One thing I learned as a leader in my College Nerd Club was that more people respond to leadership when it comes to getting events to happen. What I mean is, when I wanted to have an event for the club, at first I'd try and get buy-in from active and semi-active members and get them to agree on when would be best for all of them. This never worked out very well as no one could ever agree on when would be a good date. After a while I started just saying, "This is when the event will be." And when I did that, a lot more people would show up. People who could never agree on when to come to an event when they were asked suddenly would make time in their schedule to show up. It's weird. So, yeah, if you want people to join you in a game, you really do need to take the initiative. People will be more interested by "I'm playing this, ready to teach, want to learn?" than by "Hey, do you maybe want to try out something new next week if it's not too much trouble?"
2 Things: 1 - What I love about this channel is that it really feels like a genuine, relaxed thoughts exposition. No dumbness, no memes for the sake of it ... you even avoided marketing your new game (Space Station Zero) in an explicit way despite having spoken about skirmish stuff. That's amazing quality, really: thank you. 2 - I LOVE when "Person A" proposes a new game to play and puts effort in making other like it in a positive manner. I HATE when "Person B" insists on playing a game he knows until the others reluctantly accept, then doesn't explain it in an engaging way, then cries when the others don't play that game ever again. Person A is a real gaming advocate, person B is a psycho. Let's be like person A, guys.
You're that guy for me Uncle Atom. I was just painting things. It started randomly last January. I found your channel and had very little idea what you were talking about. Fast forward 10 months and I'm staying up way past my bedtime painting terrain for necromunda. Thank you, I'm having a blast. Plus, inviting people to my basement; to play with my dolls, is hilarious.
It’s interesting, as I’ve literally never heard this term before. To be perfectly honest, I understand the concept, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one in my local area.
I am part of a role playing group that meets weekly. There are 10 in the group, we usually have 7 show up. We rotate game masters, and most of us have introduced new games to the group. I am "on deck" as the GM and am introducing Silver Bayonet to the group. I have been working on miniatures and terrain for this since January. I just received my copy of Space Station Zero. Great rules and artwork. I have some sci fi minis, and a small amount of terrain, so Space Station Zero will be the next game I introduce to the group. I will spend the next several months on mini's and terrain for Space Station Zero.
I guess I became that guy recently, I have a group I have gathered for Kill Team and we're all in a chat group together discussing the hobby, showing our painting progress etc! We have a great mix of factions too, Tau, Tyranids, Blooded, Ork Kommando's, Sisters of Battle, Corsair Eldar, Vet Guard an such! We haven't played yet, we set a rule, things need to be painted first, and we're all making progress! Your videos have been a great help too :D
Not to give you a big head but I occasionally play 40k with my gf and even skirmish size is a bit overwhelming for her (she is a Chinese speaker and while her English is good GW vocabulary can be... unique). I recently helped her build a crew for Space Station Zero and I have kinda been acting as DM for her in each challenge so she remembers the abilities and whatnot for her crew and she has been having a blast!
For me, bellwethers have been your channel (Why I Like It), Ash at Guerrilla Miniature Games, Drive Thru Review, Dave Thaumavore RPG Review, Obscurities In Miniatures, OnTabletop, MS_Paints, and a few others. I’ve found great new games and miniatures from creators like you, Ash, and others. On my end I tend to be the bellwether, buying new games and providing the terrain and in some cases the miniatures. But sadly there are almost no game stores in my area that actually play anything other than Magic The Gathering. Even if they sell models from GW or Wiz Kids. And there is almost no one interested in playing outside our little group. Which is a shame. Shout out for Space Station Zero. Working on fielding a crew and playing co-op with my fiancé. Can’t wait.
To be honest, Uncle Adam, you introduced to me Spave Weirdos which I in turn introduces to my Wargaming play group which kind of got it started. We will also start to play Space Station Zero in two weeks. Greetings from Puerto Rico.
Walked into a lovely hobby store in Erie, PA, my very first time there, and was amazed to see an entire store wall devoted to Blood and Plunder! I'd never even seen a blister pack in any store, and here was pretty much the entire line, and many copies of each!
I dig what you are laying down. And yes, we need gaming advocates. Alpha Gamers is too close to Alpha Players, which has a bad connotations, so I will be using Bellweather going forward. I had my days on the edge of the gaming industry trying to drum up interest in various Collectible Minis games. At some point, I realized the companies needed to show they cared about their game before I spent my time, energy, and money promoting their game. Currently, I'm torn between Car Wars, Gaslands, Kill Team, and Saga and a long time rookie painter. Just never spent the effort to paint beyond a few random figures. So I appreciate your channel for finding motivation.
I was a little confused because I assumed the term "Alpha Gamer" was refering to "That Guy" which was odd because I know you did a video on that so it made me more interested to learn about why this would be important. Happy I learned this, I have a friend who is like this he gets us into a game unfortunately they burn themselves out and while we're starting to enjoy they move on and try to get us into a new game. Long way of saying I think a Bellwether can be a double edged sword because if they are like the the one I know it could turn people away. because they don't want to keep spending money when they've barely played a new game. But they are a good way of gathering interest in games people haven't played or heard of before
I've been trying to do this kind of thing for more than 20 years and it is always an uphill slog. So many inexperienced people are scared of the painting aspect of the hobby and the established wargamers are usually so attached to their game of choice that they shun everything else. It's why I think GW is great for the hobby. I've seen numerous people give games like Infinity a try because they are unhappy with the state of their 40K army's latest codex, and that can sometimes be a multi-year gap where they feel free to dabble in some side games. The only time I've had a lot of luck luring a large amount of friends into anything is RelicBlade, but I did that with the help of the Bellwether of our group.
