A guest editorial from Andrew Kocher on the importance of not getting mired down in negativity and learning to enjoy the experience of Warhammer 40,000.
In recent years I have noticed a trend among 40k players which I think is to hobby’s detriment. As a gamer and lover of the hobby it is my duty to step forward and bring this problem to light in the hope that we as a community can curb it before the damage is irreparable. I’m speaking of the negativity that is being voiced in droves and spreading like nurgle’s rot from player to player and forum to forum. The internet is an easy and anonymous place for each of us to voice our frustrations but it’s on each of us as individuals to do our best to lift up our hobby rather than waste precious breath on further tearing it down.
I’m sure we all can remember a time when some aspect of the hobby was changed either through the release of new editions, models or supplements that we felt did nothing but harm the game and sometimes us personally. For me it was the change from the third edition Chaos Space Marines codex to 4th. I’m sure we can all agree 3rd edition was the golden age of Chaos. I was a Thousand Sons player (and still am) and never since have I been able to wield the psychic might of those bygone days.
But I’m not here to climb the soap box of doom and spew vileness. There was a time when that was the case; every conversation about 40k was eventually dragged around to the topic of Chaos and how bad my experience had become. To the point where friends and fellow gamers had heard the arguments so often that they would groan or roll their eyes and try to change the subject. Not only was I hurting my own enjoyment of the hobby I was hurting theirs as well. I was that guy. But after spending some time as a game designer myself, I came to the realization that no designer ever makes a change to a game that they don’t feel is beneficial in the long run. Once I had that epiphany I stopped preaching about the past and lamenting what I had lost and started examining what I had. I realized that I had a great game and a great hobby. I had friends to share those things with, and some really great memories.
I no longer play the game out of misguided obligation, I play because I love it. I truly enjoy the hobby again. It’s as if the blinds have been drawn back and light allowed to flood into the room. 40k is in a golden age the likes of which we have never seen before. You can truly field any kind of army and have a good time. We have rules and ways of playing the game that never existed before and communities like the ITC to organize players and promote the hobby. It’s a great game and deserves to be treated as such.