Youtube is a great place to communicate to others about the game, but it is more for people that are already “in there.”  One does not go searching Axis and Allies unless they own a copy.

The other problem is getting people on .org.  This place is reserved for fanatics, extreme strategists, customizers, and people looking for help.  Of course, the rest of the majority is Triple A players.  This might sound heartless, but an old-school website such as this just might be destined for ultimate bankruptcy when its old generation is gone.

@Charles:

Speaking for my fellow teens, we don’t like playing “chess by mail.”  Triple A might be good for busy young adults that can only manage a turn a day, but if you really want to make people get in on this game, show them a physical copy.  1941 is a great starter because it offers simplicity and good action.

I know this is an opinated view, but I just don’t think playing virtually is an interest catcher.  I have had immense success just convincing someone to take the dice and IPCs and go.  Unfortunately, the only easy way to get players is to recruit independent A&A gamers that already exist, or physically introduce the game to those you know.

Youtube is a great place to communicate to others about the game, but it is more for people that are already “in there.”  One does not go searching Axis and Allies unless they own a copy.

The other problem is getting people on .org.  This place is reserved for fanatics, extreme strategists, customizers, and people looking for help.  Of course, the rest of the majority is Triple A players.  This might sound heartless, but an old-school website such as this just might be destined for ultimate bankruptcy when its old generation is gone.

That’s why I am seeking people to play A&A 1941 with me. So far I am having success with it. I am recruiting the next batch of A&A players. However I don’t see anything wrong with the virtual world of A&A. You can always get to play a game with someone on TrippleA, but not always in the real world.  8-) 8-) 8-)

Something I’d like to see is more explanation of things around here. I’d like to see, on the front page, a “New to Axis & Allies - See Here for More Information” and have that link to an article that explains A&A, explains the differences between the different versions, and then links to explanations for: How to play face to face games, how to play virtually, and the differences between the two. It doesn’t have to be huge, but it should ideally be above “the fold”, as it were.

Just something to ease newcomers into the site.

-Midnight_Reaper

Just stumbled upon this thread today. A very interesting and worthy topic, IMO. The ultimate question: How do we get more people playing A&A? Bear with me while I think out loud…

I got my first copy of A&A in 1984 (I was 13), because A) I’m fascinated by history, B) I love strategy games, C) Risk sucks and D) I suck(ed) at Chess. I was instantly hooked. Played it all through high school. In college, life intervened and the game gathered dust in my closet until my son was old enough to teach (around age 9 or 10, as I recall). Through the game, I imparted my love of history, critical and strategic thinking to him. As he got into high school, we played less and less, because girls/friends > dad (which is how it should be). He’s still got the game, though, and picked up Europe '99, Pacific '01, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge and Guadalcanal along the way. He introduced his friends to the game and, while they aren’t hardcore A&A fanatics, they still play from time to time.

After several years away from any version of A&A, my wife and I were playing Scrabble one night (yep, we’re party animals) early last summer and having a great time. She commented that she really enjoyed Risk growing up. I said, “How would you like to play a game similar to Risk, but infinitely better?” She said she would, so I immediately bought 2nd ed. Europe & Pacific 1940.

Never having played any version of A&A before, my wife struggled with the rules (and still has problems distinguishing destroyers from cruisers on the map at times). What kept her interest through the early struggles was the awesome potential for customization of G40. She’s always been into arts & crafts, and loves the fact that she can play a great game and use her creativity at the same time.

I can’t stress enough how rough the road was the first couple of times we played. She often became frustrated when she’d try to make a move and I’d tell her that she couldn’t, as it was against the rules (doing a non-combat move during the combat move phase, for example). I honestly believe that, if not for the great customization videos from Sired Blood, General Hand Grenade, Der Kuenstler and others, she would’ve lost interest in the game.

Their videos fed my wife’s imagination, though. They got her thinking about the game almost as an art project. She loves her art projects, so she stuck with it. Now, she also loves the game itself.

Lastly, my dad played classic A&A with me when I was a kid. Last month, I introduced him to G40. He enjoyed the experience and looks forward to playing again. At 77, he worries that he’s not as sharp mentally as he used to be. Dad told me that playing G40 is good exercise for his brain. He’s right.

So there you have three targets for A&A outreach: children (best for teens, of course), people who like both arts & crafts and games, and retirees with an interest in history.

Thanks for sharing an amazing story.  Among us “fanatics,” sometimes we forget to just enjoy Axis and Allies the same we would did checkers as children.  We get so deep into strategy that we forget that the people we are playing with are our friends, comrades, family.  Indeed, it is exhilarating to play seriously (even if you need half an hour to play a turn), and the strategy and depth is amazing.  But sometimes I just like sitting down with some new players and playing “blindly” and ignoring risks and optimal gameplay.  Perhaps the most interesting game I ever played was my first Global 1940 in which we all, truthfully, played terribly.

There is nothing comparable to playing A&A with your family.

This is a good place to plug Gencon–taking a trip to do your hobby seems crazy until you actually do it because your peer group is people who did the same thing.

This type of game always has a limited audience but that doesn’t mean that you can’t keep things going.  Right now the KC club is working on playtesting some mods, doing a few games a month, hashing out new strategies and setups.  If you build it and look for the community, its there.

I talk by email and phone to quite a few of the guys I’ve met here I consider them kindred spirits and friends.  One thing I brought up is War Room, but many of the guys consider it a different kind of game, another “all dayer” that may not really compete with AxA because its so different.