Monday, March 22, 2010

Burnout...

So at what point do you realize you're there?

I've noticed over the past several months that I've been getting grumpier & bitchier when it comes to my mini gaming hobby. I still love he models, still love the fluff, but...I just don't seem to be getting the enjoyment out of it that I used to. I'm sure that the omnipresent proxying that I was ranting about previously has a bit to do with it. Facing the same armies all the time doesn't help much either. A buddy of mine is coming over to play tonight and wanted to know if I'd mind if he brought the Deathguard...again. Prior to the SW codex release, barring 2 or 3 appearances of either Eldar or Witchhunters, he played Deathguard or demons for close to a year and a half straight. Actually prior to the Demon codex, it was nothing BUT Deathguard. He does also have enough marines to easily make another SM chapter, and there's an assload of IG I'm told will see the light of day sometime, and I hear of Orks getting painted too. But it always seems like he wants to play the same army (note, he is bringing WH tonight after some grumbling by me).

I think its a symptom of our small gaming group here locally. After the release of the SW codex, the three guys I play regularly (including the guy mentioned above) all play Space wolves, and as such it felt as though I played the entire chapter over the course over the course of 2-3 months. I have a bunch of armies myself, and try to rotate them every week so as to not get bored, sometimes I'll use the same list for 2 weeks in a row, but then they hit the shelf, and something else comes out. Perhaps that's just my continuous indecision & general lack of focus, but it REALLY aggravates me when my opponents get fixated on one army to the exclusion of all others. (the fact that I had three guys stuck on the Wolves just compounded that).

Problem is, that really shouldn't be a problem.

In fact most people have a 'primary army' that they focus on to the exclusion of most, if not all others. Mine started with IG for a few years, migrated to SM for a few more, and only in the past several have I started the constant rotation idea. So, I'm starting to think that I'm just burnt out on gaming. I really don't want to start any other armies, and frequently complain about GW's 'codex creep' (having dumped my beloved Orks so far down on the scale of HTH armies, that they're right there with the Eldar on the Psychic power scale is a common rant of mine). With winter's end I can go play outside some more (even though I'm told that its snowing out right now). Maybe I'll just pull back a bit from the hobby. I tend to game more in the winter due to the cold limiting what there is to do.

I don't want to quit gaming, far from it, I'm just not getting what I used to out of it. I dunno, does that sound like burnout to you?

6 comments:

Dverning said...

Yeah, that does sound like a bit of burnout. I know I'd get tired of playing against (or with) the same armies all the time. Having 5 armies with numerous variations and when not playing a tournament, I almost always give my opponent their choice of what army they want to face.

That being said, I find it is the fun of the game and socializing that is the most important part. When I find myself bored with 40K, we switch over and play something else like Space Hulk, Blood Bowl, Last Night on Earth or some other game.

It may be that it's time for a bit of change.

Col. Corbane said...

Yeah, that's burnout. Time to get a squad and play some kill team mate. Tell yourself that you're not going to play a proper game for a month, I'll give you two weeks before you're gagging to get a proper game in.

Max said...

Welcome to the club. The Escalation League at first got me introduced to a lot of new players and armies, but after trying to cram 5 games into a week at a time against the same people again and again has kind of beaten me down. I think I'm just going to take a hit this round simply because I can't deal with the constant torrent of games.

It will probably get better at higher point levels when i can have mroe fun with the lists, but right now I definitely hear what you are saying.

Da Masta Cheef said...

I've actually been enjoying playing vs. one of our new guys, not because he's new but because the small army sizes present a whole new set of challenges. I can't take all the bells & whistles, just a kazoo, maybe. So I may have to take the Colonel's advice & see about some kill team games. Tonight's game was fine. Orks won, much blood was shed on both sides, and WYSIWYG from one end of my table to the other which was refreshing for a change!

I'll be out of town this coming weekend, so probably won't get a game in for about 2 weeks. Will be a little break at least, and with the onset of warmer weather I can take the canoe out, go mountain biking, etc., and NOT be so focused on gaming. I think the longer & colder than normal winter was a factor. We entered into the 'nothing to do but game' mode early last fall & never left. I think my constant army rotation was an attempt to stave off the burnout that I saw coming.

We'll see. I'm certainly not going to stop, just pull back. This blog is actually a good way to see 'what's out there' so to speak, get some new perspectives on the game that I can't/don't get locally, and for that I can thank all of you!

HappySpawn said...

I believe Rob would say, "Lets play War Machine!" That, or start rambling off the miscellaneous games that you should start. How about restarting the WoW account (that was active for, what? one weeks?) Or, even better, you could paint my army for me, as we all know that I'll never get it done.

Da Masta Cheef said...

No, he didn't go there aiming for FoW instead. He wanted to know which army I'd like to try, and in all honesty I had no idea as I've never had an interest in it. Then he was inquiring about Heavy Gear which is a lot like dangling a carrot of revenge in front of me after he saw my painted Cygnar that I have no intent to use (damn pretty minis though).

As for you, you're army WAS painted till you stripped it! And after being sick of SW, do you really think I want to paint them?