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The World of Georic 1989-Present

Saturday, December 2, 2023

The Great Wargaming Survey 2023!

 The Great Wargaming Survey2023 results are trickling in and Little Wars TV had a Youtube segment on some teasers of the data that's slowly coming out.  

Let's remember that the demographic that this publishing group hosting the survey primarily reach are historical wargaming magazine subscribers/readers and well as any ancillary groups attached (ex TMP readers).   Take that data for what it is... 

1 - 3-D Printers:  The survey says roughly 38% of respondents own some version of a 3-D printer.  Out of 10,000 respondents, I still that's higher, but I'd also like to see geographic and age data in relation.    I knew that the revolution was coming, but if this translates hobby-wide, the revolution may have already occurred.  

2 - Virtual Wargaming:  The hosts talked out the death spiral for virtual wargaming (from 35% during COVID lockdown to 18% this year), but I am shocked that the number is that high at all.  

3 - The Graying of the Hobby:  They handwave the "Graying of the Hobby has been talked about since the 60's"  referring to a decade of hard data trumping the anecdotal tales.  Unfortunately, they admit in their releases that the age question has varied over the years AND WASNT EVEN MANDATORY FOR SOME YEARS!   There are few credible surveys that don't hold certain pieces of demographic as holy and mandatory, and you can't mess around with age.  With just over 50% of respondents answering questions year-over-year, I'd love to see a breakdown of how folks came to learn about the survey.  Wargaming magazine readers and their ancillary routes (ex. TMP) are not aging gracefully, where other sites might be bringing in (or not bringing in) the youth demographic.

As always, it all with a grain of salt.  The good old days weren't always good, and the grass isn't always greener, and all that.


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