My wife calls me a hobby black hole. This is because I pull all my friends inextricably into whatever game or system I'm playing. Currently I'm evangelising Space Station Zero to them and one friend is now considering Fedex Space Skaven for his crew.
@@kalisthenes6650 I still have both kidneys for the time being and have no interest in owning a warlord titan, but these words are cutting close to the bone... 😂
I hate that Alpha has become a synonym for self-centered and dominating personalities based on wolf pack pop psychology. A real alpha is actually a good leader who understands that everyone have role to play and enables them.
Great video, started malifaux recently as one of my friends had some models and wanted to play a game. We have played a few games and people are showing an interest in the shop :)
Para-bellum's Conquest has a Vanguard program to help advocate their rank and flank mass army game and First Blood the skirmish version of Conquest. I'm hoping someday you'll do a video on First blood. I really enjoy Conquests models.
Don't think I've ever heard of the term "Alpha gamer", but I instantly recognized what you meant. Having an independent gaming club certainly would help in getting more people into the warming (or TTRPGs, or whatever). Where I live, we don't really have much, unfortunately.
Bellwether is a reasonable name for the tabletop wargaming of the their group. I think there's one in my local store? I haven't played in there for a long while, mostly since 2020. The main game they play mostly is The Magic Gathering and Star Wars tabletop games.
I introduced RPG’s in my hometown. I was the nerd of the town. I left for college, 4-5 years later I came back to visit, hooked up with a group that I never played with and found out StarWars RPG, Traveller and D&D became big. When I asked about the RPG. They told me about a D&D campaign that sparked the interest. They described my campaign I ran so many years ago. It was very neat. Lol
One thing I learned from growing up with MMOs: if you want to get shit done, you do it yourself. You plan, organize and manage stuff, if you want it to happen. And yeah, laying the groundwork and leading by example is very important, mostly in hobbies were the general crowd would be considered "shy".
Had a shop owner really excited to tell me a new title he’d thought up for me: “His Wargaming Emissary” because I’d often organize campaigns of WFB 8th, WM/H and the like… …each campaign or league drew about 12 people. unfortunately I couldn’t live up to the name because I was starting nursing school.
Thank you for the video! Great thumbnail too! It looks like Abbadon’s (TPM’s) work; that’s awesome. I find his name to be pretty funny since getting into 40K and their Abaddon.
I personally prefer to think of myself as a games ambassador. Jumped into this hobby with a "Field of Dreams" mentality. Get that starter set you have been eyeing, you never know when having opfor will come in handy.
This came up on my feed at the perfect time. I got into AoS last year but it's such a large investment to ask others to play with me. Just heard about Warcry and started playing last week and that was exactly my first thoughts. I already can field a bunch of warbands from my AoS models and it is so much easier to pick up I can get my friends who are interested in war games to try it out where I wouldn't expect them to be interested in making the dive to AoS.
I’ve usually been the game advocate/master for my group. I’ve even at this point gotten my store to flock around blood bowl and warcry when it was predominantly a 40K place.
beautifully articulated point i must say. while i knew the term "alpha gamer", you really help showcast the positive effect they can have one the communities they are involved with. helping people to find interest in things they may not have considered before.
Fascinatingly I’ve found the group that’s hardest to get into wargaming seems to be tabletop roleplaying gamers. On paper TTRPGS and TTwargaming seems to similar, yet nearly all the TTRPG players I know are at least partially if not fully against trying even more narrative games like Rangers of Shadowdeep.
Yep and I've meet with many of these types for all the things I do and fortunately for me a Creator I know how to parlay with them so we both benefit. Hoestly like you said it's just a fact of life that some people are just good at moving a group...
I agree with what you are saying as to how you describe Alpha Gamers, but as someone heavily invested in board gaming, I would argue that Alpha Gamers are often described differently in that sphere of the hobby. I have most often seen it apply to players who take control of co-operative games especially, or players who tell others how to play a game. We love people who can learn and teach new games and help organize events, but usually in board gaming "Alpha Gamers" is a negative connotation because we typically mean it as someone who will often tell others how to play in games that you play with them, rather than allowing the other players to make decisions for themselves in the game. It is very different from teaching a game: it is when a player takes control of a game on their own, causing other players to feel less engaged and to feel that they are being told what to do in-game- as their opinions aren't taken into account by said "Alpha Gamer". Often it is not done intentionally, but happens due to over-enthusiastic players. Albeit it is still a type of player most people in board gaming don't like to play with. I hope this makes sense, I just wanted to add some context to the term in board gaming specifically. I thought this was a good video.
I love the alternate terms. I definitely didn't know what 'alpha gamer' referred to and had some pretty negative connotations with the concept. I guess "influencer" is another term, but frankly I have similar negative connotations to it. Bellwether makes a lot of sense.
I was the alpha gamer in my friend group, got them into warhammer kill team, one of the players seemed interested but if you didn't push him to play he would just stop and lose interest, he was like a kid with a hobby, but didn't seem to be able to stick to it without anybody else kindling his passion
Adam, this is like the 5th T-shirt I've seen you wear and though "that's a cool tee, wonder where he got it, or even what it is?" Mind sharing? Hell... I'd watch an Uncle Adams T-shirt haul video.
