Reply To: Giving it all up. Just too frustrating…

[osbad 4279xp 1]

Responding to the OP, I get it.  The rapid evolution of GW’s main game is one of the reasons I steer well clear of them.  Even if you can still use the models in the new iteration of the game the fact that you’ve dumped >£100 on rules/codexes etc only for them to become obsolete within a couple of years is just a passion-killer for me.  We all paint and collect at different rates, but it seems to me that the only way to keep up with GW is to become a complete obsessive in one game which will mean you buy everything you can ASAP, paint it up within a few days, and then play nothing other than that game, with that army until the next refresh of the game system.  I may be exaggerating a tad, but that’s pretty much how it feels to me.  There are other issues too for me with GW, but they are irrelevant for this thread.

I’m a hobby butterfly.  I get bored easy.  I like to move from one project to the next, one genre or period to the next.  Never staying at one for too long.  So its quite common for me to not play a system for years in between bouts of gaming it.  So such high turnover game systems are a waste of money and time as far as I am concerned.  Fortunately there are enough freely (and free, often!) available rulesets that make it possible, and I find myself increasingly playing games from publishers like Osprey that just don’t get evolved and FAQ’d out of recognition.

Now, I know there are many tournament “meta” players who prefer a rapidly updated and “balanced” ruleset and accept the obsolescence issue as a worthwhile price.  I can understand that mind set.  I just don’t share it.

I think its important that we look at ourselves and understand what makes us tick.  What we enjoy and don’t enjoy in the hobby.  And then react accordingly – pick the type of gaming that chimes with your personality, and avoid ones that don’t.  There isn’t a wrong or right answer, just different ones.  But find a system (and opponents) that suit your own preferences goes a long way to helping you enjoy the hobby to the most.  Its particularly important not to write off the whole of wargaming just because of the way GW run their business.  I’m not saying this is what the OP is doing, because he mentions problems with other, historical projects.  So the issue for him is probably larger than this.  But I would always recommend looking about and taking a deep breath before dumping your hobby.  It may be that elsewhere there is something in this vast arena that suits you better than what currently irritates you!

On a slight tangent, I have had a bit of a hobby hiatus since the summer.  I had a busy time, and just found the routine of gam e club gaming was just boring me.  So I took a break, rested, holidayed and did other stuff for a few months.  A few weeks ago I saw an advert for an old model on eBay (we’re talking 1977 vintage) that I had always admired and liked, and never owned, yet here it was on eBay for a tenner.  So I bought it, painted it, and really really enjoyed it.  Long story short, I’ve got my first game  in 5 months arranged for tomorrow night.  (Xenos Rampant, using Konflikt ’47 and WWII models as it happens).

“Never say never” and as far as the hobby goes: “You do you”!