What BOARD GAME(s) have you been playing?

To be totally honest, there's also another, deeper level I think that I've attached to some games. I'd wager it's also true for most all of us here, even if we may not be comfortable admitting it.

Identity.

I've had a GW game on my shelf for over 30 years. How would it be to not ever have one? What if I jettisoned all my games except 5-10? I may not call myself 'a gamer', but I've played a lot of games in my time, somewhat keep up what's going on, talk/read about them plenty (here and elsewhere), etc. FOR_30_YEARS.

What if I packed it all in?

What would I have to show for the past 30 years? fun times, friendships, and memories I suppose. And that's what should really matter, but would I start to then begin to feel like it was all wasted?

It's not like I spent 30 years playing guitar or painting with oils or anything. A skill that takes time to develop. I've...played....games.

So, to no longer have any...what would I have to show for it?

I dunno.

This is probably deeper than anyone was expecting, but I do turn 40 in a few months, and I'm very aware of what I'm modeling for the kids. Do I want them to hold onto their pokemon cards 30 years from now? It's kind of the same as what I do. Do I want my son to be pouring over games sites looking for deals and trades when he's older or would I like to think he'd be a bit more interesting? As it is, I think the kids are on a great course, but before too much longer they'll realize how much time/money I waste on games/gaming.

True, I do feel like some titles such as AH TITAN and GW Talisman are pure works of art, but still, in the end they're just games....and I've sunk a lot of hours into 'em...

Perhaps, I've been lying to myself and I am a gamer (though I don't video game).

You wouldn't be the first (or last) to at some point think what the fuck have I wasted my time (and money) on all these years. But it is what it is, we did what we did cos we did it and thats just how it went down. Nothing wrong with starting a new day every day and deciding on doing something totally different just cuz! Good that you're thinking of the kids though, I'm mortified they will just like the stuff I do, and want to do the same things I do and did. That might just be the contrarian in me but I am in no rush to push my kids to be "gamers", like rugby or want to be scientists. Better that they turn into scraggy haired guitar twanging bank robbers who think games are stupid.

So... I look at my shelves and there's a lot of memories of good plays in the majority of them, with a few shelf toads on there as well that never get played. I smile when I think of them. I dunno, maybe this is reflective of being an atheist, but what else is there supposed to be? I'm going to fucking die.

I'm not clear what else is supposed to be going on that is so awesome besides doing shit like playing games. Meditating like the Buddha? That's never been terribly rewarding for me when I've tried it. But then I also backpack and do outdoors stuff, which also makes me smile when I look at the gear that crowds my closet. Probably the only thing I'll really regret is spending too much time at work, but then my work is pretty personal and rewarding relative to others I've talked to.

I guess if I felt like I was being chained to it, doing it out of habit, so there I see where you guys are coming from... but this has always been something that gives me a lot of joy, a fuck of a lot more than other things I've tried. What's the distinction between "habit" and "what you're genuinely into!"

As an honest question, Jeff, what is it that makes you think, say, learning to play guitar is a normatively better way to spend all that time than gaming? Is it the skill buildup/progression? Perception of societal contribution?

I live just a couple of miles from the FFG Event Center, which now has 500+ games available for play:

https://twitter.com/FFGCenter/status/527130857392599040/photo/1

So I sometimes question my need to own about 100 games.

KingPut wrote: We had some Halloween fun last night with Mansions of Madness - Season of the Witch. Season of the Witch is a great scenario but maybe a little tough on 3 investigator. The investigators followed the clues and didn't waste very much time but they still ran out of time. I would suggest adding a couple of extra turns to game if anyone is playing this scenario.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. It was still a great session, though.

Gary Sax wrote: As an honest question, Jeff, what is it that makes you think, say, learning to play guitar is a normatively better way to spend all that time than gaming? Is it the skill buildup/progression? Perception of societal contribution?

Sure.

First, I didn't say playing a guitar was better. Second, I'm not sure (though I could be wrong) that one's theistic view has much to do with it.

I too do a lot outdoors stuff. I've always stayed in shape, and in fact am now in easily the best shape of my life. I've got a good career, beautiful wife, awesome kids, etc. So, in some sense, many things are great. So, It's not that i've spent the past 30 years solely bellied up at a table, chugging Mt. Dews and crushing pocky sticks.