This is why the old Warmachine/Hordes Battlegroups were so good cheap on the wallet, and provided a good intro to the game. I used them to sell the game to my club back in the 00's. Within months no one was playing 40k, everyone was playing Warmachine. Surprised that the PP have dropped Battlegroups as an item and game level in MKIV. Think that is going to be a big mistake.
I think a big issue can be games like Warhammer 40K, etc. While being commercially successful and popular, they set a very bizarre and often poor expectation in a lot of new gamers. I frequently run into younger gamers who think "that's" how wargames work...and in turn this puts them off 'investing' in other games, etc. They think that a game requires 200 models, takes six hours, requires nine books and will be edited/replaced/modified every three months. They also assume that each player must build and paint their own army and that games should be heavily competitive/meta driven. They think that's common/normal and the way games work. I found my real gaming feet under a group of older guys who taught me the simplicity of "hosting" games. You want to run a game? You build the terrain and paint the forces - players will come and if they really enjoy it, maybe they'll dabble in it themselves. Howevere, there is no arms-race building armies, etc. I design and sell games as a hobby/business and I find it amusing how shocked people are that you can have a great game with 8-10 models, and that they don't need to buy anything if they want to play. I will gladly set up and host games, run games at conventions, etc. It's weening people off of the sour expectation of Games Workshop products that seems most difficult. Some people have a straight up Stockholm Syndrome and get addicted to "every day meta race!" so prevalent in those games.
We need to start gaming clubs in 7th and 8th grades after school groups, or even high schools.. I started in 7th grade with a Avalon hill group board games then Med evil skirmish games before D@d IN High school. then well everything else running small local gaming cons and the like in the 80's.. yep I am older,, please bring this wonderful hobby to the young-ens.
I run games of Fragged Empire at PAX Australia, and collectively as Games Masters, we are referred to as the Tabletop Teachers, I think that would also be a better term than Alpha Gamer
This means something very different to me. One of the best and worst parts of gaming is the gamers. Years ago (I am 50 and have been playing since the early 80s) people who war-gamed were amazing they’re were not as many of us as they’re are now. But the community was less toxic. Spirit of play meant something. People learned of new games because it was shared with you by these friends on a weekend or at a small con. I appreciate what Adam is saying here but we are missing a huge point in the hyper competitive world of the weekend gamestore rando game. You can be competitive and still be a great person to play and even teach the young bloods what winning the right way means.
It has come up a lot in industry forums and such - from the people who are trying to figure out who to market their games to. It was the Internet that sort of ‘changed’ the definition in recent years. Thanks for watching!
I’ve had a mixed experience (mainly due to being a periphery player) I see the positives that the alphas bring to keeping things going and introducing new things. But for those on the edge either due to time, expense interest. It can be difficult keeping up with the changing flow of games. I’ve been burnt buying into games and just about to join the rest of the community when suddenly it’s move onto the next new thing. Secondary problem for the smaller games is the market for reselling isn’t as good as the main games so your stuck wether to stick or twist and take a hit on a loss. It’s meant that while I like the look of lots of new games you have to choose wisely on what you get into and unfortunately that’s why the mainstream ones stick as any fallout from the hobby can be more easily recouped or remedied. Leadership is good but there’s a line that can be crossed when an alpha becomes too dominant that you feel your free will is up held and your stuck doing what your told. I assume more likely in smaller communities. Guess the moral is, yes be lead to new things but not at the expense of your enjoyment of the hobby. You don’t always have to follow the leader.
Yes, I’ve experienced this. Money isn’t a real problem for me except I’m frugal. I’m just not that into painting though. Also, there’s the whole issue with getting the models (ever needed that key model to make your force work and cannot get it? For months?). I often drag my feet now. If the company providing the game isn’t fixing the problems with the rules, balance, and supply, that game is likely not to last. Just skip it. Also, if the company is GW, and you don’t want to spend thousands, skip that too. (A little hyperbole there, but really just a little). My favorite experience was when a bunch of my FoW buddies talked about War of the Rings from GW. The models looked great, and GW was doing a great job selling it. I hadn’t even bought the book yet, and I traded a guy some FoW models for a box with a bunch of orcs. I show up at the shop and they are playing WoR with primed models. Several guys had dropped hundreds to get forces (including the owners of the shop). It wasn’t too long before they were asking me to settle some rules questions even though I hadn’t read the rules. Within a week, they had broken the game, and years later I’m not sure if GW ever fixed it. I later traded my orcs back into some FoW models.
... OH You're referring to 1) Early Adopters who are 2) Influence Leaders. People in a market who will 1.Buy First 2. Rep the brand 3. "You have GOT to get this new widget...it's 9000% better than the old widget" and people believe them and buy. I have never heard them referred to as alphas with regards to marketing and sales. TIL. edit: To clarify, No I am not talking about influencers *shudders*. There are classes of consumers and you build your marketing to said classes. There are people who always have to have the new thing on the first day, and those who have to see everyone using it before they switch. And a bunch in between. If you want to max your ROI and flip dollars spent on adverts to dollars inbound due to sales, you target Influence Leaders and early adopters. Because if you flip them, you have free marketing as they tell everyone else. And since they're Bellwethers (as you put it) the other segments of the market pick up the product. Influencers *can be* Influence Leaders in marketing, they don't have to be. Influence Leaders do not need to be influencers. Most of them aren't actually. But there's enough to where targeting them in particular is *a lot* of money and time spent in marketing. Hope this makes it slightly clearer than mud.
