I hate competitive gaming – I hate competitive gamers
http://to55er.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/
I feel so much better for getting that off my chest.
The problem is not that I am not competitive but that I am ultra-competitive. You know that game where you have to describe yourself in a single word? No? Well there is one, right. And the word that describes me is ‘competitive’. I was in a personally competitive profession until the stress got me. I tend to turn everything into win and lose.
Wargaming is my hobby, my escape, my distraction. I do not want to care whether I win or lose. I do not want to play people who care overmuch whether they win or lose since I will only rise to the challenge. I do not want to be like the man whose terrain included gaps in forests that exactly fitted the width of his heavy infantry regiment. I care not to emulate the chap who spends three days trying to use up the last two points in his army list. I thumb my teeth at the pedant who pores over the rulebook attempting to prove that he can set his super-heavy tank up on the fourth floor to get a better field of fire.
I, like girls, just wanna have fun.
I like girls too. Oh, wait. I see now.
ReplyDeleteI am *not* terribly competitive, tending to enjoy the narrative of the game even if I'm getting trounced. My Warmachine regular opponent shakes his head and asks how I can lose almost every game and still come back for more. I despise the overly competitive gamer for probably the opposite reason as you... they spoil the story. They immerse themselves in the rules instead of the game (if that even makes sense.) You can't "solve" fun.
Ah, but you like to play with soldiers whereas girls don't, well that's until the grow up and go clubbing in Aldershot.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain John.
ReplyDeleteI refuse to let winning or losing affect my fun, the only time this is a chore, is when some yahoo thinks the hobby is all about winning because there are games attached.
-Jim
I get very frustrated myself about thisI could not agree with you more!! Unfortunately so many people out there playing mini games have an overly competitive streak. I think the internet perpetuates alot of it with the constant boasting and the emphasis on math-hammering lists, etc. There are many sites and blogs that really lean hard towards nothing but competitive play. For years the way I delt with it was by forming a really solid group of people who gamed together. I happily gamed away ... but life has taken me to a new place and I'm having to start over again .. thus I'm having to brave store gaming again and at times its miserable. I feel your pain :(
ReplyDeleteI feel sad because loving a good, fun game I write "fluffy" or theme army lists. The downside is that a lot of these unintentionally turn out to be very hard out. So people tend to label me with the competitive power gamers at the FLGS. Sigh. I just don't get it. Theme armies tend to give me the impetus to actually get them painted around doing commissions, but I think I have only had three games in the last year as no-one wants to play against my "Beardy, Fluff armies".
ReplyDeleteTruth be told out of those games, I won one, lost the second, and fought to a standstill in turn 6 of the last resulting in a draw. I am wondering if it might be better to get a campaign running with the guys as the gaming club.
I think it took some guts to make this post - saying you don't like competitive gamers is almost as unnaceptable to most people as saying you don't believe in God, or you don't care for the Beatles
ReplyDeletePlease keep your blog going, its nice to read something other than the multitude of blogs which just talk about mech-lists and posts which feature the word 'metagame' at least 20 times. :)
Heh.
ReplyDeleteEver heard of Warhammer? Great game. :)
Dr Mike
ReplyDeleteMakes perfect sense to me. I like playing story campaigns.
John
Dear Col
ReplyDeleteAnd the hobby is playing with toy soldiers,
John
Big Jim
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem. When I play a win at all costs merchant I morph into one. it's a bit like being bit in the neck.
John
Dear Cyborg
ReplyDeleteLoud and long,
John
Dear Excess,
ReplyDeleteOh God, yes. Those childish blogs and forums boasting about their prowess. Can they really rely on wargaming for their status.
John
Da Sub
ReplyDeleteOnce you don't care about winning or losing themed armies are fun because balance is irrelevent. I have been exterminated in some of my most enjoyable games. Playing against the odds can be a scream.
J
Dear pacific,
ReplyDeleteDon't tell anyone but I always preferred the Stones to the Beatles and having spent a career as an evolutionary biologist I am somewhat iffy about God, but that's OK because I am English. Some of our bishops are agnostic.
John
Dear tetchy,
ReplyDeleteWarhammer is a very good game but the models don't grab me.
John
Hi John
ReplyDeleteShaun here. No wonder you like playing against me then. I can almost see my little men giving a big sigh when I get them out of the box and passing around a little tub of vaseline in preparation for their next battle. On the plus side being guards they do carry a lot of guns, which alieviates my dice rolling and forgetting of all those little things like the "order" rules, that would make them truly frightening;
added to that my inability to remember which of the three (or four if you count Apocalypse) rule books and three codexes that absolutely spiffing get out of the grave free card was in. I think my brain needs washing and some reprogramming undertaken. If the next time you see me my ears are frothing you know whats happening. P.S. I found your scarf hiding amongst my cushions. see you thursday mate
What do they need a tube of vaseline for?
ReplyDeleteNo, on second thoughts don't answer that. I have just been reading Belle de Jour.
John