Why do people do AARs?

Started by airboy, January 16, 2019, 10:00:49 PM

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SirAndrewD

Quote from: Crossroads on February 13, 2019, 02:30:46 PM

But as for babes...
You need to try it at some time. Just walk to a bar, whisper with a low, masculine voice: "I do AARs", and ... oh boy :smitten:

I believe you.  That wasn't too much different on how I landed my wife.
"These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."  - Sgt. Pinback

Gusington

I am contractually obligated to post:

'I landed your wife the same way!!'


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Crossroads

Quote from: Gusington on February 13, 2019, 03:33:33 PM
I am contractually obligated to post:

'I landed your wife the same way!!'

"Everybody, jump Queen!"
Campaign Series Legion | CS: Vietnam 1948-1967 | CS: Middle East 1948-1985

CS: Vietnam DAR: LZ Albany as NVA (South Vietnam 11/17/65)  
CS: Middle East AARs: High Water Mark (Syria 10/12/73) Me vs Berto | Riptide (Libya 8/6/85) Me vs Berto | The Crossroads (West Bank 6/5/67)  Me vs Berto

Boardgame AARs: AH D-Day | MMP PanzerBlitz2 Carentan | OSS Putin's Northern War | GMT Next War: Poland | LnL Against the Odds DIY

MengJiao

Quote from: Airborne Rifles on January 17, 2019, 03:20:49 PM
I've enjoyed doing AARs because it lets me tell the "story" of how the game unfolded. I started to feel like the stories being written by the gameplay were too good to keep to myself.

  Yep.  they are stories.  Rather oddly presented stories, but still stories.  And people are fond of stories.  Moreover, AARs have some characteristics that the best stories have -- most notably they are not just the stories of the teller (Mister AAR dispatcher), but also of others such as (in this case) the game designer and others who worked on the games and game companies and printers and people who sat on games etc. and also (in many cases) the stories of the actual people who where in actual battles and such.  You get a lot of story (at least potentially) out of an AAR.

Sir Slash

All the really HOT girls go for AAR guys. So much so, I feel sorry for quarterbacks.
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

FarAway Sooner

I do it because I like to showcase less well-known games that have really caught my fancy.  It's a different medium for expressing myself, and I find it tiresome to do an(y) AAR after a while, but I feel like it's a good way to market a game that might not otherwise be so accessible to a user in the first hour or two of playing.

IICptMillerII

I've always enjoyed the realistic visualization of warfare. Seeing how and why everything happens, especially the things that went wrong, is both entertaining and informative. Plus, as others have mentioned, AARs can be mini-technothrillers or other types of engrossing stories that can be a lot of fun to read through.

Another one of my personal motivations is a bit cynical. I'm often annoyed by the "Lets Play" nature of YouTube and other mediums. A player will grab a game on release day, and pump out 5 or so video's of them just playing the game, but having no idea what they're doing or how anything works. Watching someone who has no idea what a sabot is feel their way through a Steel Beasts mission is at best an exercise in frustration, and at worse straight up torture. So, I figured I might as well create the content I would like to see more of instead of sitting around ranting and raving at the way things are. Not to say I'm an all knowing expert, I'm certainly not.

On a more positive note, I think that AARs can also do a great job of showcasing lesser known games/sims and the features that make them exceptional. Getting (good) feedback and discussion from readers can also be a lot of fun as well.

Yooper

I like reading, and doing, AAR's because it's more curated than watching someone ramble and play a game on YouTube or Twitch for 4 hours. I can spend 5 minutes, see the highlights, see the critical points, and not have to waste my time to get to the good stuff. This stream of consciousness ramble as you play games just doesn't do it for me. Getting a narrative experience is great too, though a basic playthrough can be fun as well.
Military Science Fiction Novelist and Grognard.
Weapons Release

airboy

Quote from: Yooper on October 02, 2019, 11:45:38 AM
I like reading, and doing, AAR's because it's more curated than watching someone ramble and play a game on YouTube or Twitch for 4 hours. I can spend 5 minutes, see the highlights, see the critical points, and not have to waste my time to get to the good stuff. This stream of consciousness ramble as you play games just doesn't do it for me. Getting a narrative experience is great too, though a basic playthrough can be fun as well.