Takes some real work to be a “belwether”, but it is difficult to stop, as it is just so darn fun to get new people to play with and seeing them enjoy themselves
Well, so this is weird. In board game design, people evidently talk frequently about “alpha gamers”, but with not at all this meaning. An “alpha gamer” in their parlance is someone who habitually (whether deliberately or not) steals the fun by trying to make other players conform to their idea of good strategy _within_ the game. Indeed, a lot of discussion in co-op game design seems to revolve around alpha-proofing games by introducing per-player hidden information (something that might otherwise not even be desirable) so that such “alpha gamers” are physically _unable_ to make other people's decisions for them. So-by all means let's call those who do their games research Bellwethers, because it's not at all the same thing. I'm happy to be a bellwether (except for the castration part-it's worth looking words up occasionally) but _not_ being an alpha gamer is something I've actively worked on my whole life. And indeed, even for the very competitive, it pays off to see people try strategies you might never have thought of yourself. 10 points for the Connie Willis mention, BTW.
Hi Adam, I think that's why I liked Kill team when I barely even seen it, in the box there is everything you and your friend, need to start to play, I'm learning to play with my woman, that is beating me, every time, (damn dice!!)
Interesting definition of "alpha gamer!" Where I come from the term refers to the person who always min/maxes, finds the insane combos, and gleefully grinds new players under their heel while dominating the space. I remember when someone accused someone else of being an "alpha gamer" without warrent and it was met with great offence. It is good to know that in other places it is not a pejorative term so I dont accidentally take offence where none was ment.
Funny, I am probably the bellwether for my group as I definitely was the one who got some of them into wargaming, and literally introduced the rest of them into Lancer a few months back 😂. It’s a good feeling when people start to come to you for opinions on new things, or for recommendations on new experiences to enjoy.
I never associated "Alpha Gamer" with Bellweather. As a mainly a boardgamer hobbyist, "Alpha Gamer" is, mostly in Co-ops, someone that takes over the gameplay of all or part of the table, leaving the other gamers with nothing to do and/or with a bad experience. It has therefore a negative connotation in the boardgame circle.
His background in marketing is showing 😆. This is why companies need to pay attention to their biggest fans! Thanks for the encouragement. I will keep introducing my local gaming store to the weird games they have never heard of!
Know who you're talking to about the game you're presenting. If there isn't something in the game to appeal to them, they're not going to have fun. Don't force it either and don't take advantage of their lack of knowledge or be pedantic. I ran into a guy who really wanted everyone to play this one game, Hero Clix. We were all very happy with our Star Wars Miniatures and 40k, though, but he was persistent and eventually I agreed. Yeah, he wasn't the best teacher. Most explanations used too much jargon and every match ended in him gloating over a victory and how expensive this miniature or that miniature was. Here's the sad part: he was the shop rep for the game.
Sounds like a derivative of the word influncer. The end result is influencing a group into playing something that the influncer/bellweather thought long and hard on.
That's not really anything like the common definition of Alpha Gamer I've always heard. An Alpha Gamer is someone who tries to control every aspect of the gaming experience for everyone involved. The easiest way to identify one is that they will be telling their opponent what moves they should make (unrequested) in a competitive game or making every decision for all the players in a co-op game.
Bellwether might not ever come into common use, due to its ridiculous sound gamers will assume what it means because people do that and never bother to find out. Alpha gamer sounds more like something in their limited experience. Or maybe Judas Goat. "Assembly ship" just sounds weird...
One thing I learned as a leader in my College Nerd Club was that more people respond to leadership when it comes to getting events to happen.
What I mean is, when I wanted to have an event for the club, at first I'd try and get buy-in from active and semi-active members and get them to agree on when would be best for all of them.
This never worked out very well as no one could ever agree on when would be a good date.
After a while I started just saying, "This is when the event will be." And when I did that, a lot more people would show up. People who could never agree on when to come to an event when they were asked suddenly would make time in their schedule to show up.
It's weird.
So, yeah, if you want people to join you in a game, you really do need to take the initiative. People will be more interested by "I'm playing this, ready to teach, want to learn?" than by "Hey, do you maybe want to try out something new next week if it's not too much trouble?"
2 Things:
1 - What I love about this channel is that it really feels like a genuine, relaxed thoughts exposition.
No dumbness, no memes for the sake of it ... you even avoided marketing your new game (Space Station Zero) in an explicit way despite having spoken about skirmish stuff. That's amazing quality, really: thank you.
2 - I LOVE when "Person A" proposes a new game to play and puts effort in making other like it in a positive manner.
I HATE when "Person B" insists on playing a game he knows until the others reluctantly accept, then doesn't explain it in an engaging way, then cries when the others don't play that game ever again.
Person A is a real gaming advocate, person B is a psycho.
Let's be like person A, guys.
You're that guy for me Uncle Atom. I was just painting things. It started randomly last January. I found your channel and had very little idea what you were talking about. Fast forward 10 months and I'm staying up way past my bedtime painting terrain for necromunda. Thank you, I'm having a blast.
Plus, inviting people to my basement; to play with my dolls, is hilarious.
Same here!!
It’s interesting, as I’ve literally never heard this term before. To be perfectly honest, I understand the concept, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one in my local area.
Maybe you are the one?
I am part of a role playing group that meets weekly. There are 10 in the group, we usually have 7 show up. We rotate game masters, and most of us have introduced new games to the group. I am "on deck" as the GM and am introducing Silver Bayonet to the group. I have been working on miniatures and terrain for this since January. I just received my copy of Space Station Zero. Great rules and artwork. I have some sci fi minis, and a small amount of terrain, so Space Station Zero will be the next game I introduce to the group. I will spend the next several months on mini's and terrain for Space Station Zero.
