Check all that apply.
There to win. Let me ask you a question, when you wrap a night of board gaming and you driving home...do you recap your performance? Some of us do.
There not to lose. Maybe you don't need to win, you just need to avoid last place.
There for confrontation. The folks who want to put their resources up against your resources, and crush you. Mano a mano!
Decidedly NOT there for confrontation. Don't come to get beat up on by their friends.
There to think. Euro/designer board games offer a nice challenge. A lot of the luck from the board games of our youth has been boiled out of these, which make them particularly enjoyable for problem/puzzle solvers.
There not to think. Just pushing around pieces, whatever. Whatever their list of motivations for coming, the game itself ranks low.
There to socialize. Some folks come to the game to hang out, see their friends, and eat chips.
)
Try new stuff. What's out there that I haven't played yet?
Play the old stuff. Prefer to play to same stuff they've been playing. After all, their finally good at those!
And the joker. Some people just want to see the world burn.
(demented and sad, but social)
I'll go first. Well I'm competitive, so I'll take some winning please. I've come a long way though, I *think* my friends will still like me even if I lose some games, although I'm still not completely confident. I am extraverted, so socializing for $1000 Alex. Juan pointed out that there isn't a lot of time for chatting when people are concentrating on their turns and such, but I have better luck than he does. First, it's my house, so I'm the first one here and the last one to leave. Plus, I don't mind starting a conversation with the guy next to me while I'm waiting. And if you start getting involved in the conversation while we're all waiting for you, I will admonish you! And the jokes, no matter how deep we are in the game, there is always time for jokes. I do like to try new stuff, but a new game every two weeks is about my speed. Any more than that isn't as much fun. Learning the game is work, playing it is the fun. Oh and I'm definitely there to think and puzzle through the game. I enjoy that part quite a bit, and as I've said before, I'll obsess over these games during the week.
How about you? And did I miss a category?
1. Relaxation. The last thing I want to do during my gaming session is anything that remotely resembles a chore.
ReplyDelete2. Creative Outlet. I need an outlet for creative energy, I have no discernible talents or skills in that regard so role playing is about it.
3. Socialization. My days are spent in a cube, my evenings with young children, one can only discuss Special Agent OSO so long before losing ones marbles.
I am not terribly competitive, while winning is fun, the fun factor of a win is not strong enough to really drive me to do anything towards that goal, you know like practicing, or learning all the rules :) I just want to have a good time.
If it is board games, I am there to win. Or at least to think and learn something about strategy and tactics.
ReplyDeleteIf it is RPG, I am there to socialize and make funny. I miss the Tavis/Frink banter in the Cauldron campaign, and I felt like the comedy between Juan and I in the next campaign we did (where I was his manager) was not fully realized. Interaction among the team of characters is fun.
I am definitely not there for confrontation. Ever.
I like trying new stuff sometimes, but I can only take so many games that take 45 minutes to learn the rules before I want to curl up into a fetal position for a week. I like replaying a game from different angles to really learn about it.
I like to think and to not lose. I don't really care about winning all that much, but I do hate to get my ass kicked. As long as I had a competitive game, that's good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteI think the most important thing for me about playing games is that I feel like I'm part of a team of capable people that are all motivated and racing to figure out the solution to a problem everyone has decided to care about. I really like to care about stuff, and for the VAST majority of my life I do things that no one (me included) really cares about.
ReplyDeleteAlso most of my interactions with random people leave me feeling a bit judgy about them and how little they care about what they are doing or just how generally incompetent they are. For the most part that is completely eliminated in the gaming universe. You spend time with people who have exceptional experience playing and deciphering games, everyone is qualified and interested, and I feel like I thrive in an environment like that.
It pretty much always comes back to M:TG for me. That really was an amazing high point in my gaming life. Everyone was incredibly motivated to figure it out. There were elements of competition between the people I respect, but at the same time we'd rather see each other win than THAT random guy. It was something we were all good at, and so we could all having meaningful insights and validations for one another just by saying "That was a great idea for a deck!"
I like validation a lot, and just about the only place I feel like I can genuinely get it and it isn't just coming from some kind of obligation (like when your mom tells you you look nice!) has been games. I think I am good at games, and so there are all kinds of rewards for that when you spend time with other gamers.
And then eventually you end up spending time with those people because you just like to spend time with them, and the games become secondary, well, if you're lucky! Sometimes the people want to tell you all about their 22nd level wizard who owns Greyhawk, and you have to pretend you left your dice in the car.
So, ya, games.