I agree.  I have difficulty watching youtube game discussions.

TacticalWargames

#24
Not sure but I'm glad they do. A good AAR is more likely going to sell a game to me than a review. I've did two AARs years ago for Squad Battles. One of which (Korea game) used to be on the SB website Task Force Echo. I remember enjoying it though was time consuming I found it helped loads with the immersion aspect of the game.

I'd like to set up a sister website to AWNT that is all about AARs. Something I don't think has been done yet. A place to find AARs instead of them being scattered around the net.

Anyone like the idea?

Edit: Like others I prefer written AARs over YouTube. Same with reviews.

TacticalWargames

Quote from: airboy on January 24, 2019, 06:28:20 PM
I've bought quite a few games from reading AARs.  I've also played games I already owned because I read an AAR.

I too have revisited games after reading a good AAR about one or the other.

Michael Dorosh

#26
Quote from: airboy on January 16, 2019, 10:00:49 PM
People don't write a script, they ramble a lot, and they have no structure.  I taught outreach marketing classes on video for 30 years and I spent 6 hours outside the class for every one hour in the studio - minimum.  I wrote detailed scrips, had my background material ready to roll, etc....  The quality level of most video AARs is so horrible that I find them unwatchable.

I agree. I've done a couple myself, and as you note - trying to do a good one is a lot of work. Probably at least 6 hours to put together a 10 minute video, though I've spent up to 3 or 4 days on some.

I did this one for example:

https://youtu.be/2r_-CxEj3wk

Two major things wrong I can see - the robot voice is jarring (done out of the usual dislike one has for one's own voice, and a belief that while I have a face made for radio, my voice does not match). And secondly, while I played this one with a human opponent, we both muffed the entry zone for one side. So it's useless in any kind of teaching capacity.

So why do people do it? Same reason people write reviews, I suppose. A desire to tell other people you enjoyed something, share some information about what happened and how, and breathe some life into the game by constructing a narrative. In the process you can teach people how to play better, create a compare/contrast to other, similar games so people can be better informed on whether it is for them or not. And, they're also fun to produce.

And a successful YouTube channel can be rewarding, and even lucrative. I doubt anyone is getting rich doing AARs, but I started a channel on German Army historical stuff and am approaching 2 million views, and I've gotten my second royalty cheque which if broken down into dollars per hour of work, doesn't come close yet to approaching minimum wage.

A good AAR can do a number of things - introduce someone to a game they've never played, but might consider buying. When you do get the game and you just can't figure out how to win a particular scenario, a good AAR can demonstrate a different approach to the problem. Can also give some general tips on gameplay.

As for the strap a Go-Pro on and ramble, I am equally at a loss. One of the well-known "reviewers" has over 4,000 videos, and they are generally in the 1 to 2 hour range. He has a few thousand subscribers and his vids generally attract between 200 and 1000 views. Different things interest different people. His 'reviews' are all solo play throughs of games I presume he just sits down, reads the rules once, and bashes on. Not for me, but he has loyal viewers. I wouldn't presume to tell them how to suck eggs.

Though I have in the past. On the Gamesquad forums, there were a few people posting DARs (During Action Reviews). I mentioned all the things you did, airboy, and added that the "Series Replay" was a great feature in the old General wargaming magazine. They would have two players write up their experiences playing a game, and a neutral commentator would add his two cents, point out rules infractions, etc. Apparently they were quite selective about what they printed, and if a game was a total walkover, or the article didn't seem that interesting, it wasn't published. Times have changed.


airboy

For me, a good AAR is the best selling point (or reason not to buy) that I've ever experienced for complex games.

I've read wonderful AARs, that convinced me that I would hate the game (all of Jason Pratt's survival game AARs are an example).

I've read many AARs that persuaded me to buy the game.  The most recent was Tripoli's AAR from Civil War 2.

JasonPratt

...I didn't know I'd even written a survival AAR, much less a lot of them! Or 'filmed' any; though on reflection I guess the two Isle videos would count in a very minimalist way (don't starve, don't thirst, don't get eaten.)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

OH! -- I had forgotten I had written the Empyrion AAR (aka "7 Days to Fly"), and had started a little on a Fortresscraft: Evolved AAR (aka "7 Hives to Fry").

8)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!