Teach A Man To FIsh.....Building A Better Game Community

I have had a lot on my mind as of late.  I started a new job at a growing game store in Battle Creek Michigan.  One of the main things that I was hired for was to help build the war games community at the store and in the area in general.  I started doing what I normally do and started talking to all the players that played regularly in the store.  I wanted to gauge where the community stood at that particular moment in time.  As I talked to people, I started to really think about how I would build the community.  I looked at the thriving community that had built up in Lansing and tried to break down exactly what things were in place that made the community grow to the level that it was at.  To build a good community you need time and patience and there are a few other key things you need to make it happen.

Putting The Fun Back Into War

It seems to me the whole 40K hobby is very different than it was 10 years ago. Its kind of cool I can make a statement like that about a war game. Game companies and games come and go, but there are a few, 40K one of them, that endure. I think the big thing is community and support. GW has always supported their games fairly well, with the exception of the era of the specialist games when they kinda just forgot about them.

The hobby has changed because the community has really evolved. I never really thought about it until a conversation with OST last week. That and one of our regular players from the shop decided he was going to get out of the hobby. The main reason was of how competitive things were, even in just friendly games.

OST also brought up the same thing. The competitive nature of play that is. Playing like its a tournament all the time really burns you out as a player. I think the community has gotten so intense with all the blogs, forums and big tournaments and conventions, the casual player is getting left in the dust. When you are at your FLGS to play a friendly game and everybody is “training” for a tournament, its like walking into the Cobra Kai Dojo looking for a Yoga class.

I have been feeling the same way as OST. The competitive nature of play is burning me out and taking some of the fun out of it for me. I use to play off the wall lists and play army lists just for the hell of it. Not to see how they work or how I can min max them, but just to have a good fun game. I am in a hobby rut. I play only half heatedly and I have not painted anything in almost 3 months. I am kind of glad I am at home this week due to being broke just to take a break and gain some perspective. SO I am going to have fun and try some new stuff.

This leads me to my next point. I am starting a new army to break up the all “Eldar all the time” mantra. I am going to start playing Orks. While I build my webway Dark Eldar and continue the Craftworlders I am going to be building an ork army for fun. I have yet to see an ork player get frustrated or not have fun even when getting beat. The orky style of play really speaks to my more basic gamer instincts. Hit , hit it again and if it still movin hit it again for good measure.

I really plan on doing some nice modeling and conversion work on DA boyz. I really want the army to have character and show my personality. I may even bring DA boyz to Adepticon next year for grins. I know OST and I have joked about it, but expect to see some conversions that may enable me to use the orks counting as Eldar. Its a challenge to my modeling skills and should prove to be fun as hell so

Ere'we go, ere'we go, ere'we go lads

I would really like a return to the FLGS doing more than just tournaments. Painting competitions, conversion contests and the like. I want to foster the hobby as a whole. There is nothing like 2 painted armies on the table. I want the FLGS to be an environment that is friendly to new players again. Someplace the casual player can come in and get a friendly fun game. The competitive side will still be there, but as veteran players we need to set a good example and make the new players feel welcome. We need to help the new guys out. Teach people how to paint and the modeling techniques that will allow them to convert models to their taste. Basically if you want your FLGS to have a good strong community for a long time you need to foster it. Give a man a fish..... Check out Dark Future Games for OST's thoughts on the subject later today.

Until next time.

Blood Runs, Anger Rises, Death Wakes, War Calls........

.WAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!!!