I started playing in Wave 1, but my local scene took a hit around Wave 3. It was more to do with a 2nd game store opening up on the other side of town that split the scene. I quit for about a year and came back right about Wave 4. It was just me and another guy at first. I slowly worked to build up the scene and our local FB group has about 200 people in it. There are now a lot of game stores and there is an X-wing game every night of the week at a different store. I've met a lot of different types of gamers get into the game and I've seen a good number of people leave the game. For my part of the world, I feel like I've got a good pulse of the game and what attracts and repels gamers to it.

If you want to fix the scene, it's one thing. If you want to just grow new players, that's another. I think both are good things to do. It might be easier to fix it for some players and then work hard to bring in new players. A lot of it depends on what types of games people want. I have found it's easier to keep players and bring in new players if you have more of a casual environment. That's not always the case as you do have some areas that love and thrive on the tournament scene. Most people fit somewhere in the middle and having both types of game nights is the best way, though.

Trying to grow the scene has lots of cool and fun things you can do. It usually revolves around doing something that looks really cool. Epic games, trunch runs, or even just missions using old 40k scenery.

On March 5, 2017 at 4:55 AM, NakedDex said:

They're also more than willing - excited, even - to accept a game against something janky or thematic

Of course they are. They get to curb stomp a non competitive list and boost egos.

Avoid this match up at all costs.

On March 5, 2017 at 4:42 PM, Hexdot said:

Classic 3025 Battletech took my hearth when I was 14 and is one of my top games. So visual and impacting. Pure joy. Locust, Warhammers, Marauders...

My friends and I played battle-tech religiously after school in the late 1980's. Had an awesome campaign that lasted about a year. I still remember the name of the villain. Baron Rogar!!!! He got away every time despite our best efforts.

I don't think this has been mentioned:

For those of us lucky enough to have a healthy enough scene at our stores, I feel it's important that when someone walks in and stands there looking at your game, that you acknowledge them. It may be small, but having someone notice that they are a living person can make or break a potential new player.

Something more than a nod would be fair to ask, right? They're stopping because they're interested. I will usually ask the person if they play X-wing. It's usually a mixed bag, but half the time they're just curious because its SW. And sometimes they've just played at home and this is their first time out, exploring the scene. Those are my favorite. They may not come back next week because of life stuff, but I'd like to think that some of the new regulars or semi-regulars were made comfortable enough to feel like they could join in, that they can be part of the game here too.

1 minute ago, Force Majeure said:

I don't think this has been mentioned:

For those of us lucky enough to have a healthy enough scene at our stores, I feel it's important that when someone walks in and stands there looking at your game, that you acknowledge them. It may be small, but having someone notice that they are a living person can make or break a potential new player.

Something more than a nod would be fair to ask, right? They're stopping because they're interested. I will usually ask the person if they play X-wing. It's usually a mixed bag, but half the time they're just curious because its SW. And sometimes they've just played at home and this is their first time out, exploring the scene. Those are my favorite. They may not come back next week because of life stuff, but I'd like to think that some of the new regulars or semi-regulars were made to feel like they could join in.

Agreed - I always make a point of saying hi, introducing myself and asking if they have played. If they say no, I offer to teach them when the current game is done and if they say yes, I try and engage them in what they like and don't like.

I used to just press the start button then follow the on screen prompts.

That's a bit outdated now, though. Nowadays it just happens automatically.

I've been playing since late 2013 and I've seen the X-Wing community wax and wane in my area. Early on it was very strong then after 2014 a number of players dropped out and we had a slump in 2015. That was when decided to start running monthly tournaments at our LGS, and the past year has seen consistent growth. The LGS I TO at is getting 15+ players for our monthly tournament and this has trickled to the other stores in town with players now looking for more play opportunities. One store had 16 players show up for a Wednesday night tournament last week, which was a huge surprise. I've found over the past year of running X-Wing tourneys that the TO and veteran players really set the tone for the community and make a huge difference in getting new players in the door. I make a special effort to talk to people interested in the game, I've lost count of how many times someone has come up to me during an event to ask questions then bought a core set and some expansions then show up for the tournament the next month, usually with a friend that they learned to play with at home.

The funny thing to me is that in the midst of all this doom and gloom on the forum I've watched our player base increase and the demand for more events rise. I know it's tough because every area is different and there's a lot of intricacies to player base dynamics, but one or two enthusiastic players who are willing to give a little time and knowledge to new players can go a long way.

On 3/5/2017 at 2:18 PM, GrimmyV said:

Dood, it's a table top miniatures game, there's no save button!

I started reading thinking it would be about very long Epic games that last more than one game session so you have to mark down where everything was.

12 hours ago, heychadwick said:

I think the most important aspect is to find out WHY it died in the first place? Was it the tournament scene? Was it not enough tournaments? Was it a bad day of the week? Was it one or two people that everyone didn't like? Finding out the reason why it died is the most important thing you can do. You can't really fix it until you know the problem.

That actually is a good question. I got into the game on my own after seeing YouTube videos for it, mostly played with my brother. When I wanted to expand my play options I joined our local Facebook group and went to the local game store and found to much discouragement the state if the game in our area.

Wonder if I should post that very question in our local Facebook group. I've posted a few times looking for members without much luck no replies but quite a few views. Hmmm

I threw it a life ring. Stopped it drowning. Oh, wait... that was a dog. Maybe start menu, save game?

9 hours ago, AdamGATX105 said:

That actually is a good question. I got into the game on my own after seeing YouTube videos for it, mostly played with my brother. When I wanted to expand my play options I joined our local Facebook group and went to the local game store and found to much discouragement the state if the game in our area.

Wonder if I should post that very question in our local Facebook group. I've posted a few times looking for members without much luck no replies but quite a few views. Hmmm

I've played with a lot of different people and suckered a lot of them into the game. One of the things that people love are visually pleasing games. If people have the Epic ships to then have an epic fight. It's just cool to see all the big stuff on the table. Go ahead and try Dagobah Dave's Trench Run mission. Print out paper turrets and things to make it look good. That's the type of stuff that draws in gamers (new and old). If your game store has terrain for other games (like 40k or others) then put it on a table with grass, hills, trees, etc. Just make it look good.

One thing I have found is that there are some people who aren't into the tournament death match. They feel it's homework to look up all the latest and greatest when all they want to do is put some X-wings and Tie Fighters on the table. Make up games of like 200 pts with only generic ships. Bring out all the iconic Star Wars ships to do it. Just have a big game where it's all .....Star Wars-ian. The requirement to keep up with the power curve burns some people out, so just let them fly all the old ships that they want. Of course, this isn't everyone, but it is some people. It also draws in new players.

The idea is to find what people find fun about the game and make it happen. The game is meant to be fun and there are a LOT of different ways to play the game. People tend to get focused on tournament 100/6 (100 pts and 6 obstacles), but some people get burnt out on that.