If The Wargamer publishes articles about first-person shooters, with a wargamer's perspective, will our community enjoy them?

We are taking a poll. We want to see if our audience will enjoy FPS articles with a wargamer's/tactical/strategic approach to them. Videos and written.

Let's hear what you think. We want to know if you'd enjoy them.

These include series such as:

Brothers in Arms

Red Orchestra

Battlefield

Call of Duty

Mass Effect

Mount & Blade

I don't know about anyone else, but I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in first-person shooters.

If you cover these FPS games and give detailed info on tactics, with maps and diagrams, I will be your greatest fan.

I would read about them as I'm of the opinion that more is merrier.

Absolutely. I dont see any reason why these games dont already fall under the perview of this forum.

Originally Posted By Greybriar (23 JUL 2012 2:17pm)

I don't know about anyone else, but I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in first-person shooters.

I'm with you on this one!

There are already plenty of places where you can indulge in that kind of thing if you really want to.  The Wargamer's connection to wargaming is weak enough; I'm not sure that weakening it further is really such a good idea. 

10 or so years ago when I started coming here this place was about wargames.

I don't concider FPS, RPG, Space or city builders, or most of the other stuff talked about as wargames. Sorry.

Same thing happened with Warfare HQ that became gamesquad.

No harm in reviewing FPS.  Just review them with a wargamer's mindset.  How close or how far is it from reality?  Which real life tactics work? How historically accurate is the game?

Yes, partic the more realistic genre such as Ghost Recon & ARMA series (I guess echoing what Jomni said).

Yes, I would read them with interest, but I agree that I wouldf be more interested in the Mount & Blade series or ARMA II etc.  i.e. the ones with a more "realistic" and military bent.  I'd also be more likely to continue reading and enjoying such articles if they concentrated on reviewing them from a wargamers viewpoint with an emphasis on their usefulness for wargamers interested in military history and or real world tactics.

Newbie here. long time gamer, first post. something to ponder. not all fps are equal, band of brothers mount and blade, splinter cell series and others are not run and gun. they along with others have tactical elements. bioshock and mass effect are more rpg type. I enjoy em all and love the read the debates of you all.

It depends on what is meant by "with a wargamer's perspective". But in general, I do enjoy reading Wargamer articles, so my default would be to say yes.

Assuming, of course, that FPS coverage doesn't come at the expense of strategy/wargaming coverage.

Second what Donkey said...

Szmania, I don't thread or post too often here anymore but I would very much like to have The Wargamer review first-person-shooter games with the strategic/tactical elements you suggest. Another element you might want to consider is weapon realism.

My reasoning is that the first-person-shooter is the main genre for me that provides 

I like all kinds of wargames but the fps is my favorite because it satisfies my "personal" interest in having some degree of shooting simulation. I used to reload my own cartridges and thoroughly tested them at gun ranges to determine the best loads for my big game rifles. Due to age and health I don't get out to shoot anymore.

There are many types of wars; Ancient Wars, World Wars, Civil Wars, War on Drugs, War on Terrorism, revolutionary wars, Wild West & Native American Wars, Gang Wars, War on Crime (Roaring 20's) and some may even include Sci-Fi alien wars and Zombie Wars. These wars can be fought on several different levels; grand strategy, operational, division, platoon, squad, and individual (sniper, Rambo, Chuck Norris style).

The fps is about the only way I can get an "intimate" feel for squad/partner or individual fighting. To me leaving out first-person-shooter wargame reviews would miss a good part of wargaming that many of us enjoy. Also, note the variety of weapons used from beginning of time to current.

While there are other sites that review fps games, this site could be about the only one that goes thoroughly into the strategic/tactical, weaponry, and AI elements. Also, be sure to cover games outside of WW2...Vietnam anyone?

Other titles you might consider:

-Sniper Elite 1 and 2

-Rainbow Six (current titles)

-Medal of Honor

-Men of Valor (Vietnam)

Sorry for the long reply and possibly offending someone. Just my random thoughts and nothing serious.

I'd prefer to see the time spent on strategy games. AAR's, reviews, interviews, etc. For example Ron Dockal's games have (to my knowledge) never appeared in a Wargamer article. SSG's games have either not appeared or received little attention and they are still played. The same probably goes for TOAW. I'm interested in more content about those sorts of games. Maybe the new CEAW: GS 2.1 mod. There are others I could mention.

There are tons of sites that discuss FPS. When it comes to the idea of you guys reviewing them my reaction is:

yawn.....zzzzzzzz.

Same here I'm a turn based strategy/wargamer. I could care less about First Person Shooter articles. I'd rather read a detailed with pictures article about a turn based strategy/wargame than anything about a FPS. Same goes for the majority of RTS games also. Paradox games or Norbsofts games or Creative Assembly games are an exception. Clickyfest ones though would be a waste of time imho.

Something else I enjoy are historical articles and readings to go along with the wargame. When I used to play boxed versions of wargames I don't know how many times I read the historial information in the manuals about the game. I'd almost rather have a good historical lesson in the rules/manual than how to play the game as I can usually learn how to play the game from playing it.

Another approach would be:

Write an AAR of a FPS scenario with a wargaming audience in mind.

This would allow us to compare games and would tell us whether the game is of interest to a wargamer.

I would read them all!

.

.

Add me to the list of people with no interest in reading about FPS.

If the Wargamer publishes articles about FPS? Wait, there's more to the Wargamer than these forums? 

Sure!

Thank you all for the responses and feedback. Definately mixed responses. We will take this into consideration for future articles.

It's important to find out what our audience thinks.

Originally Posted By Greybriar (23 JUL 2012 2:17pm)

I don't know about anyone else, but I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in first-person shooters.

Agreed.

I lost interest in First-Person Shooters a few years ago, and don't really miss them.

I would enjoy the articles. Especially from what here would amount to a grizzled old veterans view point.

I think it could be great. These days though I am actually only partial to one or two. Red Orchestra 2 being one of them.

It could be kind of comical to listen to all the whining  in the review

The thing that was really striking about voting for the Charles S. Roberts awards was noticing just how many wargames were produced in 2011. 

It was a surprisingly big number.

And almost none of those wargames were reviewed in the Wargamer.

Those unwritten reviews were the ones I want to read.

The Wargamer doesn't give wargaming enough coverage as it is.

If it dilutes the wargaming content even further by adding in more tangentially related material, I can't see that as a good thing.

If there were more and better quality reviews of wargames I wouldn't mind and would actually welcome the occasional departure from the main topic. 

But as it is I'm concerned that the Wargamer is losing touch and losing focus.