How do you wipe the slate clean (gaming)?

[Brother Glacius]

So I was having the typical Monday morning discussion with my friend about gaming, and we were wondering why we stopped playing certain games. The biggest factor for me was that the game was too stressful. I have become so worried about balance and fairness and making sure that there exists a chance to win...that there is no fun left. In the beginning, there was this blissful time of ignorance around a game where we just played it...and fun was had...and somewhere down the line...typically when taking that first step towards tournaments, that it all starts to go wrong.

 

But lately, I'm killing off games before I even get to the blissful ignorance part. Now I research games and poor over the rules and such, scrutinizing every aspect, and inevitably finding the flaws that justify my disdain.

 

A good example is 40K. I really love the lore of 40K. I've been involved in it since the Rogue Trader days. The models and lore will get me excited enough to start to collect and build a force...but eventually, the realization that it won't be able to take on all comers (at least to my ridiculous standards) then kills the enthusiasm that was once there.

 

So how do you wipe the slate clean? How do you attain that gaming zen where you just enjoy the game? I am a gamer, but I've gotten to this stage where I'm making the games not fun and that makes me a sad panda.

[Swan-of-War]

Stay away from the internet.  The internet is risk-adverse and if something has less than a 99% chance of succeeding, it's deemed ish.  The internet can't stand to lose and only wants to stack things in it's favor.  The internet won't play poker unless it can see your hand.  The internet talks in absolutes. Believe me, stay away.  Take what you like.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. 

[dkieft]

Have you tried not doing that?

 

I mean seriously, just stop it. Build a list, call up your buddy and say "let's play!". Game turning out poorly in the early rounds? Meh, have another beer, see if you can pull it out... or don't if it is not being fun. Got a big tourney coming up? Build something fun and different  (you know, like we do for OFCC).

 

I had that "loss of fun" feeling for a while before WFB 8th edition came out... it had been going down hill with the over calculation of everything in the game... 8th randomized some stuff and made the game much more playable on a beer and pretzels level.

 

Also, try taking a break and coming back later... sometimes I do not play Warhammer between OFCC's. Helps keep it fresh.

 

And like Swan said... less interneting.

[indytims]

For me, I 'cleaned the slate' back in the mid 90's when I quit going to tournaments. I just got fed-up with the cheese. It's hard to blame folks for bringing out the min/max lists when there are often prizes involved. Everyone wants to do their best, and to do that, they want every advantage.

 

Find a good group of friends to play with who won't be searching for a way to pile-drive you every game.

 

Don't be anal about the rules to the point that a 2 hour game turns into a 6 hour game. Forgive a quarter-inch miscalculation. Let people re-roll cocked-dice. Give your opponent the benefit of the doubt, and usually they'll do the same for you.

 

When making your lists, take stuff you wouldn't normally take - just because.

 

Work with friends to create some -story driven- or 'narrative' scenario games, instead of 'just grab 2k points of whatever'.

 

Don't fill every day with gaming or even gaming-related stuff. Spend time with friends/family doing non-gaming-related stuff. Spend time on your own relaxing.

 

Try focusing on playing with people you really enjoy playing with. That might sound snobbish - and maybe it is. But why subject yourself to a 2-4 hour block of time you know or heavily suspect you won't enjoy? If you feel adventurous one day, try a pick-up game. If it goes well - you just might have made a new friend and met a new regular gaming partner. If it goes bad - then you know better, and can take a few weeks off from looking for another pick-up game.

 

And while playing, just remember that the guy or gal across the table from you wants to have fun, too. If you have an obviously over-the-top list, why go for the table? Giving the the chance for the other guy to have a few moments of enthusiasm, triumph, and moments in the sun can make all the difference between having a good experience and a bad one - win or lose. And don't we all enjoy a close game more than we enjoy a blowout anyway?

 

Just random thoughts that I've come to terms with myself over the years, but as always, ymmv.

[Torg]

Play blood bowl - or play goblins n blood bowl lol

 

- I've been on the fence with 40k myself. Thus have been looking into infinity and dark age. As well as playing more bloodbowl. For 40k I've stopping trying to pick up new armies - just keeping up with my one race / force is enough. I play OFCC - that's about it.

[dkieft]

Don't fill every day with gaming or even gaming-related stuff. Spend time with friends/family doing non-gaming-related stuff. Spend time on your own relaxing.

