At What Point Are You The Problem?

Today I want to talk about something that will probably be unpopular too a good portion of the community, but it has something that has been bothering me and I want to get it out there.  We all love to bash on GW and recently there has been a larger and larger amount of it.  With escalation, codex's, the knights, D weapons, more and more have called the game broken and dead and GW is horrible and its all there fault for how bad things are.  But at what point is this YOUR fault?



That is a serious question too.  What was so great about the game before all this that has now been ruined by it?  Screamerstars?  Jetseers?  Yeah those are great.  But god forbid GW adds D weapons, no the line has been crossed, our fun is now gone, lament!  Yeah ok.   This has never been a balanced game and I really don't want it to be one of those types of streamlined, ulta competitive games.  Some do I'm sure, but guess what, thats not what GW wants, and if you don't agree with that, there are plenty of other options if you want that game style.  I'm not saying get out, but I also am a full believer in capitalism and if you want something, vote with your wallet.

How many of you that complain about GW, have or plan to buy a Knight?  Hmmm.  I cannot count how many people I talked too at the FLGS who complain about the game and yet they have 7 armies and 3000+ points for each of them.  And of course listen to how they think its so expensive, unbalanced, etc.  Are you high?   You keep buying the stuff you complain about and then are shocked when nothing changes.  Oh boy thats a hard one.  I wonder why prices go up, oh wait because you keep buying it.  Maybe thats why.  Somehow though thats GWs evil little fault for exploiting our weak little wills and lack of self control, your so right, thats all their fault.  Its not like your a human being with the ability to think critically and make decisions that can alter your life.  Nope your a mindless drone just waiting for your next plastic meal.

The wonderful thing nowadays is that this is a hobby and industry that has grown so much.  There is lots of great competition and different games.  You don't have to play 40k if you don't like it.  I don't want to play with someone who can't stop grumbling about GW this and GW that.  Either enjoy this HOBBY, or move on to one you like.  This is a hobby, and you get what you put into it.  The more you put in, the more that you'll get out of it.  I really do like the above quote because it is true.  Its not the problem, its your attitude. 

D weapons are unfun and make me grumpy so I'm not going to play with them, you can't make me :p.  Really?  I have played a game of escalation now, and you know what, it was fun.  My buddy had fun too, even though he was on the receiving end of the D.  He is still willing to play against my warhound.  And you know what, when one day he drops his Reaver on table, I'm going to play it and have fun doing so.  I might lose.  Which I know is just unthinkable, how could I play a game, lose and still have fun.  D weapons are unfun, so the truthsayers speak, so how dare I have fun with them.  D weapons being un fun is entirely your problem and nothing or nobody elses.  I know you may not like that, but its true, its your choice to have fun or not. 

I really find the argument silly when players, and competitive players seem to be more on this side, make the argument that D weapons are unfun and shouldn't be allowed, but well your just going to have to suck it up and face the jetseer(insert deathstar).  Yup that makes sense.  Or maybe both are things that can be abused if people choose to, but are not in and of themselves bad or "unfun".  A good example I can think of is a gun.  I can use a gun to shoot soda cans, and thats it.  Or I can kill someone.  Where is that the guns fault.  It is designed to propel a projectile through a barrel by the use of chemical accelerants.  Thats what it is.  How it is used is up to the person using it.

The same goes for 40k and the use and abuse of it.  Somehow it is GWs responsibility to create this perfectly balanced game, because if they don't, we will abuse the shit out of it and break it.  Whoa, were is that their fault or responsibility.  This start and ends with you.  YOU are responsible for your game and the fun or lack there of you have doing it.  Oh yes, we must defend the people who take these abusive lists to tournaments and win with them.  They are talented, so therefore it is excused.  No that is a cop out.  Yes these guys are talented, that is true.  But they are part of the problem.  If you are running an eldar jetseer council with the baron and wave serpents/knights for flavor, was that really your desired army that you have just been waiting years for to play? You were waiting years int he closet with the baron and your eldar, waiting for the day the two could combine. Yeah I thought not.

So is this GWs fault?  The answer really is part yes and part no.  The yes is because they do write lazy rules sometimes and fail to police their mistakes and clarify conundrums. That is their responsibility.  But its not their fault that your taking O'vesa star, or an inquisitor with as many thud guns and vendettas as you can squeeze into your list.  If you are cherry picking the most hard core units based only off of their crunch, well I'm sorry your kind of an asshole.  There is noting necessarily wrong with these unit individually.  Its how they are used in combinations with things that can break the game. 

