Today I would like to write about two contrasts that exist in gaming, sore losers/game sharks/jerks, and the wonderful people that keep us coming back. I believe I will start on the sour note of gaming so that we can all end up on a happy note at the end of this post. Sound good? OK, here we go!
This past week I went to our local gaming store as normal hoping for a fun pick up game. Usually there are between 4 and 6 of us there and we can play a number of different things which really makes the games generally enjoyable. This week, however, was not enjoyable. The reason was not my army list, that I lost, or even that we played down in the basement away from everyone else. The problem was my opponent. Before he had even started his first turn, he had cheated twice and that stat did not decrease throughout the rest of the game. He was very egotistical, angry when I would ask him a rule about his codex (daemons, which lets face it... have a ton of extra rules to know!), and disbelieving when I would tell him the rules of the Eldar Codex. Overall, it was not a very enjoyable game simply because of my opponent! Now that, should never happen. Whether I win or lose I try to generally be a good sport and have the game be enjoyable. None of us can truly say we enjoy losing and some of us may genuinely despise it, but overall we can be good sports and have fun while we play. There's no reason to cheat in a GAME that is played with what many of my friends call painted dolls! The more the game went down hill, the more mistakes I made which just continued to aggravate my temperament and made the night not enjoyable. It is experiences like that, which cause people to leave the hobby or people like myself to promise I won't play him again unless I absolutely have to.
The happy part of this post is about the people that keep us coming back for more and hold our loyalty. I love our local gaming store Dragon's Keep in Provo, UT. The people are nice and generally knowledgeable, we have a good number of people interested in many different hobbies, and they are always open to doing things that the players suggest. This past week, I thought I had left one of my paints at the store so I posted on the forums asking people to keep an eye out for it. The same day I got a message from the owner of the store saying that if I couldn't find it he would like to replace it for me. Now, I know it's only 4 bucks but the gesture is what matters. He doesn't have to replace something that I lost because I was stupid but he wanted to because he actually cares about his customers and wants them to have an enjoyable gaming experience. Nice people, whom I enjoy talking to and playing with, are the reason why I go to gaming stores and not just play at home.
In conclusion, be one of those people that everyone enjoys playing. Whether you win or lose, remember that this is a game meant for us to have fun. This is the only way for you to gain self-worth and if you lose it doesn't mean that you're horrible. Have fun, and more importantly help others have fun!
olof21
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