I was with you until here.... gaming is life! Life is gaming!!!!

 

 

Trying some new games can be huge. Play some Board games, try out other miniature games... if nothing else it will remind you why you love Warhammer games.

[Guest]

So I was having the typical Monday morning discussion with my friend about gaming, and we were wondering why we stopped playing certain games. The biggest factor for me was that the game was too stressful. I have become so worried about balance and fairness and making sure that there exists a chance to win...that there is no fun left. In the beginning, there was this blissful time of ignorance around a game where we just played it...and fun was had...and somewhere down the line...typically when taking that first step towards tournaments, that it all starts to go wrong.

 

But lately, I'm killing off games before I even get to the blissful ignorance part. Now I research games and poor over the rules and such, scrutinizing every aspect, and inevitably finding the flaws that justify my disdain.

 

A good example is 40K. I really love the lore of 40K. I've been involved in it since the Rogue Trader days. The models and lore will get me excited enough to start to collect and build a force...but eventually, the realization that it won't be able to take on all comers (at least to my ridiculous standards) then kills the enthusiasm that was once there.

 

So how do you wipe the slate clean? How do you attain that gaming zen where you just enjoy the game? I am a gamer, but I've gotten to this stage where I'm making the games not fun and that makes me a sad panda.

Strongly suspect that people do things because they enjoy it, even if they don't realize they enjoy it or why they enjoy it.

 

Perhaps you want something to scrutinize every aspect of. When you were in that blissful state, did you have another outlet for that desire to research and analyze? You know, like were you in school and utilizing that analytical side of you in areas that are just not being used now?

 

As for the wiping it clean approach, I've found two things that work.

 

1) Keep playing. Thinking about playing and talking about playing don't count. The game is fun, it always has been. You are getting stuck in the "thinking about playing" stress. It is very normal. Just get a buddy and play the game. Stop focusing on where the game is going and get back to playing the game in the present moment.

 

2) Shelve the game. Selling it is almost always a mistake you will regret, then re-purchase. You, like me, are a gamer. You can't likely quit, because doing so would mean changing who you are....Shelve the game, come back to it. If you truly don't like the game, it will just stay shelved until you find something in life that you really want to trade it for....something you do enjoy (probably another game...).

[InfestedKerrigan]

A few years ago I was loving 40k, even if life wasn't too hot.  I broke my leg, found out my wife was cheating on me, lost the car, the house, etc.  40k and my son were my stability, or my constant.  I had just under 5k points of Black Templar, 3500 Tyranid, 2500 Tau and 1k Sisters/Grey Knights.  I was staying with another 40k player, who I knew liked to drink a good bit, but had a son a little bit older than mine, and did't tend to drink around him, so I felt it was a safe enough situation.  One night, while my son was at his mom's, I came home from work and, let's call him Mac, asked me to watch his kid for him so he could go out with a buddy who was visiting from Cali.  Of course, I said yes.  When Mac got back from the bars and strip club, he was thrashed and upset.  Our former roommate, Eminem, had just moved out with his brother a few weeks earlier.  Supposedly his brother was macking on Mac's son's mom and Mac had a problem with it (they haven't been together in years).  Well, being that Eminem and his bro were gone, Mac took it out on me.  After splitting wood at 3am while yelling, he started yelling up the stairs, telling me to call Eminem and to call the police and stuff.  Then he came up the stairs, kicked in my door (which I had barricaded while he was yelling) and threatened to slit my throat if I called the cops or came out of my room.  The barricade mostly held, he wasn't able to get more than his arm in.  Then he left with his dog.  I called the cops, immediately.  When Mac got back, it seems he forgot he took his dog, as the dog was outside when the cops showed up, and they almost put him down for 'charging' them.  He's a super happy pit bull, and a monster of a pit at that, so unfortunately, I understand their precautions, and thankfully they didn't have to shoot the dog.  So they come to the door, I let them in, he tells them I'm full of [big bad swear word].  I show them the damage to my door, door frame, and the barricade.  An officer tells me I should stay somewhere else the rest of the night and move out the next day if I were able to arrange it and that they would tell him to leave my things alone and I'd be along the next day.  I call a friend to see if I can stay the rest of the night over there and head out to my car.  Mac threw beer bottles through my passenger side window, breaking it, and breaking the bottles and beer all over the inside of my car.  Needless to say, I showed the cops, they doubted he did it, I yelled at them for questioning me after all the other stuff that was going on and the fact that he was holding the same god damn bottle in his [big bad swear word]ing hands while he was telling them I was lying.  So, they tell me to leave the car if I can get a ride.  I call my friend, they pick me up.

