Global Community – This is anyone that plays Tabletop wargames.
Game specific community – A group of people who play the same game.
Online Community – A vast group of people dedicated to different facets of the hobby, and posting their thoughts and ideas to a public forum, weblog (blog) or website.
Local Community – A group of individuals who meet regularly and enjoy different aspects of the hobby. (I.e., painting, gaming, talking about collecting and background…etc.)
So, “Why the lesson in community?” you may ask. The short answer is because I need something to talk about today….the long answer is to prompt you to look at yourself and where you fall in the community, and how it can improve your hobby experience.
Lets look at the different types of individuals you may find in your community. (Watch it Auberoun! – ed.) No, I don’t mean that this has anything to do with race, sex, religion, or other. What this means is simply what do those individuals within a community enjoy most about their hobby. Also called a “Classification” of gamers.
For example, in nearly all local communities you will have the following types of gamers.
The collector – This guy or gal has a vast collection of armies/miniatures, usually more than one type or manufacturer. (Good person for trading fodder, if you are looking for that “special piece”!) They will sometimes play a game, and are content to paint sometimes.
The painter – This guy likes to build, but mainly likes to paint. Talent is not the important thing here. His heart is in it, and that is what counts. Usually these individuals are aspiring to be in Golden Demon if they haven’t entered yet. They are always looking for tips/advice to improve their skills. They are not beyond showing another individual how to paint. These guys typically don’t game as often, as it cuts into their painting time.
The builder – That’s just it. They build. (Most of the time, just to get it put together for a game, occasionally, they just wanted to build a model, with no intention on using it in the near future.)
The Player – These individuals like to play games. Lots of games. Whether for fun or tournament play, they cannot wait to put mini on table and roll dice. Always looking for a game, you will usually find them at a table already…
The tri-fecta – What most hobbyist aspire to be. Some are very good at it, and others are up and coming. You fall into this category if you like all aspects of the hobby. You typically will have an entire force painted, special dice that match your army, a couple of nice cases, and participate in online forums or even have your own blog.
So, where do you fall in? Where would you like to be? By exploring some of the areas of the hobby that you are not familiar with and talking to someone in your local community that is not in the same “classification” as you are, you may find deeper understanding and richness to your already great hobby.
(Stop all the mushy stuff, get to the point! – ed.) Bottom line, go outside your comfort zone to improve your hobby, if you don’t like it, that’s ok, because you can always go back to doing what you did before…
I kind of went the long way about it, but hopefully you will take something away from this article you didn’t really think about before.
Where do you fall? Where would you like to be? How can you improve your hobby?
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