Category: Spirit

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What a Game or a Story Can Be

Gaming can be a place to show that you understand complex things and can implement your plan towards success inside a framework or against these complex rules (things) toward success.  For some, this is the ultimate feeling.  Power, excellence, pride for yourself and your team. Satisfaction.

Games provide a place for companionship,  camaraderie and competition, often all together in one time and place.  These games are my favorite, the ones that happen with multiple people in one place at the same time.  For me, many of the best moments of my life were spent ‘in game.’  Not just RPGs and board games, which I do enjoy the absolute most, but backyard football, volleyball and many, many hours spent building MtG decks and playing them against friends.

Now, as I have finally, and with much backsliding and resistance moved into adulthood.  I would like gaming to provide me an income.  Gaming and writing. But, not for nothing, I want to provide people with quality games as I have seen them throughout my life.  I want to give people the chance to connect to others in one of the few ways I know how, through games and stories.  In the next few days I’m going to post a couple products here. A game, and a story.  The game I made for a friend.  Because that is what gaming has always been to me, a friend. The story was going to be a game, but became a novella.

I consider games to be sacred. First, because they bring us together.  Even solo games bring people together to discuss rules and strategy etc. That makes games good, and of course this is what makes stories good too.  And to me a story is a game too.  A game of, can I surprise you, can I put you in suspense, or bring forth an emotion in you. Can you relate to this series of events, people and places that I have described?  Second, games are sacred because for a short time at least, games and stories give us purpose.  Purpose is why we are here.  What purpose?  Well, it depends on the game.

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Sad and Lonely Gamer – When to Leave a Gaming Group

What is a gamer with no games to play? What is a player with no friends who stay? Tuesday’s are always tough for me. Monday comes and goes and the week’s workload is sinking in, yours and all the people around you too and if you are worth your salt, they are asking you to help them or work with them. Plus I jacked my neck up so I’m dealing with some pain. Probably, from hanging my head over my damn phone all day. So yeah, I’m sad today. I’m watching my poor dog who needs a walk but probably won’t get one today and I’m thinking of how spry a puppy she was. And I’m thinking of my kids who are flying through grade and high school and will be gone someday. Finally my old game group, who were good people, it just wasn’t working for me.

So when to leave a group? I left mine, because I was super busy with my day job. And while we were only meeting twice a month, we started drinking and playing a little later and I was a wreck the next day very often. So yeah if your game becomes more drinking than gaming and you have work to do? Leave.

What is often true is that your group is your long time friends, so leaving is awful and lonely and sucky. But you can still be part of gaming. There are only a million online games. Right? I buy board games and read the rules. Check boardgamegeek or other gaming websites and podcasts. You can stay involved till you find another group. Plus you can hit FNM at one of the comic or boardgame shops to meet people and summer is here. Go to Origins or Gen Con. Go to Comic Con. Your people are out there, just go find them.

Also, a reason I left my group, was because our ‘leader’ was a former boss, and friends at work, well, when the work ends, it’s sometimes tough to make that transition to friendship. Especially because the work situation went sour for you or for your work friend.

There is another thing that happens often in game groups, especially when there are a lot of dudes. A hierarchy just naturally develops and one guy gets the brunt of the joke made in his direction. Sometime it’s fine, but look if you are at the bottom of the social order of your group and you don’t want to be. Leave dummy. It’s not that good for you, go find people more like you or that treat you better.

Here is one great thing I did when I couldn’t find a game. Volunteer at a booth at Gen Con. Or Origins. Or DragonCon. I can’t even tell you how awesome volunteering was, you get to help this people with their dreams and you meet people to game with. It’s amazing.

If I’ve never typed it, thanks for reading. I’m certain most of my web hits are chinese bots. But should a human come across my site. Thanks for checking it out.

J