I guess I became that guy recently, I have a group I have gathered for Kill Team and we're all in a chat group together discussing the hobby, showing our painting progress etc! We have a great mix of factions too, Tau, Tyranids, Blooded, Ork Kommando's, Sisters of Battle, Corsair Eldar, Vet Guard an such! We haven't played yet, we set a rule, things need to be painted first, and we're all making progress! Your videos have been a great help too :D
Love the Lancer shoutout. It got me back in to TTRPG and mini painting after a 20 year dry spell
Not to give you a big head but I occasionally play 40k with my gf and even skirmish size is a bit overwhelming for her (she is a Chinese speaker and while her English is good GW vocabulary can be... unique). I recently helped her build a crew for Space Station Zero and I have kinda been acting as DM for her in each challenge so she remembers the abilities and whatnot for her crew and she has been having a blast!
That just made me wonder how someone would speak if there only exposure to English was from 40k. I think it would as terrifying as it would be funny.
For me, bellwethers have been your channel (Why I Like It), Ash at Guerrilla Miniature Games, Drive Thru Review, Dave Thaumavore RPG Review, Obscurities In Miniatures, OnTabletop, MS_Paints, and a few others. I’ve found great new games and miniatures from creators like you, Ash, and others. On my end I tend to be the bellwether, buying new games and providing the terrain and in some cases the miniatures. But sadly there are almost no game stores in my area that actually play anything other than Magic The Gathering. Even if they sell models from GW or Wiz Kids. And there is almost no one interested in playing outside our little group. Which is a shame.
Shout out for Space Station Zero. Working on fielding a crew and playing co-op with my fiancé. Can’t wait.
I love Lancer, soooo many mech combinations!
To be honest, Uncle Adam, you introduced to me Spave Weirdos which I in turn introduces to my Wargaming play group which kind of got it started. We will also start to play Space Station Zero in two weeks. Greetings from Puerto Rico.
Walked into a lovely hobby store in Erie, PA, my very first time there, and was amazed to see an entire store wall devoted to Blood and Plunder! I'd never even seen a blister pack in any store, and here was pretty much the entire line, and many copies of each!
I dig what you are laying down. And yes, we need gaming advocates. Alpha Gamers is too close to Alpha Players, which has a bad connotations, so I will be using Bellweather going forward. I had my days on the edge of the gaming industry trying to drum up interest in various Collectible Minis games. At some point, I realized the companies needed to show they cared about their game before I spent my time, energy, and money promoting their game.
Currently, I'm torn between Car Wars, Gaslands, Kill Team, and Saga and a long time rookie painter. Just never spent the effort to paint beyond a few random figures. So I appreciate your channel for finding motivation.
I was a little confused because I assumed the term "Alpha Gamer" was refering to "That Guy" which was odd because I know you did a video on that so it made me more interested to learn about why this would be important. Happy I learned this, I have a friend who is like this he gets us into a game unfortunately they burn themselves out and while we're starting to enjoy they move on and try to get us into a new game.
Long way of saying I think a Bellwether can be a double edged sword because if they are like the the one I know it could turn people away. because they don't want to keep spending money when they've barely played a new game. But they are a good way of gathering interest in games people haven't played or heard of before
I've been trying to do this kind of thing for more than 20 years and it is always an uphill slog. So many inexperienced people are scared of the painting aspect of the hobby and the established wargamers are usually so attached to their game of choice that they shun everything else. It's why I think GW is great for the hobby. I've seen numerous people give games like Infinity a try because they are unhappy with the state of their 40K army's latest codex, and that can sometimes be a multi-year gap where they feel free to dabble in some side games.
The only time I've had a lot of luck luring a large amount of friends into anything is RelicBlade, but I did that with the help of the Bellwether of our group.
Space Station Zero printed copy arrived yesterday! So excited to give it a try!!!!
My wife calls me a hobby black hole. This is because I pull all my friends inextricably into whatever game or system I'm playing.
Currently I'm evangelising Space Station Zero to them and one friend is now considering Fedex Space Skaven for his crew.
FedEx Space Skaven sounds like an amazing crew! Thanks for watching!
I think that’s what she tells you. I think she calls you a Hobby black hole because of what it costs ;P
@@kalisthenes6650 I still have both kidneys for the time being and have no interest in owning a warlord titan, but these words are cutting close to the bone... 😂
@@briochepanda I know right! 😆 I am in much the same boat myself.
I hate that Alpha has become a synonym for self-centered and dominating personalities based on wolf pack pop psychology.
A real alpha is actually a good leader who understands that everyone have role to play and enables them.
Misunderstood and since then errated out wolf pack psychology at that.
The term “Leader” is also good
Great video, started malifaux recently as one of my friends had some models and wanted to play a game.
We have played a few games and people are showing an interest in the shop :)
Para-bellum's Conquest has a Vanguard program to help advocate their rank and flank mass army game and First Blood the skirmish version of Conquest. I'm hoping someday you'll do a video on First blood. I really enjoy Conquests models.
Don't think I've ever heard of the term "Alpha gamer", but I instantly recognized what you meant.
Having an independent gaming club certainly would help in getting more people into the warming (or TTRPGs, or whatever).
Where I live, we don't really have much, unfortunately.
Bellwether is a reasonable name for the tabletop wargaming of the their group. I think there's one in my local store? I haven't played in there for a long while, mostly since 2020. The main game they play mostly is The Magic Gathering and Star Wars tabletop games.
