For Wargames, Soldiers, and Strategy's Great Wargaming Survey (GWS) in 2024 and 2025, the drop-off in responses was significant. When asked what have contributed to these results, I often hear that gamers did not see any promotion of GWS2025 and missed filling it in. Now, there are likely other forces at play, but I was curious where gamers actually saw a GWS promotion. To get some data on the topic, a question was added in 2025 to examine the reach of GWS promotions.
While the question allowed free text responses, a standard pick list was available too. Now, a number of respondents opted for free text entry even when one of the standard choices was a suitable option. To aggregate as many of the responses as possible, responses were parsed and recategorized into one of the existing standard responses. One respondent even wrote in that "he saw it on Jon's blog!" That person gets a Gold Star from me. When all of the responses were recoded and tallied, the distribution of responses show that the top four media sources were:
- Wargaming website (17.1%)
- Facebook (15.9%)
- YouTube (12.3%)
- WSS (12.2%)
Interesting distribution and, perhaps, a reasonable gauge on where gamers consume hobby information. While many of these sources are somewhat foreign to me, clearly this is not the case for the larger survey population. Given my lack of familiarity with some of these media sources, I decided to examine these media distributions by Age Group. Could my age group offer insight and help explain why there are large, missing chunks in my media exposure? It is not me, it’s my age.
What if these data are cross-tabulated by Primary Interest rather than by Age Group? Will a different picture emerge?
These results suggest that one must know and tap into each audience's preferred media to pinpoint the promo campaign that targets any particular audience.
Where did you see the promo?
Being as there was a drop in numbers filling the forms in, I guess most have filled in the survey previously so would know about it beforehand, just need a little prompt from the likes of your good self, Jon!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ray! Since about two-thirds of respondents tend to have filled out the survey before and only 3.8% remember that the survey is in August (“It’s August!”), looks like most need a triggering reminder. Now, where that reminder is seen is important.
DeleteI've filled it in for many a year now, but this year, I only knew it was 'that time again' via your Blog Jon. I had no e-mail reminder (like before?) and didn't see it on any forums (fora?) until a few days after you posted. I don't subscribe to any of the magazines, nor FB etc, relying upon Blogs and the Pendraken forum for my wargaming 'hit'. So if it's not on any of these, I would miss it. Also possibly related is it's peak holiday season in europe in August, so people may miss any notifications etc whilst away or during the post-hols catch up. Maybe September may be a better month to kick things off, ditto e-mail
ReplyDeletereminders?
Thanks, Steve! In past conversations with Jasper, I recall that August was selected as survey time precisely since August is often a lull in hobby activities for the reasons you mentioned.
DeleteI fear a lull might mean people simply miss notifications etc. Personally (and talking with friends) the gaming season kicks off again when September comes, the kids are back at school and the shows begin again. So for me August is probably the low point of my gaming engagement on many levels.
DeleteI wonder if moving the survey would improve response?
DeleteOnly one way to find out;)! But seriously, it's worth a go to see if it 'improves' responses or not. I think you mentioned how many people failed to hit the 'submit' button at the end, so maybe that needs looking at in terms of making it very visible on the last page, with maybe a pop up reminding people to hit said button if they tried to close the page, assuming that sort of thing is possible?
DeleteLots of points to consider before the next survey rolls around. The failure to "submit" is an odd one.
DeleteHi Jon. I wasn't surprised that more older people found the survey via Facebook.
ReplyDeleteThey probably joined when the internet was young (and trendy?) and have stayed with it by preference or lack of skills to go elsewhere (path of least resistance).
Some may even like the way it pretends to be "The Internet" and a portal for everything: despite the well documented downsides of profiling and feeding contentious items to drive engagements.
Younger people are clearly more savvy, eclectic, visual and probably view Facebook as something their parents use.
Thanks for your insight! What parents enjoy is rarely cool, is it?
DeleteI’d agree with Vexillia’s comment about how younger people view Facebook. About 14 years ago my son, then a young teenager, told me that “noone uses Facebook anymore!”. He cited his grandmother using it and something to do with Candycrush which she liked playing.
DeleteI don’t use it either and whenever I get links to something or other on FB it has been sent to me by another grey haired person. Oddly most of the material they forwarded are on other media such as YouTube, BBC etc. so it seems to the way some people ‘consume’ the internet. If I get something from a young person it’s usually a link to the TikTok or the InstantGran.
I think I heard about the survey this year from your blog Jon. Probably the same for the last couple of years.
Chris/Nundanket
Thanks, Chris. I am really out of the loop on social media besides blogs. Nancy is always sending links to TikTok and Instagram most of which I can never open. She must be one of the "cool" grandparents.
DeleteI 'have' to use FB to keep up with SEND support for our son, ditto Linkedin. Both are shockingly bad at allowing you to easily access the latest posts, info etc:(! Our kids use Instagram in the main and maybe occasionally access FB and other social media, like Tik Tok.
