Friday, October 28, 2011

Is Unorthodoxy a function of playing time?

I was discussing the Sisters of Battle Codex with someone on another forum and it struck me that my unorthodoxy might very well be a product of playing time.

Where I play, I get 4 games a week in.  That is about 230 games a year including tournaments, and it has never really occurred to me that this would be much different than all the other "guru's and experts" on the interwebz.

Recent discussions and off hand comments from gamers and forum owners have made me think that it isn't the norm.  By all accounts, 50-75 games a year is the norm for a LOT of players at a lot of shops.

So in some ways my playing time has contributed greatly to my ability to be more open minded about playing styles and list building; whereas a person who plays once a week or even month is going to find the idea of struggling three straight games while they learn a new method or list abhorrent.  I get that many games in one week, sometimes in one day!  Losing here and there isn't a big deal to me.

For people to learn multiple ways to play they are going to need to either take advice from those who do it in order to learn faster or they are going to have to try it themselves (which means a little struggle initially as you transform the way you think).  Peoples tolerance for growing pains is so small in the 40K multiverse that many players simply won't, despite the benefits and no matter how many wins you show them.  That makes me a little sad.

The limited playing time issue may very well be why so many are trapped into more conventional thinking and get extremely nasty about it when you try to point out any other way of doing things.  The heavy reliance on formidable, albeit cookie cutter, builds comes from the simple human drive to succeed.  They KNOW that they can win one way because they saw a bunch of other monkeys do it.


So I conclude that playing may skew peoples views a lot more than I had considered and may be why I am seen as unorthodox.  Still, I'd sure like it if people would look at the success other builds and play styles create.  I have no problem with one arguing that one has no time to learn a new trick (it's an excuse, but as excuses go, it's not the worst I've heard).  I do take great exception to those who belittle other less orthodox approaches, especially when they yield success.

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