Letting them pick the forces and models is a big help. Shows them some choices for the game.
I introduced RPG’s in my hometown. I was the nerd of the town. I left for college, 4-5 years later I came back to visit, hooked up with a group that I never played with and found out StarWars RPG, Traveller and D&D became big. When I asked about the RPG. They told me about a D&D campaign that sparked the interest. They described my campaign I ran so many years ago. It was very neat. Lol
One thing I learned from growing up with MMOs: if you want to get shit done, you do it yourself. You plan, organize and manage stuff, if you want it to happen. And yeah, laying the groundwork and leading by example is very important, mostly in hobbies were the general crowd would be considered "shy".
I’m this way with video games in my group of friends, thanks for the video Uncle Adam
Had a shop owner really excited to tell me a new title he’d thought up for me: “His Wargaming Emissary” because I’d often organize campaigns of WFB 8th, WM/H and the like… …each campaign or league drew about 12 people. unfortunately I couldn’t live up to the name because I was starting nursing school.
I've gotten a few of my friends and cousins into the games I like and some of them have started investing in their own games to bring over and play!
Thank you for the video! Great thumbnail too! It looks like Abbadon’s (TPM’s) work; that’s awesome. I find his name to be pretty funny since getting into 40K and their Abaddon.
I personally prefer to think of myself as a games ambassador. Jumped into this hobby with a "Field of Dreams" mentality. Get that starter set you have been eyeing, you never know when having opfor will come in handy.
That's not how I understand the term, alpha gamer is someone who tells others how to play, trying to make decisions for other players.
This came up on my feed at the perfect time. I got into AoS last year but it's such a large investment to ask others to play with me. Just heard about Warcry and started playing last week and that was exactly my first thoughts. I already can field a bunch of warbands from my AoS models and it is so much easier to pick up I can get my friends who are interested in war games to try it out where I wouldn't expect them to be interested in making the dive to AoS.
I’ve usually been the game advocate/master for my group. I’ve even at this point gotten my store to flock around blood bowl and warcry when it was predominantly a 40K place.
Uncle Atom is responsible for my DEEP dive into SW:Legion in late 2019. He is my power gamer.
beautifully articulated point i must say. while i knew the term "alpha gamer", you really help showcast the positive effect they can have one the communities they are involved with. helping people to find interest in things they may not have considered before.
Definitely the alpha gamer in my friend group. I'm the guy that reads about new games and kickstarts stuff.
Fascinatingly I’ve found the group that’s hardest to get into wargaming seems to be tabletop roleplaying gamers. On paper TTRPGS and TTwargaming seems to similar, yet nearly all the TTRPG players I know are at least partially if not fully against trying even more narrative games like Rangers of Shadowdeep.
I am a Relicblade bellweather. I have manifested my life around it for the last 5 years!
Another great video, thanks Atom!
Abaddon's work is amazing, cool to see Lancer get a shout-out here
Never heard the term before, but it makes sense.
Yep and I've meet with many of these types for all the things I do and fortunately for me a Creator I know how to parlay with them so we both benefit. Hoestly like you said it's just a fact of life that some people are just good at moving a group...
I'm working some of the older war gamers in my area into Kill Team '21, it's rewarding but also difficult not to feel like a bother.
Watched the video for the Lancer thumbnail. Currently acting as a Bellweather trying to introduce my friends to it!
LOL I like the term Bellwether a lot more than what my gaming groups have always called me over the years: "An agitator"
I agree with what you are saying as to how you describe Alpha Gamers, but as someone heavily invested in board gaming, I would argue that Alpha Gamers are often described differently in that sphere of the hobby. I have most often seen it apply to players who take control of co-operative games especially, or players who tell others how to play a game. We love people who can learn and teach new games and help organize events, but usually in board gaming "Alpha Gamers" is a negative connotation because we typically mean it as someone who will often tell others how to play in games that you play with them, rather than allowing the other players to make decisions for themselves in the game. It is very different from teaching a game: it is when a player takes control of a game on their own, causing other players to feel less engaged and to feel that they are being told what to do in-game- as their opinions aren't taken into account by said "Alpha Gamer". Often it is not done intentionally, but happens due to over-enthusiastic players. Albeit it is still a type of player most people in board gaming don't like to play with.
I hope this makes sense, I just wanted to add some context to the term in board gaming specifically. I thought this was a good video.
now how do i convince my friends to plan Lancer. thanks for informing me i am missing out in mech rpg
My game is coming out next month. Marketing has been hell. I really feel this video
This was a 9 minute commercial. Oh man.
........ I'm still buying it.
Not really - there was a 20 second commercial at the end of the video, but the video wasn’t about the game. Thanks for watching!
I’m trying to do this myself getting none gaming friends to come round for games nights and introduce them to wargaming
I love the alternate terms. I definitely didn't know what 'alpha gamer' referred to and had some pretty negative connotations with the concept. I guess "influencer" is another term, but frankly I have similar negative connotations to it. Bellwether makes a lot of sense.
I was the alpha gamer in my friend group, got them into warhammer kill team, one of the players seemed interested but if you didn't push him to play he would just stop and lose interest, he was like a kid with a hobby, but didn't seem to be able to stick to it without anybody else kindling his passion
Yay, a Lancer shout out!!
Adam, this is like the 5th T-shirt I've seen you wear and though "that's a cool tee, wonder where he got it, or even what it is?" Mind sharing? Hell... I'd watch an Uncle Adams T-shirt haul video.