DeleteI missed it this year buy iirc I usually relied on announcements on The Wargames Website to remind me. I use facebook a lot as I joined it when it first started up and it is where I archive my holiday snaps(!). I'm on lots of wargaming groups on there, but the general gaming content gets rather swamped by politics, barely disguised porn and AI generated crap aimed at generating clicks or subverting western democracy.
ReplyDeleteI find Reddit a more civilised place for gaming discussion, but I imagine it will go downhill too one day.
Thanks for your feedback, Martin! Add Reddit to the growing list of social media platforms have never visited.
DeleteI stopped visiting TWW about a year or so ago, due to a lack of posts the interested me, plus a few members rubbing me up the wrong way. I know I might miss out on notifications of stuff that might be interesting, but in the grand scheme of things I don't miss it at all. Ditto why I only access FB for SEND support groups and nothing else.
DeleteWith only so much screen time in the day, we must curate our information streams. Thankful that you keep visiting here, Steve!
DeleteEmail from WSS, but confess, I didn't complete it this year. The offer of discounts on WSS products or a 3D file were of no interest and the apathy won out.......
ReplyDeleteAbout 20 odd years ago, I asked Foundry customers for feedback on where they had seen the advert or list that prompted the order. The vast majority had used the internet with only a very small percentage accessing via magazine adverts. Despite qualifying it by the remark it was statistically a small sample, adverts were suspended in the wargames press.
This led to widespread speculation that Foundry had gone out of business....
Neil
Apathy won out? Say it isn't so! Great story about your time with Foundry.
DeleteI am one of those who saw it promoted by your good self Jon. I don't recall ever getting a reminder from WSS, despite receiving numerous emails from them throughout the year trying to get me to subscribe or whatever. I don't use any of the social media sites or visit forums etc and only started looking at blogs when our mate Mark started his 1866 blog about 15 or 20 years ago, so I think I probably missed the "Golden Age" of blogging too!
ReplyDeleteKeith, I figured you might have been the one who said, “I saw it on Jon’s blog!” As long as we continue to blog, we are still in the Golden Age!
DeleteI can't remember if I saw it here first Jon or the Lead Adventure Forum, probably about the same time. I do use Facebook but can;t say I saw anything there on it, I do get emails from WSS as well but sometimes just skip through them to be honest!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donnie! I never made the leap to LAF. I do stop in occasionally.
DeleteI saw it on your blog and in truth that was the only reason I invested time to do it as I know you enjoy the process. Outside of that, I personally feel disconnected from the survey and its intent.
ReplyDeleteThanks for humoring me, Norm. What would make the survey more meaningful?
DeleteHi Jon, I too was made aware of the survey by your blog - i think maybe I did get an email from the WSS publishers, but that arrived after I had completed the survey!
ReplyDeleteI am a subscriber to 'WSS', and the discount voucher given in reward for completing the survey is a nice bonus come renewal time..
Thanks, David! The voucher is a nice way to discount the subscription. I do likewise.
DeleteThat is a useful question because as I try to think of an answer …… nothing comes to mind!
ReplyDeleteI initially participated because I was under the impression that it helped the industry with decision making for product making and marketing. I have absolutely no idea whether it does that to any meaningful degree or not, no-one ever says.
They have the WS&S magazine, it is the perfect platform for them to promote the survey. I buy every issue and for something that is so apparently important to them, you would think the subject would have a semi-permanent home in the magazine, but it doesn’t and neither do survey results seem to drive any of the magazines content, perhaps by implication highlighting its irrelevance to the readership.
The lack of participation this year shows a significant and immediate disconnect, with the very audience that apparently was once keen to join in. From my seat, it certainly has developed an air of ‘what’s the point’ about it.
I recall times when the industry has utilized results and asked additional questions of the survey. A while back, I asked the editor about advertising the survey within WSS, itself. The answer was one of long lead times before publication and the serious lags for overseas arrivals. Could these shortcomings be resolved? Possibly. In today's digital world, I suspect it easier to reach prospects through social media and email than hardcopy. Driving content is a good motivator. Is it done? I am not so sure. It may influence scenario design and publication.
DeleteWhat's the point is a valid argument. My vague understanding was that the survey began as something to offer readers to do during the typical hobby slowdown during the Dog Days of August.
I still enjoy seeing wargaming preferences and trends among my peers presented as a benchmark against my own interests, but I be alone.
Thanks for your feedback, Norm.
I feel people are over thinking it...or perhaps it's my "lived life work experience ".....I don't care if it serves no purpose to me, it takes me ten minutes once a year to do a survey related to a hobby I really. REALLY enjoy....so I just do it when asked! I have to do all sorts of meaningless, time stealing surveys or "training " at work, so the WSS survey doesn't worry me one iota!
DeleteThat’s the spirit, Keith! I needed that!
DeleteCan’t remember think I got a reminder from somewhere ? As mentioned previously I suspect the drop may have been due to fatigue linked to a lack of clarity to the purpose ?
ReplyDeleteGood point, Matt. Perhaps a purpose statement ought to be included in the survey.
