Gaming Apathy

[greenstuff_gav]

so, i'm a rather active painter and modeller in a variety of genres and scales and at my latest weekly beating at the local games club i realised i'm just not into actually playing with my toys anymore!

Love building terrain (work has started on a second Malifaux board ) and converting miniatures (working on Heresy not-delaques) and painting (just about to paint my Molly conversion ) just once the figures hit the table my bad luck renders 'em useless and fighting to survive.

"We all have bad luck" is an answer springing to your fingertips.

It's reached beyond funny; any of the Confrontation UK Tournament Players will attest that Organisers are always tempted to get the Last Place Wooden Spoon pre-engraved with my name; in the UK Open i rolled 8 1's in a row!

Playing Malifaux today; for Seamus to break from melee with Lilith (i didn't know about the Greatsword!) out of the 3 attempts and 3 Soulstones and a couplea Random Flips he highest card was... a 7. of Rams.

i wouldn't mind, but i've not won a game since before Xmas!

so, rant aside, does anyone else get a bit "Meh" when it comes to actually playing games and would rather do something else?

[nerdelemental]

I'm a bit in that slump right now, actually. I still love playing and getting out, but then, more often than not, I realize it's the excuse to get out that I needed, not the gaming. I'm just too over-involved right now, probaby.

And running the games only exacerbates that burn, for me.

Like you, I'm really getting into building a Mali terrain board with my six year old, inspired entirely by my friend Josh over at Twilight Emporium. (check out his gallery and terrain section!).

Painting, too, is becoming somewhat choreful.

But I've done this for so long that I know it takes just a couple of months of pulling the foot off of the gas to get me fueled right back up, so I'm not worried.

Of course, it was nearly a year ago that I thought a few months off of WM/Hordes would get me the break I needed and I've not come off of my hiatus yet....

[Slinkdawg]

I am also going through a slump with gaming. I have finished painting up a Lilith starter and a viktorias starter (johan remains unpainted but is not urgent), but i am finding it tough to drive out to the LGS.

I had a blast playing in a Malifaux tourney at templecon, but have been getting frustrated feeling out the meta (and constantly getting pwned) in Warmachine and Hordes. I'm sure will get back into it again eventually. With newer games it can be frustrating figuring out newer armies/tactics while you and your opponent get used to new rulesets and muddle through things.

I could do without some of the bitching and arguing over rules constantly. People forget that it is just a game and take things way too seriously sometimes.

[AntiZombie]

whenever that happens to me i just hang out with my friends and watch them play at the hobby store, i also write up some of my own fun scenarios. This usually gives me the distance i need to get rid of that darned apathy cause i have the same problem too.

[Flikfutch87]

It's kind of funny with me, I think I enjoy the collecting aspect of gaming almost as much as the gaming itself. There have been some games I personally didn't enjoy actually playing all that much, but I still kept collecting because I liked the aesthetic/theme of the setting (The old White Wolf RPGs come to mind). When you can take a step back and look at an army that you've developed over several years, or a long-running RPG series that you've bought every supplement of along the way, it can be just as rewarding as being an active fan.

So when I go through a slump, I step back for a week or two, get worried about falling behind, and that usually snaps me out of it.

[DireTrollJake]

I would get this way if I lost every game due to complete power gaming, while I respect the nature of power gaming, it needs to come with a good attitude with the opponent, not a trash talking butthole. (See neutralize and fool for two of my examples of great players with great attitudes). But its those guys who just stare at the table and have a cut throat vibe above the table as well as on it that really put me off.

Another thing to throw me is with me generally being the lead in our gaming group as far as organization and keeping the interest is when someone just doesn't learn. When you play with them over and over and over and they just hand you the game. I can go from different approaches here ranging from rewinding a turn and giving suggestions to strait beating the snot out of them, but next game with an identical situation, no tactics. Just makes me feel ... guilty.

However, all this aside, I've not played a single minatures game in over 2 months. And for that matter, aside from vassal with warmachine, 3 to 4 months and our gaming group not including our extended group of over an hour away has died to myself and one other. So...I'm back to square one as a recruiter, so this is where my interest usually peaks, when all my newbies are leveled and can grow as a group instead of having any bad apple vets who like to stroke their ego with newbies (ew). So...uhm long winded pointless rant aside...I say you need to find what it is about the game and exploit it. You like terrain and painting, awesome. Stick to it and occasionally you'll get the itch to give them some use. Me, I get my thrills from seeing others have a good time and knowing I got that going, from demo's to growing competitors to running events.

