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Keith Medlin
United States
Holly Springs
North Carolina
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More than any other question that gets thrown around pre-maturely the one that seems to generate the most debate is:
Will ASL Survive?
You may have seen it this blatantly put, or implied as in the following questions:
 How will ASL attract new players?
 Why do so many people quit ASL?
 Why does ASL seem to have so many older gamers?
 Why doesn't MMP republish _______ because ______ and ASL would benefit right?
There's no simple single answer and I'll attempt to break it down a few different ways.
It's about people, not products.
Okay, so this could go for any successful game franchise. The games that make it into franchise mode, or have long lasting appeal are the ones that have shifted the focus from the game to the community surrounding the game.
I prefer not to judge "good" games vs. "bad" games because there are plenty of games I think are "bad" for one reason or another that have lasting appeal. Likewise, there are plenty of "good" games that don't have the following they deserve. Rather, I'm trying to look at longevity because, after all, how can we judge whether a game can sustain itself further if we don't first understand why it's sustained itself for so long?
In the case of ASL I think you see some great elements of community that seem to sustain it and these elements have grown and become their own self-sustaining entities.
ASL Publications
The first of these is access to publications of the online, printed, official, and un-official variety. Before the web was making it easy for players to connect and stay informed with fresh content about a game that often had a year or more between releases there were magazines.
In the early days it was The General and fan-zines that sprouted out of the ASL gamer community. This early printed media became a lightning rod for expansion, community development, and discussion of ASL. They were so well regarded that years after this style of media has become outmoded the original content from those official and unofficial publications has made its way into official circulation and been updated for the times.
Moving forward you begin to see the ASL Annuals which focused solely on the product and culled from the active minds of ASL players to present a platform from which to discuss ASL or aspects of the ASL hobby. The articles from the Annuals served a few community building purposes. The first was to give players an outlet through which they could help the broader community. The second was to begin developing authoritative sources for reference in the player community. After all, a game can only last so long when the designer and perhaps playtest team contributes their thoughts and provides clarification. The passing of the torch, and incentivizing that process, became the first twinkle that perhaps the ASL community could sustain itself in a more formal way.
Throughout the collapse of Avalon Hill, it was the community that had, to that point, been centered largely around publications which sustained itself as online community emerged to assist as MMP took the reigns from AH/Hasbro's union.
After this period it was only 3 years until we began to see ASL Journal 1 which sparked the current renaissance in the ASL publications. The Journals made no mistake that they would reprint the best of the past while contributed new information about the direction MMP was going to take with ASL and furthering the available content. Those authors and contributors that originally created the self-sustaining atmosphere of the ASL authoritative community became the ones who would contribute again to kick-start the resurgence of ASL in MMP's hands.
Online Community Building
It didn't take long for the ASLML (ASL Mailing List) to get off the ground and become the source for daily discussion about ASL. Early contributors received an incredible amount of notoriety and fame for their contributions.
One of the great things that this provided was a quick way to identify who lived near whom. In the early days of the ASLML there was an explosion of local gaming groups making connections to other local groups that, in some cases, were merely across town and didn't know about each other's existence. These connections formed some lasting traditions in the ASL community and created a sense of connection that annual print publications simply couldn't create.
This was also around the time that MMP got their website on its feet. The site was nothing to write home about, but it did announce boldly that MMP was open for business and ASL was not dead as many had feared. MMP also allowed players to register on their site and publish contact information so anyone who wanted to pick up the game could identify local players to meet up with for a game.
The early periods of online community really focused on discussion rather than file sharing or content creation. That said, creation of incredible content was facilitated as it became more apparent what kinds of things were needed by the community. One of the best examples of this was Tom Repetti's visual tutorials for ASL. Tom created a pretty extensive library of well thought out and plain language resources for new players.
This gave rise to the sense of nurturing players who were in the pipeline, so to speak, so they could further support the game. ASL was, at this point, still available in some hobby stores in dusty corners. I remember buying up my entire first complete set of ASL for $300 through eBay and from local stores. Without that early content there was no way other than the Paratrooper module's programmed instructional exercises to get someone going with ASL.
Once people saw what Repetti was doing in terms of graphic design the seeds for VASL were sewn. It seems like overnight that system grew and launched which became the ultimate hub of ASL quite quickly despite the early version's issues.
VASL, more than any other community resource, has become the Mt. Olympus of community. Everyone can see it, the gods are present there, and often it's the only place of solace for remote players who otherwise might never have taken up the hobby. Access to community, tutorial assistance, and gaming content is critical for niche products like ASL and VASL showed how this could be a catalyst for success. There's no greater expression of this than VASSAL and the thousands of players who take advantage of this service for live gaming, PBEM, and solitaire gaming.
Tournament / Event Environment
All the online and publication content in the world isn't going to sustain a sense of greater community among players. There have to be time when gamers can come together and compete, socialize, and create a greater connection to the game they love.
For ASL, this has meant 25 years of ASLOK and too many regional events to even begin listing here. The tournament and event community has fostered both un-official events in local communities that grew out of after-hours office parties between ASLers to full blown official tournaments like Winter Offensive (the old ASL for ALS event).
