I'm going to be largely out of pocket all weekend, for understandable reasons.
Something that has occurred more and more to me over time is this:
Our hobby is small.
There are not that many 40k and Fantasy gamers. There are even less on the internet. There are even less that travel around to tournaments.
Arguments and absurd levels of negativity nonetheless arise frequently between bloggers, forum posters, and even players in games.
To you all I make this appeal - stop subdividing further the hobby that we love.
Those of you who target competitive/WAAC gamers - stop. Those of you who target "fluff bunnies" - stop. You all have a place in our hobby, our tournaments, our games ... you all are peers, whether you want to be or not.
The more negativity and vitriol that is added to the pot, the worse and smaller our hobby becomes for all of us.
I absolutely cannot tolerate it, it frustrates me. AS much as I will tirelessly pursue trying to improve what a tournament format is, and provide a roadmap for others to run their own tournaments from the ground up ... I'll do the same on this subject. I've simply had it with cross-blog sniping, forum flame war haterade, etc.
"Why can't we all just get along" has never been more appropriate to me, b/c I've never seen such hate flow so freely as sometimes these days.
I'm stoked about this weekend. I'll see ya'll on the flipside, with I'm sure tons of follow-up/feedback/after-action reports/etc.
- Mike
good luck Mike!
ReplyDeletewe're pullin for ya out here in Indy.
I think you've done a lot of great work to pull this together. it's easy for people to sit and sling crap. much easier than producing something to be proud of.
I think you've got something to be very proud of.
Will it be perfect? maybe not.
Will you find ways to improve what you've done? I hope so.
Have you earned a good Beer? you bet ya.
may you have many quality brews, and many good games... hopefully not too many headaches.
I really don't have a lot of time to read/comment on blogs at the moment, but I wanted to put in the effort and give you a big...
ReplyDelete{^}
You're doing an awesome job and I hope to ask you for some advice and aforementioned 'framework' in the very near future. Keep it up MVB and I can't agree with you more!
At the end of the day it's just a game of toy soldier mans. Good luck this weekend.
ReplyDeleteSeconded Mike. The more people snipe and insult each other the more people who might consider attending something get turned off not wanting to be involved in drama.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't people be fluff bunnies and competitive? Dave Fay (Currently Ranked #1 on RankingsHQ) is. And you'd be hardpressed to find anyone who's played him that has a bad thing to say about it. And if some fall more to one side then the other so what. Let's all be friends.
It's little toy soldiers. Critique an event only if you attend it. And even then take a second and realize someone is probably out of pocket for them and put a tone of work into it. So unless it was truly horrible (see Conquest LA this year) don't hammer it. Give a constructive critique phrased that way.
Sorry for the rant. It's a subject that annoys the hell out of me too. I sit farther into the "competitive" camp than "fluff bunny" but that doesn't mean I'm any less of a gamer (or any more of one) than any other player.
pissclams hugs a baby seal.
ReplyDeletegreat post mike, i agree on all counts. While i gravitate twards the competitive side of things i still have a few dust bunnys in my corners. No reason why we can live together even if we dont always see eye to eye.
cant wait for this weekend
Here is to hoping your event is a major success !! Good luck & God bless ya !
ReplyDeleteG
I love everyone.
ReplyDeleteExcept Kirby, of course. The tagline-stealing bastard.
Although I do enjoy the occasional explosion of internet drama, I have to say my mind is consistently blown over how low some people will stoop over some imaginary feud with some people they haven't even met.
Ah, fuck it. Come on, Kirbs, give me a hug! I can't stay mad at you!
I believe half the problem is the lack of nonverbal cues we're all used to.
ReplyDeleteIf I say, "Piss off," is that serious or a joke between buddies. You'd know if the person was in front of you, but it's harder when everyone is sitting at their computers.
It's one of the reasons I use exclamation marks so often; I don't do that in professional writing, but online I think it gives people a better idea of where I'm coming from.
Good luck Mike - Brent
There is a saying that you can boil any number of crabs in a pot and none will ever get away, because when one tries to make a break for it all the others pull him back down.
ReplyDeleteCrabs, IMO, are only good for snacking, with a nice high-hop beer. But do I lsten to them as they clack away in the pot, dooming each other to be table food?
Nah. You shouldn't either.
Good luck MVB! If I weren't in Iraq right now I'd def be there! I'll be listening in though tonight to hear how things go
ReplyDeleteGreat post -- I couldn't agree more. I'd love to see some mended fences. I firmly believe if we could get more people to play each other, these internet feuds would vanish.
ReplyDeleteI caught a few minutes of the ustream feed. It looks like you guys are having a blast! Good job!
Right on. Our hobby definitely is small. Thanks for the awesome tournament. You really had room for everyone in this tournament and I was happy to see Stephen Chase win Heart of Gold. The raffling was an awesome part of the day as well. I have some ideas for next time, I might write you about.
ReplyDeleteUntil people get to the point that they can make a comment/opinion and people may disagree with it - and the fact that they disagree DOESN'T make them a D'bag, A'hole, or then we'll never get along. That includes the type's of tournaments, who's the best player, why I'm right and you are wrong, etc.
ReplyDeleteDifferent people have different things they enjoy, different opinions on what works for them, and just differences. But their is something about this community (fragile ego's) that just doesn't allow debate. Being wrong crushes their self worth so badly.
Sigh.....
Good for you!
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