 

The next morning I go back with my Dad and a U-Haul to move all my stuff out, just grateful that my boy was at his mothers.  We pull up and nearly half my stuff is in the yard, broken.  All my dishware, my dressers, my tv, bedding, etc, all in the yard.  Then I start noticing the 40k pieces.  It looked like he had put them on the garage floor and started jumping on them, taking hammers to it, etc.  Needless to say, I called the cops immediately upon seeing my things in the Yard.

 

I was able to salvage about 1500-2000 points of Templar, the bugs I gave to a friend saying "Sorry they are damaged, but it's a cheap way to get into the hobby" the tau were tossed.  My drive to hobby and game were squatted.  I found out from the Cali guy that they were doing coke most the night, in addition to drinking, and Mac saw Eminem's brother while they were at the bar.  When Mac left with his dog, he was trying to score some more dope, and that's probably why he forgot about his dog.  

 

I tried to rekindle my passion for it, but it wouldn't ignite.  Finally, I asked Derek to take what remained of my Templar and Inquisition and sell it off at OFCC.  I told him I was fine with 100, he brought me back like 300 or 400.  I just wanted it gone.  It was too heart wrenching, admittedly there was an association with building my Templar Army while spending time with my ex-wife, the mental aspects of my marriage collapsing, the potential harm my son could've been in, etc.  Too much bad energy, as it were, associated with that 40k collection.  

 

A couple years ago, I decided I wanted to start either a World Eaters or a Nightlord army.  I ended up with a Slaves of Darkness era Khorne worshipping Nightlord army, as a compromise.  When collecting for it, I've followed rule of cool.  Also, when I started, I just wanted to get a 3-5 color Table Top army done, so conversions, although present, are not always clean, or fluid, for an example.  I'm going to be stripping it and actually spending some time on the models now that we have KDK available for mixing CSM and Daemons.  I find being excited about fluff and conversion opportunities is helping my drive and motivation these days.  I'm also a fan of giant fighting robots, so the Imperial Knight codex has added fuel to the fire.

 

Eminem no longer plays, even though he had a great Dark Angels army that he took to OFCC numerous times.  Mac is still doing hard drugs.  I don't talk to either of them.  Or Eminem's brother.  Or Mac's baby mama.

 

I know a good bit of you know, or can figure out who they are, but please don't say their names if you feel the need to respond.  

 

 

 

So, that's how my slate was wiped.

[generalripphook]

@infestedkerrigan 

 

Here man have a hug. That is seriously messed up. 

[Torg]

I really liked this thread - and over the past few months (or mostly this year) I have come to the determination.  That I like mini-war-games.   I just am leaning away from 40k and into getting into the other options.  This year I have picked up no less than 4 "other games".  I plan on playing those other games at the expense of my time with 40k.  I don't plan on selling off my armies.  But I do plan on selling off things that I don't think will fit into my long term 40k Eldar.  40k will sit - with 2 armies already to be played (this years OFCC Corsairs and last years OFCC Wraithwall list).  I will retool the army lists to keep up with current rules.  But that is all. 

 

I had a blast with Bloodbowl this year… I have a couple teams planned :).  I liked playing Infinity a couple weeks ago - and I have already ordered minis to fill my teams to 300pts.  I need to work on my DarkAge gangs - which seems like a fun skirmish game as well.  My plan - long term is to have several games ready to go… with mini's painted… as well as terrain.  40k - is just going to gather dust - unless something really cool happens lol.  I also have Battlefleet gothic… epic… and all those specialist games I love too .

 

-d

[Guest]

40k - is just going to gather dust - unless something really cool happens lol

Anyone figured out how to make the shelved 40k not gather dust? Maybe a method of vacuum sealing?

[WestRider]

If you actually pack it away, it does alright. If you want to leave it out on the shelf for display or something, tho, the only real option is to dust it every now and then.

[pretre]

That's how I weather my vehicles. Especially appropriate on Bjorn.

[Torg]

well - for the most part - my core armies would simply reside in their travel cases.  So dust will not be a real issue.

 

-d