The Great APBA Fan Survey: What do we play?

Yesterday, I started off by getting a sense of who APBA players were from a demographic standpoint.  Today, I’m focusing on what games we play.  I’m actually breaking up the the “Playing the Game” survey section into a couple articles (I’ll post the rest of the results of that section soon). 

One point before we get started… A few of these questions were the type you could choose more than one answer so the percentages will add to more than 100%.  The given percentage is simply what percentage of the 400 respondents answered with that response.

If you had to choose one, what sentence best describes the way you play APBA?

Comments: Regardless of sport, this question gives us an idea why we play the game of APBA.  Do we do it for the enjoyment of simulation of replays or the camaraderie of competitive leagues?  Or maybe something in between?

I’ll be honest.  I’m a little APBA league-centric.  That is, I have (had) this feeling there were a lot more people in APBA leagues than there really were.  This really opened my eyes. There is a substantial portion of the APBA community who play solitaire (or at least do not play in leagues).

What kind of APBA do you usually enjoy?

Comments:  I tried to make this survey as sports agnostic as possible but I did want to get a sense of how popular the Basic was in comparison to the Master Game and computer versions. 

Under “Other”, the most popular responses were “modified” or “enhanced” versions of the game, Skeetersoft and the DVAL boards.

What APBA sports do you enjoy playing?

Comments:  Wow!  Baseball is king!  APBA Baseball fan that I am, even I was amazed at the high number.  Football holds a solid second.  Golf still has a good following apparently.  Higher than I expected, I guess.

For you baseball fans, which APBA seasons do you most like to see and play?

Comments:  This was one of the few questions that was blatantly directed at one sport.  The high popularity of ‘61-80 is most likely due to generational and age issues than anything.  We like to play the years we grew up with.  That’s the case with me. 

In the “Other” field, the three most popular answers by far were Great Teams of the Past, BATS (Baseball All-Time Stars), and Negro League set.  OFAS (the Original Franchise All-Stars set) was mentioned a few times.  A couple of you wrote that you liked “ALL Seasons” which made me feel good inside.  And I got a chuckle from the person who wrote, “years the dodgers did well”.  

In general, do you prefer to play card sets from past historical years or do you prefer current card sets?

Comments: This was a simple question.  Without getting into specific years or seasons, I let you interpret the question how you would. 

It seems that past seasons definitely have an appeal.

I’ll continue the series with questions that focus on “How” we play the game of APBA next.  That article may be next week since the IAL draft is this weekend and my Twin City Thunderchickens desperately need my attention.  :)