I picked it up at Gen Con this year. It was at the Archon Games booth, they make the board game Eschaton. Thanks for watching!
This is why the old Warmachine/Hordes Battlegroups were so good cheap on the wallet, and provided a good intro to the game. I used them to sell the game to my club back in the 00's. Within months no one was playing 40k, everyone was playing Warmachine.
Surprised that the PP have dropped Battlegroups as an item and game level in MKIV. Think that is going to be a big mistake.
Community is priceless 👍👍
I think a big issue can be games like Warhammer 40K, etc. While being commercially successful and popular, they set a very bizarre and often poor expectation in a lot of new gamers. I frequently run into younger gamers who think "that's" how wargames work...and in turn this puts them off 'investing' in other games, etc. They think that a game requires 200 models, takes six hours, requires nine books and will be edited/replaced/modified every three months. They also assume that each player must build and paint their own army and that games should be heavily competitive/meta driven. They think that's common/normal and the way games work. I found my real gaming feet under a group of older guys who taught me the simplicity of "hosting" games. You want to run a game? You build the terrain and paint the forces - players will come and if they really enjoy it, maybe they'll dabble in it themselves. Howevere, there is no arms-race building armies, etc. I design and sell games as a hobby/business and I find it amusing how shocked people are that you can have a great game with 8-10 models, and that they don't need to buy anything if they want to play. I will gladly set up and host games, run games at conventions, etc. It's weening people off of the sour expectation of Games Workshop products that seems most difficult. Some people have a straight up Stockholm Syndrome and get addicted to "every day meta race!" so prevalent in those games.
In our group we have drivers and passengers - I think that’s a better term.
We need to start gaming clubs in 7th and 8th grades after school groups, or even high schools.. I started in 7th grade with a Avalon hill group board games then Med evil skirmish games before D@d IN High school. then well everything else running small local gaming cons and the like in the 80's.. yep I am older,, please bring this wonderful hobby to the young-ens.
Trying to introduce SSZ to members of my gaming circle.
Graet video.
I would love to know more about lancer.
Regards from Chile
Huh, when I first saw the title I thought you meant like... beta testers for board games.
Great point.
damn, it's nice to be needed for once 💪
I'm aware of a store that has a huge community of Turnip28 players. It's wild!
There IS a game universe locally that plays flames of war local to me.
Yeah I’ve got agree with others in the chat I have honestly never heard this term before
I run games of Fragged Empire at PAX Australia, and collectively as Games Masters, we are referred to as the Tabletop Teachers, I think that would also be a better term than Alpha Gamer
Is that Abbadon “Kill 6 Billion Demons” artwork on the thumbnail? 🧐
No, it’s from the Lancer RPG. Thanks for watching!
I like how uncle Atom instantly assumes we go out of our way to visit gaming stores when we travel.
He is correct, though.
This means something very different to me. One of the best and worst parts of gaming is the gamers. Years ago (I am 50 and have been playing since the early 80s) people who war-gamed were amazing they’re were not as many of us as they’re are now. But the community was less toxic. Spirit of play meant something. People learned of new games because it was shared with you by these friends on a weekend or at a small con. I appreciate what Adam is saying here but we are missing a huge point in the hyper competitive world of the weekend gamestore rando game. You can be competitive and still be a great person to play and even teach the young bloods what winning the right way means.
Never heard 'Alpha Gamer' used in this kind of context
It has come up a lot in industry forums and such - from the people who are trying to figure out who to market their games to. It was the Internet that sort of ‘changed’ the definition in recent years. Thanks for watching!
Great stuff friend 👏 👍
I’ve had a mixed experience (mainly due to being a periphery player) I see the positives that the alphas bring to keeping things going and introducing new things. But for those on the edge either due to time, expense interest. It can be difficult keeping up with the changing flow of games.
I’ve been burnt buying into games and just about to join the rest of the community when suddenly it’s move onto the next new thing.
Secondary problem for the smaller games is the market for reselling isn’t as good as the main games so your stuck wether to stick or twist and take a hit on a loss. It’s meant that while I like the look of lots of new games you have to choose wisely on what you get into and unfortunately that’s why the mainstream ones stick as any fallout from the hobby can be more easily recouped or remedied.
Leadership is good but there’s a line that can be crossed when an alpha becomes too dominant that you feel your free will is up held and your stuck doing what your told. I assume more likely in smaller communities.
Guess the moral is, yes be lead to new things but not at the expense of your enjoyment of the hobby. You don’t always have to follow the leader.
Yes, I’ve experienced this. Money isn’t a real problem for me except I’m frugal. I’m just not that into painting though. Also, there’s the whole issue with getting the models (ever needed that key model to make your force work and cannot get it? For months?). I often drag my feet now. If the company providing the game isn’t fixing the problems with the rules, balance, and supply, that game is likely not to last. Just skip it.
Also, if the company is GW, and you don’t want to spend thousands, skip that too. (A little hyperbole there, but really just a little).
My favorite experience was when a bunch of my FoW buddies talked about War of the Rings from GW. The models looked great, and GW was doing a great job selling it. I hadn’t even bought the book yet, and I traded a guy some FoW models for a box with a bunch of orcs. I show up at the shop and they are playing WoR with primed models. Several guys had dropped hundreds to get forces (including the owners of the shop). It wasn’t too long before they were asking me to settle some rules questions even though I hadn’t read the rules. Within a week, they had broken the game, and years later I’m not sure if GW ever fixed it. I later traded my orcs back into some FoW models.
