The (Perpetual) Graying of the Wargaming Hobby

[bayonetbrant]

This afternoon, we're hanging out with Liz from Beyond Solitaire and Fred from Homo Ludens for the never-ending discussion of just how gray the wargaming hobby can get, since it's been graying for 40+ years now

430pm EST, so you folks in Europa can watch / heckle, too

[bayonetbrant]

if you want a look at the slides we had on screen, here they are

https://www.armchairdragoons.com/whatever/grayingslides/

[Putraack]

I haven't watched it yet, but I feel I should add that the model-railroading hobby has been saying the same thing since the '70s, too-- I read my dad's old MRR magazines in middle school. There are still a lot of baby boomers in the hobby, but there are plenty of Gen X and some younger there, IMO. So, it's A Thing.

I work part-time in a trains-only hobby shop, and at 55, I'm almost the youngest worker there, by decades. We do have teenage and 20-something customers, but they are a minority. We also have a noticeable segment of preschoolers as customers, though it's an open question how many will stay (or return) in the hobby when they have their own income. {My favorite kind of sale is the Thomas/Brio wooden trains to a preschooler!}

[bayonetbrant]

I haven't watched it yet, but I feel I should add that the model-railroading hobby has been saying the same thing since the '70s, too-

that was one of the main points at the front of the discussion - "the graying of the hobby" shows up as an issue for classic cars/hot rod communities, coin collectors, astronomers, and more.  It's not just wargaming.

[TTC]

People in their 20s - 40s (I say as a 50 year-old) are quite busy starting careers, finding mates, starting and raising families, etc.

I was a wargamer in my teens, completely stopped when I went off to college, and only in the last 10 years have I resumed it. As my kids have grown up and gained independence - giving me more free time - , and as my net worth has modestly increased, I am much more active than I was wargaming in the past.

My son's story is analogous. He is 18 years old. For the past three years, he has been very, very active in astrophotography - spending thousands of dollars and making beautiful photographs of the stars. We have taken vacations based around where he can go for dark skies.

But he just started college this year. He didn't take his astrophotography gear with him. He is concentrating on challenging engineering classes, his private pilots license, and his newfound hobby - triathlons. I expect those to be the focus of his life for the foreseeable future as he pursue grad school and a career - and who knows what else. I could certainly see him re-engaging in the astronomy hobby (the local astronomy club is full of grey-haired retirees who have time for the hobby) sometime in the future, because he still loves it, but as a young adult who isn't a trust fund kid, the demands on his time and energy are too much for him to pursue some of his passions.