However, that doesn't mean I feel like I've really reached my potential. For me, I'd like to be able to play music better, be more well read, and definitely travel more than I have lately.

All this time and money spent on games is fine, but it also means less time and money for other pursuits. It's all a balance for what works best for you. And for me, I'm finding that there are other areas I'd like to grow in and some cases wish I had made some other choices.

in the end we're all just killing time

Nice post, I hear you.

Black Barney wrote: in the end we're all just killing time

... or is time killing us?

– Deep Thoughts by metalface

What would I have to show for the past 30 years? fun times, friendships, and memories I suppose. And that's what should really matter, but would I start to then begin to feel like it was all wasted?

It's not like I spent 30 years playing guitar or painting with oils or anything. A skill that takes time to develop. I've...played....games.

So, to no longer have any...what would I have to show for it?

I think I started playing games as an adult about ten years ago. Prior to that it was Dungeons and Dragons, Titan, Circus Maximus, Traveller and some terrible Avalon Hill games in the eighties that I bought at the local Hammond's hobby store (UFO anyone?) and that one game about Timmy the time traveling Vietnam vet. We were on vacation at my in-laws and I stopped by a hobby store and bought some CheapAss games (remember those?) and it was like that scene in Taxi (the tv show) when Jim takes a bite of his first pot brownie.

There was a brief period where I met with a game group and it was fun, I was always the guy who wasn't quite that good and talked a little too much. The group disbanded but some of them get together on their own at someone's home and play train games. I think what happened is that gamer weirdos started showing up and they quietly circled the wagons and I was lost in the purge. That, and I realized I didn't want to drive half an hour to play any more. I think that I thought of myself as the fun guy, and the other group members as the euro-analyticals, but then realized not too long ago that I had become the same cold, analytical player who looked slightly annoyed when people got too social. Part of growing up is realizing that you're an A**hole, too.

My wife has been irritated at my game collecting and selling for years now, and I have also asked myself the question, "What if I had spent that time and energy learning to play the guitar, or juggling, or whatever" and the truth is, the heart wants what the heart wants, and you can't fool mother dopamine. I have a brain that needs to be fixated on something, whether it be tools, games, or airsoft pistols. Some of this is hard wired, and some of it is a response to that nagging feeling that you've hit your prime with the birth of the last child and nowhere to go at work, so all that is left is memories of your youth, the faint glimmer of hope that you'll find a group of friends, weekends repairing your crumbling house, hoping your back lasts another year and that slow, inevitable fading of your life's car battery as winter approaches, with each starting of the engine taking a little longer each morning, your headlights getting scratched and dim and crap this is a stupid metaphor. Sure, I would have liked to have spent ten years playing the piano, but ultimately only in service of some ego-driven desire to impress other people or somehow use it to make people looooove me.

Anyway, I scaled back on the gaming, then we moved to the Middle East and I only brought a few, and we don't really play them, except on occasion. When you move, you take your problems and relationships with you, and the same forces that kept me from playing in the States are at play here. Too little time, fatigue, some sort of internal gamer's block, and tired of learning rules.

My kids are having a great time playing Savage Worlds right now, and spent yesterday gluing together maps and counters, or "nerd scrapbooking." Last night they played with friends for five hours, which is a memory they'll be glad to have one day. I'm at Saturday basketball with my fourteen year old, and he's making some baskets and having a good time. That's a memory he'll be glad to have one day. Nobody looks back and says, "Man, I'm glad I got that cool game in a trade and then never played it then traded it for some heavy wargame that I never opened."

A game can be this object that you project your hopes on. There is hype. Someone YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE will take some malformed, 6.5 concoction with some interesting ideas and whip you into a frenzy. You buy it, you play it or not. Someone else comes out with a devastating critique and then you're like ANNE BOLEYN, YOU W**** and then you're on to the next pretty young thing who is bound to disappoint you. BGG is Thomas Cromwell, quietly making the arrangements and acquiring the only victory points that you can actually spend. (Sorry, reading "Bring up the Bodies" right now)

Ok, that's enough self-pity for now, and I've told this story about five times. Still trying to make sense of it.

[A basketball just came straight at my laptop. I casually lifted my crossed leg and it hit my sole and was deflected directly over me. It was kind of cool.]