Remember this, the game is only broken if you choose to break it.  Sure I could take sabre platforms and thud guns and a skyshield etc.  But I don't.   And no you don't have to take these things to win a tournament.  That is a cop out to shift the blame from you to the ether.  Oh I just have to, or I won't win.  Well I guess winning is more important than the integrity of the game.  Guess what, if no one took these things that are broken, there wouldn't be much of a problem.  That will only happen if each and every one of you makes the decision to do that. 

That also begs the question though, what is broken and what isn't.  That is a hard question sometimes because the answers are subjective.  Now invincible units are broken, no way to argue around that.  Got it there is tactics against it, but the same goes for a revenant.  I personally don't necessarily see spam as uber cheese.  Part of it comes from the fact that real militaries love to spam.  Spam is efficient.  Some one brings 9 leman russes, I don't see that as a bad thing.  They like armor and want to run the army they love.  I can accept that, its far from a broken army and has serious weaknesses.  Wave serpent spam.  Well that kind of is a fluffy eldar army.  Its a bitch to play against have no doubt.  But I don't see that as the most abusive and it certainly has its own weaknesses against heavy armor or fast cc builds. 

We are at a point now though were we have gods.  These invincible units that you have to rely on a dice roll going really bad to have  a good chance.  Maybe a god killer isn't that bad.  You don't have to take either though, you know that?  The option is there, but its not the game companies fault for giving you that option, its yours for taking it.  With so many subjective ideas about what is broken, can we really police it? 

So what to do?  I think thats what most people expect with article like this, I have laid out whats wrong and now will illuminate you with the path to righteousness.  Well its not  that simple.  A big part of this comes down to all of us just agreeing to have fun.  The point isn't to win, thats only part of it.  Winning is fun, but is not the point of the game.  Having fun, both of you playing, that is the point of the game.  I like a challenge and I like winning, so I don't necessarily mind fighting tough armies.  If someone wants to bring a revenant, I'll play it, I'll keep playing it till I can beat it. 

Its important to leave your egos out of this hobby.  That becomes such an issue and I have seen it many times. We all want to be right and want to win, and it can become so alluring that we lose sight that there are other people around us that feel the same and, god forbid, might actually be right too sometimes. 

And here is my thing, if I have to play with the deathstars, I want to play with everything.  I don't buy the excuse that the D is bad and unfun, cause I don't find these stars to be fun.  So lets play with everything.  Lets have some fun.  Or we can abide by a social contract and not play with the most broken things available.  Its a choice.  Decide what is important to you about this hobby.  I honestly am at the point now where I am ok with going with everything becaue why not, its the game and its cool.  I would love to see someone bring a titan to a tournament and throw things for a loop.  Some may argue that restrictions are needed to balance the game.  I think the problem is that too many changes and restrictions are needed to truly do that, and at that point are we really playing 40k after we have modified half the game and codexs to "balance" it out.  Modifying the 2++ reroll is not enough on its own, there are so many other things that need to be touched to be effective.  And a part of me chaffs at that, who is anyone to say that someone cannot play their army as it is written.  Its in their codex let them use it.  So I am ok with escalation and D weapons and fortifications and flyers and all of that. Lets go for it and play with it all.  And at the same time lets not be dicks about it.  Have fun.  Bring multiple lists to your FGLS and play them based on who is there.  If some one wants hardcore mode, go for it.  But if he wants to do a themed game with fluff armies, go for it too. 

We can all affect the game and community with our attitudes and choices.  The only person or thing responsible for you having a bad time is you.  That is a choice you have made.   You can continue down that path, or not, up to you.

I am going to have fun.  And I'm going to play with my titan whenever I can get a chance and if someone wants to play with theirs, awesome.  We spend the money on these things, why not use them.  Someone might not like it, well thats part of life.  If you are not trying to one up someone but just have fun, then it really is their problem and not yours.  Pull out another list and leave the titan to watch the battle, I'm cool doing that if someone doesn't want to take it on.  You should be too.  I hate the gotcha attitude.  The whole well the rules allow it so you have to suck it.   That is utter BS.  Its a hobby and I can take my toys wherever I want to. 

For me, my point has changed a lot over the last year.  The game has changed more than I could have imagined.  And I'm fine with it.  I'm having fun.  You should too.

GG