So why does competition help community when it seems like it might cause a rift?
Quite simply, it's an opportunity for those who go to learn new tricks and tactics "the hard way." For those who don't go, they are able to learn from the ones who have gone. I know that locally after ASLOK and Winter Offensive this year that the level of play went up significantly. Guys who left as barely weened off of ASLSK products were coming back and dominating in full ASL.
Furthermore, the tournament environment gives people the opportunity to meet those authoritative sources of ASL knowledge and ask questions directly. I realize that sounds a bit like there are walking ASL oracles or something, but the community and history of the game are something significant to those who play it. It's also something of a rite of passage for new players to hear about the "old days" from more seasoned players.
In anthropology there's a lot of discussion about how shared cultural traditions become the thing that binds communities together. In the of ASL, these traditions are the tournaments and events. The games and results are the bonfires around which the oral tradition of the game is spread and shared. The wisdom of past players is preserved and John Hill's intent comes alive which sparks a sense of shared origin between players.
Often people will say, "How can you play ASL when it has so many rules and doesn't simulate WW2 tactical combat in a meaningful way?" To them, I'd concede that they're right about lots of rules and that it doesn't simulate combat. I'd then ask what other WW2 game, of any scale, has the inherent community that ASL has? What other WW2 game has the ease of access to almost 3 decades of information? What other WW2 game creates the kinds of bonds that ASL has created over the "complex rules" and "poor simulation" of WW2?
The ASLSK Series & The Reborn MMP
If MMP was the savior of ASL, they were also the villain of ASL. Missed production schedules, often testy community customer service, and a lacking focus at times contributed to the critique that MMP was not fostering ASL, but running it into the ground.
MMP, however, went through a bit of a rebirth as they began to restructure, create a serious development pipeline, and put successful people into positions where they could act as the face of ASL in a positive way in the face of crushing (and at times unfair) complaints from consumers who had the broadcast medium of the internet to gather support on inaccurate claims.
The ASLRB Second Edition is a great example of where MMP listened and got something very right. The original rulebook had plenty of additional pages that had been included in reprintings. It also had pages and pages of Errata that players had dutifully pasted over their original rulebooks. If you want some serious street cred in ASL...flash a 1st edition rulebook covered in errata stickies. There's nothing quite as beautiful.
Once the crew began seeing the positive reactions to the 2nd edition rulebook it became apparent that the, always on the backburner, starter kit concept had a primed market. ASLSK offers players a way around the things that most commonly drive them away from ASL:
- Too many rules
- Too heavy an initial investment to get started
- Too cumbersome to get on the table
Each ASLSK was self contained and gave players entree to the world of ASL at a pricepoint that was lower than many of ASL competitors. In fact, other competing product lines released their own versions of the Starter Kit concept. That said, none generated quite as much buzz and frenzy as ASLSK.
The core question here is:
Do players who come to ASLSK ever convert to full ASL?
I'd have to say...it doesn't matter. ASLSK is ASL. It's not the full set of ASL rules, but it's still ASL. I'd say there's enough content in the ASLSK world to last MANY years. Remember that the ASLSK product line now includes:
- ASLSK 1
- ASLSK 2
- ASLSK 3
- ASLSK Bonus Pack
- ASLSK Expansion #1
- Operations Magazine Scenarios
- A forthcoming ASLSK HASL module
- Downloadable ASLSK scenarios on BGG & from MMP
That's an incredible amount of content. Since their initial release at least 1 ASLSK has been in print. Yes, it's created a shortage of ASLSK 3, but the ASLSK Expansion #1 provides players with tanks and the full rules along with some errata.
So do ASLSK players count as full ASL players when considering whether or not ASL will survive? Absolutely! I've personally spoken to more ASLSK players who are going to stick with ASLSK or move into full ASL than those who have said goodbye after a time.
 Everyone's so old though!
You have to look at the period between 1995 - 2000 as a dead era given the eras of ASL that bookend that period on either side. For a game that was largely unheard of for half a decade...you have to give some credit to MMP and players who actively carried it through those tough times.
Anything can certainly happen, but sometimes it's how you measure ASL players. Some of the folks who may be the biggest consumers of ASL aren't home often...veterans. Likewise, ASL is expensive. Sometimes it takes having the funds to get into a game like ASL which can drive up the average age.
 Will ASL Survive?
Without qualification: Yes.
The product pipeline is strong and many core modules have a commitment for reprint in the next few years. Likewise, those ASLSK players who are driving the price on ASLSK 3 through the roof are clearly content hungry.
When a dip occurs in the market value of a game I begin to worry. To this point, I've seen nothing but an escalation of value in ASL official and unofficial content. This speaks volumes about where the game is headed and I, for one, couldn't be happier to be a part of the next 25 years.
Until next time ... Roll Low!
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ASL Rulebook back in stock later this year most likely
Beyond Valor is in stock
For King & Country later this year
Rising Sun in 2012
