Let's decide to define this.

Okay, I for one have to step forward and say something. There is something about this endeavor that has been eating at me. And it needs said. While I can understand why, I get fairly upset and galled each time I see this effort called "a game."

From what I have heard, and read, from the developers, while true it looks "gameish", the mechanics behind it, I think, are not. Thus because of the "gameish" appearance, we are having the discussions of leveling, kill points, etc., things all associated with true games. It saddens me to see these "discussions".

I keep focusing on the words said by the developers, they want to "re-create", "realism" "re-live history". Those things can not be done in a "true game environment", because certian realism, will be lost should this evolve to a direction the developers have stated they would like to go. As we have seen from various threads on these forums, there are numerous discussions on "gameability", and I feel it is just wrong. People stating things like if this does not reward the player in some fashion that the support will fall off, the interest will be lost. These comments come from "gamers only mentality". They fail to see the true historical re-created historical, dare I say possibly, educational value of this re-created simulation. True Historians and people with a true interest in the American Civil War will continue to breathe life into this simulation.

Its with this in mind that I would rather refer to this task as a SIMULATION. The developers are attempting (and doing quite well at it,) of RE-CREATING an actual HISTORICAL SIMULATION of a real life event. "Games" do not generally do that. SIMULATORS on the other hand do.

So from this post forward I would like to see more and more people, maybe including the developers, to turn away from the term "Game" and start referring to this unique product as a SIMULATION.

Like a flight sim can simulate flight, so this project simulates actual history in the same way.