So I was thinking about Forum Games and how some games are appealing for different reasons, and I started to think about why exactly some games are appealing. One thought I had in my head was "What exactly is the appeal of a Medieval era / Middle Ages game?". I didn't think about it negatively, it was more of a broad thought. Like for example, some of the appealing facets of a WW2 game are the very tumultuous history of the time and the incomprehensible scale of the war, with millions and millions of people all over the world fighting, industries chugging out products like never before, etc. It's appealing because a player has the chance to paint the whole world their color, alter history in some way by expanding an ideology, change the result of the war, etc. Or a Colonial Era game, where the appeal is the excitement of exploring a brand new world, competing with other players for natural resources, subjugating natives and living out the thrills of imperialism (and getting a kick out of watching the world turn your color). A Napoleon game, also for example, has the appeal of such an interesting period of history, larger than life characters, and fascinating military tactics and battles. The appeals of different games, whether enlightenment, Roman, Greek, Pike and Shot, etc also draw people for different reasons just like the time periods stated above.
The question is asked then, again not in a negative way, what is the appeal of a Medieval era game exactly? Is it the personal aspect of the game, as in intrigues and royal houses and claims, where you can play specific characters and gain titles and vassals and everything personal? Is it the tactics and warfare of the time period, as in swords and spears and bows and extremely heavy cavalry that makes it appeal to people? What exactly is it?
I was thinking about this because I kept thinking about not only how certain games appeal to certain people for certain reasons, but I was also wondering of the reasons why they *didn't* appeal. For example, a person really interested in trade and mercantilism and everything revolving around economics, products, goods etc would love a colonial game where they can win by expertly controlling the supply of goods and get rich, but would absolutely hate say a Classical era Greek game where trade isn't a major factor at all. Or someone who wants to create a united Germany or try to create a nation under a different ideology would love a Victorian Era or WW1 game, but wouldn't exactly be up for an Enlightenment game where nationalism and all the other -ism's haven't been created yet. I myself actually like the military aspects of Napoleon for example, where it's huge land armies fighting huge pitched battles that determine the fates of nations, which wouldn't exactly go well with say a Classical game, where real victories in wars happen from sieges and conquering lands, or a WW2 game where it's large scale operations undertaken over weeks and months, with attacks and counterattacks and divisions everywhere spread out fighting as opposed to Massive Army A clashes with Massive Army B. Would there ever be a "perfect" BoP that appeals to everyone?
Just a thought I had. Feel free to offer your own opinions, thoughts, comments etc. Thanks in advance.
