The End is Nigh!

Believe it or not, I can be serious every once in awhile. I've felt pretty strongly for awhile now that our beloved hobby is just a gnat's whisker from going mainstream, and this thought scares me to death.

I think back to some great stuff that I have loved over the years that was ruined when everybody and there brother found out about them and made them the next "thing" (think comic books in the early nineties).  Or the industry itself changed its marketing strategy to appeal to a wider customer base (Metallica circa 1989 or so).

Well guess what? Boardgames are next on this list. Ever been to a game convention? Point here is that you can meet designers, talk with designers and they're normal accessible people. Now I've never been to the Academy Awards, but I'm pretty sure you won't be able to mingle with the people that make the movies happen like you can mingle with game designers at a convention. After the initial moment of being star-struck you quickly realize that these are people sans big time egos. How long you think that's gonna last with the latest and greatest thing; autographed game copies?

We all know what the media hype machine can churn out. It throws a little chum in the water, and the sharks circle. It's no different in boardgames now. Remember the Agricola frenzy of a couple of years ago? I bought into the hype, and am still sadly disappointed. I don't know if any game could live up to that kind of hype except Space Hulk.

Oh that's right Space Hulk. Space Hulk a limited production run game, that turns the hobby on itself creating a culture of haves verses have nots, driving a wedge in our normally peaceful community. Remember when comics made it big and you had 15 different types of the same comic only with different covers floating around?

Throw in a bad economy, where the mainstream news media are running stories on how people are turning to boardgames for inexpensive (says who) family fun and you've got a recipe for disaster. Every swinging dick will be designing there own game, and we'll be stuck wading through steaming piles of gaming shit. In the end Wal-Mart will jump on the bandwagon killing YOUR FLGS (if online discounters don't do it first!).

So what am I saying? In a nutshell, our hobby will hit mainstream. Every jackass you can't stand will be telling you how they've loved Catan since '95.  You'll have to pay ten bucks at a convention to have the honor of a designer's signature. Chase/Variants of the same game will be available in different outlets, creating a gap of disparity in the hobby, and of course, money making will be king! It won't be about the games anymore, just the all mighty dollar.

This must be how Wargamers/Ameritrasher's felt about the Euro Invasion!  I guess for those of us who truly love the hobby, we'll just have to ride the storm out!

Marshall

http://messygameroom.libsyn.com/