DeleteTo paraphrase," I dinna write it down, so I dinna remember,"
ReplyDeleteWorks for me! Thanks, Joe.
DeleteI was reminded by you Jonathan.
ReplyDeleteI do use FB but not often as it seems to be full of scam ads and I can't seem to ever find what I am looking for 😂
Like others, I wonder what WSS uses the survey for. Starting to think it may just be a bit of advertising for them, getting their name in front of a lot of wargamers and hoping some of them subscribe....I am getting old, grumpy, and cynical 😮
Yes you are Ben, just do the bloody thing! (See my comments above )
DeleteThanks, Ben! I see the survey as a way to gauge how others enjoy the hobby. It might be interesting to know how many new subscribers are picked up each from the survey. Oh, and I agree with Keith! You fellas are sounding like a true bunch of grognards!
DeleteOK OK I will do it again next year.... but I will have a glass of wine while I complete it to reward myself 😂
DeleteSounds good!
DeleteMy prompt came from several directions at once: your blog, von Peter Himself's blog and did I get some sort of notification from WWS?
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoy doing this survey, unlike the Corporate box ticking ones that Keith mentioned above that I had to complete every quarter so that someone in HR could achieve a KPI for engagement...
Very happy to see that you still enjoy filling out the survey!
DeleteI got the notification email from them. I will do it later thought I, but later never came 🙄 there are too many other distractions that time of year. That’s my excuse anyway or perhaps I am just getting too old to remember to do it?
ReplyDeleteWell, procrastination is an excuse but is it a good one? Now old age, that can be forgiven.
Deletei get reminded every year to fill out the survey from the posts on your blog Jon. I hope they pay you for this advertising! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Darren! I offer a public service...
DeleteAnother vote for your blog Jonathan. I may have received a notification email, but think I was already aware it was coming up having read it here.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lawrence! Sometimes I can be useful.
DeleteIt was the prompt on your blog that reminded me of the survey, before I got an email reminder
ReplyDeleteAnother tally for the blog!
DeleteHonestly can't remember. Might have been any of your top three but FB. (I don't FB in any form.) As for the disperity by primary interest, I suspect F&SF gamers are badly served by print and FB. Their last surviving magazine is increasingly insular--so much so I suspect GW players are undercounted in polls by whatever percentage don't know there are other rules, figure manufacturers and such. Also they skew younger and FB is, as several have pointed out, how their parents communicate. I'd encourage a special outreach effort for younger wargamers in 2026, but I suspect a special outreach effort aimed at F&SF gamers would reach much the same people to much the same effect.
ReplyDeleteAs seen in these results, the younger cohorts do not utilize FB as much as older cohorts. Perhaps placing promos strategically to help enlist younger gamers might be something that can be done. Will it change the results? Possibly not. Results have relatively stable regardless of headcount and age group. Thanks for your feedback!
DeleteI wouldn't have done if you hadn't alerted me it, Jonathan.
ReplyDeleteSurvey's usually have some core purpose for whom the survey has been undertaken. In this case, what is WSS's purpose?
Happy to see that my blog spurred you into action. Core purpose of the survey is a fuzzy question. Having spoken to the editor over the years, seen his interviews on the topic, and read occasional nuggets from the hobby, I have my own idea but, of course, that is not the official word. Not sure my impression of the purpose would be all-telling since that is a personal and anecdotal perspective. If interested, I could lay out my perspective.
DeleteIt would be interesting to see it.
DeleteWell, something to consider even if some of it is speculation.
DeleteProbably got the notification from wss as im on their list but mainly from your blog which I mentioned in the comments, didn't think youd read it!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
That was YOU! Perfect, Iain! You get the Gold Star!
DeleteI listen to the WSS podcast regularly, so I was aware of its existence. This is the first year I haven't filled it out, as I put it off until later and later never came. I guess I may also belong to the shadowy group of people who "Didn't fill it out because I don't have anything to add from the last time."
ReplyDeleteYou are a procrastinator! That shadowy group is growing each year. There is always something to add because there were a handful of new questions stuck in this year. Besides, in longitudinal studies, each year is useful.
DeleteYou should try getting people to complete their Command Climate Surveys. Survey fatigue is real, ask anyone standing out in front of a Walmart.
DeleteI know you’re right!
DeleteI completed the survey every year for maybe 3/4 years. I suspect the fall off in completions is natural as ageing wargamers - the cohort who will fill out a survey. Younger people by definition are interested and engage differently. In fact if WSS materially alter the target they will ruin the year on year data haul! But given the data is saying there is a decline in so many areas the question then is are we bothered if WSS business is in decline then maybe but I would expect the business not to rely on a single slanted annual survey for their business analysis. This year I have detected a change in the 5/6 Wargames shows I attended- material changes are observable and were in play post Covid but a lag applied. I have no data so it’s just my reference year to year detecting a change. At the end of the day rross is right if you do it and it’s no effort - then do it. If it’s to much or not relevant then vote with your feet and also provide the survey with valid data.
ReplyDeleteExcellent feedback and insight, Norber! Thank you for weighing in!
Delete