Good luck!

[Lucifer_Drake]

I went through this when I burned out with RPGs. It took me nearly a decade to get back into them. Now I just take the enjoyment from having fun with the guys. I roll crap most times with occasionally awsome rolls. I haven't really played miniature games up till recently. I've enjoyed the games even though I've lost every game, I'm just learning . Just had my first Malifaux game it was brilliant! I lost but didn't expect to win, just trying it out. Now I want to play it & saving for my first crew.

[shink1m]

With Malifaux, there's the gaming and then there's the painting/assembling/terrain-building. From what you posted, you're burnt out from gaming. At least you're not completely detached from everything you liked about Malifaux.

I get burnt out from competitive gaming, like tournaments and leagues. But not so much with casual gaming. I believe that any game doesn't need a tourney or league to survive - so long as there are blokes that keep playing and enjoying the game (be it in their LGS or garage or where ever), then the game is still successful.

Keep building terrain, keep painting, enjoy hanging out with your buddies. When eventually you get over your slump, try to get a casual game in. With casual games, it's easier to enjoy it as opposed to official competitions (you're not paying a high entrance fee for a casual game, hehe). Losing to a buddy in a fun game is enjoyable, too; so long as you made it a point to do enjoy your game. You'll get out of that low point sooner or later.

[nightgaunt98c]

I'm always up for playing. It's painting that I have a hard time getting motivated to do. I was in a bit of a gaming rut, but then I discovered Malifaux. Totally reinvigorated me.

[Flikfutch87]

I'm hesitant to paint just because I'm terrified I'll do a lousy job and totally screw up the model.

[Chucklemonkey]

I'm hesitant to paint just because I'm terrified I'll do a lousy job and totally screw up the model.

There are one or two crews I will not buy for this very reason, and I like to think i'm not the worst painter around.

As to the OP, I had gone through a break in miniature gaming of about 4 years previously, I definately feel the interest comes in waves, perhaps more so than other hobbies.

[Lucifer_Drake]

This is why I have yet to paint my Dwarves for Warlord heh. But since I'm getting into Malifaux ,I'm going to use them as practice so I don't bugger up my Viks.

[paradox]

I'm rather the reverse. I love playing (even with some streaks of terrible luck I get). I like modelling OK. Not much a fan of painting though, but I make myself do it, cause I like the results. My painting is at a plateau, more or less. Some minis come out pretty nice, some just don't, the vast majority are decent at arms length. It's been that way for years. I think I could improve if I could make myself give enough of a damn to try past a certain point, but I can't. I get to a point of painting where the model looks decent enough and I say "OK, I'm sick of this one, it's good enough."

But playing? I love a good game. Having a bad game (a one-sided slaughter, either way) is not very satisfying, but then I just want to try again to make it a good one next time.

so, i'm a rather active painter and modeller in a variety of genres and scales and at my latest weekly beating at the local games club i realised i'm just not into actually playing with my toys anymore!

Love building terrain (work has started on a second Malifaux board ) and converting miniatures (working on Heresy not-delaques) and painting (just about to paint my Molly conversion ) just once the figures hit the table my bad luck renders 'em useless and fighting to survive.

"We all have bad luck" is an answer springing to your fingertips.

It's reached beyond funny; any of the Confrontation UK Tournament Players will attest that Organisers are always tempted to get the Last Place Wooden Spoon pre-engraved with my name; in the UK Open i rolled 8 1's in a row!

Playing Malifaux today; for Seamus to break from melee with Lilith (i didn't know about the Greatsword!) out of the 3 attempts and 3 Soulstones and a couplea Random Flips he highest card was... a 7. of Rams.

i wouldn't mind, but i've not won a game since before Xmas!

so, rant aside, does anyone else get a bit "Meh" when it comes to actually playing games and would rather do something else?

[Sturm88]

I got the same about Warmachine...for the opposite reason. I went almost 2 years without even coming close to being beat. It had nothing to do with better rolls then the other...just something about Menoth really clicked in my head. Hell, the last league I was in, I had 180 something points, and the 2nd place had like 60 something. I got grand champion, tactician and best team...and I was on my own team as a joke. I did not play the most games, I think 4th place guy did. I was the 3rd for most games played I believe. The complete lack of challenge anymore really killed my spirit.

What happened? I stopped playing and am currently in the process of selling all my Menoth. I still like mini games so I have gone to smaller scaled games so as to not drain my bank account. Hence why I am here and Spinespur.