...
OH
You're referring to 1) Early Adopters who are 2) Influence Leaders.
People in a market who will 1.Buy First 2. Rep the brand 3. "You have GOT to get this new widget...it's 9000% better than the old widget" and people believe them and buy.
I have never heard them referred to as alphas with regards to marketing and sales.
TIL.
edit:
To clarify, No I am not talking about influencers *shudders*. There are classes of consumers and you build your marketing to said classes. There are people who always have to have the new thing on the first day, and those who have to see everyone using it before they switch. And a bunch in between.
If you want to max your ROI and flip dollars spent on adverts to dollars inbound due to sales, you target Influence Leaders and early adopters. Because if you flip them, you have free marketing as they tell everyone else. And since they're Bellwethers (as you put it) the other segments of the market pick up the product.
Influencers *can be* Influence Leaders in marketing, they don't have to be. Influence Leaders do not need to be influencers. Most of them aren't actually. But there's enough to where targeting them in particular is *a lot* of money and time spent in marketing.
Hope this makes it slightly clearer than mud.
Takes some real work to be a “belwether”, but it is difficult to stop, as it is just so darn fun to get new people to play with and seeing them enjoy themselves
This gets a like just for the Connie Willis rec.
Well, so this is weird. In board game design, people evidently talk frequently about “alpha gamers”, but with not at all this meaning. An “alpha gamer” in their parlance is someone who habitually (whether deliberately or not) steals the fun by trying to make other players conform to their idea of good strategy _within_ the game. Indeed, a lot of discussion in co-op game design seems to revolve around alpha-proofing games by introducing per-player hidden information (something that might otherwise not even be desirable) so that such “alpha gamers” are physically _unable_ to make other people's decisions for them.
So-by all means let's call those who do their games research Bellwethers, because it's not at all the same thing. I'm happy to be a bellwether (except for the castration part-it's worth looking words up occasionally) but _not_ being an alpha gamer is something I've actively worked on my whole life. And indeed, even for the very competitive, it pays off to see people try strategies you might never have thought of yourself.
10 points for the Connie Willis mention, BTW.
Hi Adam, I think that's why I liked Kill team when I barely even seen it, in the box there is everything you and your friend, need to start to play, I'm learning to play with my woman, that is beating me, every time, (damn dice!!)
Lama > Alpha gamer !! xD best analogy ever!
Alpha lama will be real!
Llama Gamers, got it
Thanks Uncle Adam
What store is this that has the big Flames of War presences?
Interesting definition of "alpha gamer!" Where I come from the term refers to the person who always min/maxes, finds the insane combos, and gleefully grinds new players under their heel while dominating the space. I remember when someone accused someone else of being an "alpha gamer" without warrent and it was met with great offence. It is good to know that in other places it is not a pejorative term so I dont accidentally take offence where none was ment.
Weird, here I thought the standard term for that behavior everywhere was "power gamer". Colloquialisms, eh?
Funny, I am probably the bellwether for my group as I definitely was the one who got some of them into wargaming, and literally introduced the rest of them into Lancer a few months back 😂. It’s a good feeling when people start to come to you for opinions on new things, or for recommendations on new experiences to enjoy.
mfw I used to be ranked nationally on the FOW website. Heady days.
Honestly thought you said Elfa gamers.
Never heard of the term though.
Nice video
I never associated "Alpha Gamer" with Bellweather. As a mainly a boardgamer hobbyist, "Alpha Gamer" is, mostly in Co-ops, someone that takes over the gameplay of all or part of the table, leaving the other gamers with nothing to do and/or with a bad experience. It has therefore a negative connotation in the boardgame circle.
That's a great t shirt
great advice
Oh damnnit, I'm the bellwether in my circle :-/ At least I have a name for it now. How to you hand that torch to someone with more time?
His background in marketing is showing 😆.
This is why companies need to pay attention to their biggest fans!
Thanks for the encouragement. I will keep introducing my local gaming store to the weird games they have never heard of!
The really significant thing is that the real alpha gamer is NEVER “that guy”. It’s never the rules lawyer or the know it all.
I always said, “Mega Gamer.”
There’s usually 1…… *shrugs* llama 😂 that killed me
I'm an ADHD bellwether. I see ooh shiny and go in that way.
Know who you're talking to about the game you're presenting. If there isn't something in the game to appeal to them, they're not going to have fun. Don't force it either and don't take advantage of their lack of knowledge or be pedantic.
I ran into a guy who really wanted everyone to play this one game, Hero Clix. We were all very happy with our Star Wars Miniatures and 40k, though, but he was persistent and eventually I agreed. Yeah, he wasn't the best teacher. Most explanations used too much jargon and every match ended in him gloating over a victory and how expensive this miniature or that miniature was. Here's the sad part: he was the shop rep for the game.
My biggest issue is getting the time investment out of my people to do anything consistent. Life and kids and things...
Sounds like a derivative of the word influncer. The end result is influencing a group into playing something that the influncer/bellweather thought long and hard on.
That's not really anything like the common definition of Alpha Gamer I've always heard. An Alpha Gamer is someone who tries to control every aspect of the gaming experience for everyone involved. The easiest way to identify one is that they will be telling their opponent what moves they should make (unrequested) in a competitive game or making every decision for all the players in a co-op game.
Bellwether might not ever come into common use, due to its ridiculous sound gamers will assume what it means because people do that and never bother to find out. Alpha gamer sounds more like something in their limited experience. Or maybe Judas Goat.
"Assembly ship" just sounds weird...