Competitive vs Fun

This is as much an article for the internet as it is for the regulars down at my local shop, and the other local shops in the state.  This will be stickied for a while to make sure everyone has a read.  Note I'll be calling people out and making myself unpopular, but when you make me feel put upon--this is what you get out of me.

I've been watching how people react when I tell them they aren't playing competitively, both on the internet and in person at the local shop.

I've also been watching how few new kids come in to play at, well, any shop.  Hard to compete with video games and grown men being jerks.

I have a switch inside, I can play in 'fun' mode where I am actively trying to have fun--and I can play in 'tournament' mode where I am actively trying to beat your face in.

I have been thinking about this for a few months now, ever since the first signs of discontent about my final tournament started bubbling over.

For the internet, the discontent is this:  Despite being clearly labeled as a 'winner take all' tournament, I had nobody question that for the six months it was up.  Now, however, that a few people have placed in it--I've been told they don't want to play because they don't think they can win, and I should institute another prize.  Like best sportsman, best painted, etc.  Well, there haven't been any 'best sportsman' awards in the tournaments so far this year.  Why would there be one now?  Best Painted is a judgement call.  I nearly disqualified Edwin from winning Best Painted because of his incessant whining about his time spent on it and how he should 'obviously' win.  I've nearly banned both Jimmy and Aaron from the final tournament for their poor sportsmanship when playing each other--I don't call you both friends so you can shame me with your behaviour.   You are both adults.  Act like you earned your place in the final tournament, and if you end up playing each other--then play each other.  Don't complain in public, at me in private--just play.  If you can have fun, that'd be awesome.

Now to my next problem--asking for a secondary prize.  Hey, you realize this needs to come out of my pocket, yes?  If you had a problem with this, you should have (A) told me in person, and (B) told me BEFORE you placed in the final tournament.  I may not be the easiest person to get along with, but I run an impartial tournament.  I won't show favor to my friends, or people I happen to like more than others.  No, Hag, I am not going to put any more money into this tournament.  If you guys are going to kill each other over a grand, then you aren't actually friends with each other and aren't even gamer buddies.  This tournament, I've put a lot of time into--and nobody helped me in any way.  Bitched and moaned a whole hell of a lot about everything that could go wrong in your games, and blame me for it.  Don't bring unbalanced or inferior armies after I tell you they are one or the other--and then complain when you get smacked around.  That's pretty much the whole bunch of you.  You guys are supposed to be helping me build a community, not talking shit about me and each other behind my (and each others) backs like a bunch of schoolgirls.

Seriously, I've probably spent a solid week planning and running the events this year--and for what?  I'm the asshole?  I can't manage to get you guys to show up and help me finish all the terrain--one 4 hour period, once or twice a year.  Is that asking too much?  (Yes, I know some of you did and thank you for that--and obviously I am not talking to you).  I need to pay you to show up, how mercenary are you?  I thought I was a selfish bastard, self-centered beyond all reason--but I've seen better giving from a pack of hyenas than my local community.  If I can even call it that--I got two bombshells dropped on my head this week:

1)  I'm responsible for chasing the fun players away.

2)  I'm specifically disinvited to play in the planetary empires game because I can't play gentlemanly.

Really?

Who has spent 2 grand on 'fun' armies specifically to loan out, teach, and play 'fun' games with?  Which of you goes out of their way to find guys locally and try to get them into the shop for a game?  I expanded my Fantasy army roster to include more armies with more variety simply so I could help show people how Fantasy (despite my dislike of half the armies) CAN be fun.  You guys refuse to build 'fun' armies.  Only tournament mode armies.  I always offer an alternative army.  Aaron loves playing my non-tournament armies, so he can get that satisfying 'crushed Andy' feeling I guess.  Yeah buddy, those games aren't really fun for me but maybe someday you'll get my point.  I didn't play my Americans in FoW because I enjoy losing.  I actually enjoy your company.  I wish you'd see that one of the most fun games I've ever played was with you.  Ya jackass.

I've invested quite a bit of money trying to get Battletech going, and you guys decide to play Planetary Empires--the fail game?  What, it's been long enough since the Warhammer Fantasy fuckup Empires 'campaign' you guys seem to have forgotten totally killed Fantasy in the store (thanks for that by the way, haven't been able to get a game for half a year because of that stupidity) because you guys simply cannot play "for fun".  You say it, and when time comes to lose gracefully--holy crap, nobody can.  I'm no silver martyr here, you know.  I can be just as big a dickhead when I lose as the next American.  I'm at least willing to take a big penalty, to take a risk.  I got so much shit for playing Dark Eldar at -750 points and winning with them, it was supposed to be a test of my skills but apparently it just made me out to be an asshole.  Sorry, kind of went off on a tangent there--why won't Battletech succeed?  I've got the rules, I've got the figs--but you guys won't even show up to play it or even try?

Well thanks a whole lot for that vote of confidence.  I know damn well why you don't want to play, you think I'm out to beat you in yet another game system--well guess what, if beating you in a miniatures game is so damaging to your ego, you should just take me outside and beat me until you grow up.  The way I learned to play was by getting my ass kicked repeatedly.  Yet many of you won't even play, as if it's a foregone conclusion that I'm going to win and it won't be fun.  Kyle and Josh are the general exceptions, they are almost always willing to take it on the chin until they too get burned out by the 'must slay you' attitude.  Unless I'm so desperate to play I'll take the impossible odds just so I can get a game in.  Hey, who you think is driving the fun players away?  Me?  Interesting.

How much time and money are you guys investing trying to make a community?  I see more people having fun at other stores than at the shop I prefer--and guess what?  I go to those other stores.  I'm not afraid of Hastur's, Endzone, Dragon's Keep, or Games People Play.  All of them have better communities than Mind Games, despite my efforts over the past year to change that.

This brings me back to the internet, and the hating.  Hey guess what, if you say you are here to have fun and you fucking aren't--I'm going to call you on your bullshit.  If you are here to win and claim you are playing competitively and you fucking aren't--I'm going to call you on your bullshit.

I've had it up to here with the shitty competitive play, and that's what YTTH Con is here for.  Don't think we don't want to have fun--I expect great sportsmanship and fun games.  These two things are not mutually exclusive.  You don't have to bring a death dealing army to have fun, do you?  That's what's wrong with my local community, and the hobby as a whole.  It's a sickness I've suffered from, and done my best to shake.

I enjoy playing just about everyone at my local store, but don't try and play me for a sucker.  If you think you are awesome, great--I bet I can beat you way more than you can beat me.  I bet I can have fun being beat by you way more than you'll have fun being beat by me.  Sometimes, you have to be willing to have fun at the expense of winning.  If I am, why the fuck aren't you?  I'm the internets WAAC poster boy, to be whipped upon at will by every motherfucker--and I take it, every day I take the abuse, solely so I can get this point across:

Competitive + Fun = Synonymous.  Man, our hobby is so fucked if I'm the voice of reason.

Maybe you guys should go read this.  It's a very good article.  It talks about all of us in great detail.