Are you a gaming snob?

[Elbows]

I always tell folks that LAF is 50% inspiration and 50% depressing...and I always hesitate to start a thread without a disclaimer "this is not a top tier project!" 

I do think LAF is easily the finest hobby forum I've ever stumbled upon.  Equal attention to paid to most areas and it's great to see so many gamers spanning various forum sections.  Very few gamers seem to stick to one small sub-forum on here.  It really is an excellent source for ideas, inspiration, news, and just game-porn.  I'm sure like many people I get excited when I stumble upon a 30+ page thread I haven't seen.  I immediately think "Well, 30 pages...it must be good...page one..."


Also it seems such a good international audience that news/new items/kickstarters/etc. are so well advertised/spread by word of mouth here.

[Modhail]

I think that's part of what attracted me to LAF, it's high quality all the way.
Whatever we do, we endeavour to do well. Be it painting, terrain building, (sharing) research or just banter on the forum. Plus this forum seems to be more laid back and friendly than many others. (It's the only place I've ever seen people apologize when a discussion became somewhat heated!)
But to me that's inspirational, rather than elitist. That's why my mates comment surprised me. And it sort of saddens me that people self-exile themselves from this forum because they think they aren't good enough for the LAF.  I'd prefer to share the collected awesome with as many people as possible.
Like Too Bo Coo and mr. Peabody said, I see this forum as a place where we appreciate people putting in effort, where one is encouraged to participate and expand their options. Without criticism for the the result, but advice and encouragement so folks who want to, can improve. You don't have to be good or "top tier" to join and participate here, but you will experience a degree of "awesome by osmosis". I think mentality and attitude to wargaming is more important than level of skill on this forum. It's just that some of the veterans on this forum have already assimilated a lot of awesome... It can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, like Elbows said, 50/50 inspiring and depressing (though I'd rather say "humbling").

That's why, despite participation on multiple forums, this place feels like "home": the friendliness and inspiration you all provide. It's just a shame some people see that as a barrier to entry, I wish we could remedy that.

[Atheling]

I suppose when it comes to choosing miniatures to buy from companies I most certainly am.

Painting wise, I like to have a high standard of my work on the table top- you can pay an awful lot of money for miniatures nowadays so why not paint it up to the highest standard one is capable of doing? Well, that's my attitude anyway

Darrell.

[Silent Invader]

Miniatures wargaming is an inherently visual hobby. We want it to look nice. We want to represent little men on model terrain. if we didn't want that, and it wasn't visual, then we would all just play with chits, counters or board games. But we don't, because the visual impact appeals to us. Once you accept that basic premise, it makes no sense to me for miniatures wargamers to claim 'it doesn't matter what it looks like' - because patently it does matter what it looks like. Otherwise you wouldn't be into wargaming with miniatures at all.

I'd been waiting for you to type something like that so I could simply add "+1".  So...

+1

 

But am I a wargaming snob? I guess some would see me that way as I aspire to achieve the best that I can, whether it is terrain, miniatures, rules, or the actual gaming experience, etc.  Wargaming is my primary hobby and as such I need to be able to immerse myself in it: to my mind there is little point in having a hobby that does not provide a complete distraction from the rigours of everyday life.  So, as my preferred escape from real life, my hobby gets a somewhat full-on level of commitment, aspiration, and, as skills develop, attainment.  That it comes with the bonus of chatting (whether virtually or physically) and gaming with like-minded good friends is the bonus.

When I joined LAF I had little wargaming experience or ability.  As a member of LAF, encouraged by its other members, my experience and ability have grown.  For me, then, LAF has been and continues to be rewarding.  I'll keep coming back as long as it continues to be rewarding, much as I'll keep plugging away with my take on wargaming as long as it gives me that 'oh so important' immersive factor.

So am I a wargaming snob?  Back to the OP's starting point:

While I know the game itself is no different if it's played with plastic models/unpainted plastic dishes as terrain on a simple piece of felt...I just can't be bothered.  I occasionally sit back and feel a bit like a snob since I expect a reasonable standard of table-top quality when someone is presenting a game.

As there is nothing in that I can disagree with, well, I guess I am. 

[Onebigriver]

I suppose I should clarify a bit.  I've no issue with gaming with plastics etc. if there are kids or new players, etc.  But for seasoned gamers etc. I'd probably shy away from an invitation to something like that.

That's the one aspect of your admitted snobbishness I cannot understand. You want tables to look nice & armies to be painted, that's understandable, but what difference does it make if the figures are plastic, resin or metal?

[CriticalGeek]

That's the one aspect of your admitted snobbishness I cannot understand. You want tables to look nice & armies to be painted, that's understandable, but what difference does it make if the figures are plastic, resin or metal?

I think he means unpainted plastic miniatures, but I may be mistaken.

[Elbows]

Yep, unpainted plastics.  Now...resin...they can sod off! 

[Silent Invader]

I think he means unpainted plastic miniatures, but I may be mistaken.

That was how I read it 

[Elk101]

I think Captain Blood is right with his comments on the visual nature of the hobby. It's certainly a big thing for me that I realised when I discovered that I'd rather buy figures I like than simply the cheapest available. My painting is firmly mid table,  which I'm fine with (this was proven with my firmly mid table LPL finish!) and I still get a sense of satisfaction from doing it. I'm never going to be as good as Captain Blood and many other LAFers but I like to try and learn what I can from them and I have never found any of them to be snobs in that way, always helpful.

 I don't as a rule like using unpainted figures in a game but I did recently run an Old West game with partially finished buildings purely because I hadn't gotten round to them in time. As a group we were OK with that as it was a clear work in progress and we'd rather play than not. Besides, I'm the only one with young kids so the others cut me some slack with that! It was nothing at all to do with not being bothered about the visual aspect and purely a time thing, they WILL get finished because I want to.

Snob probably doesn't conjure up the right image as it sounds negative.  It's a mix mash of perfectionism, appreciation,  aspiration, completionism and probably lots of others isms.

[obsidian3d]

I'm certainly not a painter the caliber of the likes that join in the LPL or anything. I neither aspire to be nor have the time to be. I'm happy with the level of quality I can reach when painting figures. The reason I don't aspire to more is that I would rather have a good looking batch of minis on the table that took a reasonable amount of time than spend what I know would be too long in my mind. I simply like the 'gaming' part of war gaming too much to sacrifice more of that time painting. But painted is the way to go.

[Elbows]

I'm with you on that stuff Obsidian.  I paint solidly middle-table and I'm completely fine with that.  I know perfectly well I don't have the hands/coordination/time/patience to really up my level.  I'd rather have a table full of painted goodness than perfect stuff.  This started back in high school.  I had a buddy who, no kidding, won a couple of Golden Demon trophies whilst still in high school.  The catch?  He had about a dozen figures painted in the time I had a fully couple of armies painted.    I'm okay with that trade.

I guess I'm not snobbish about the level of paint...if you want to spray, dip, paint a gun barrel and base it...I'm 100% fine with that, I just like to see some effort made toward the end result.  I've decided another factor for me is time.  As we grow older we seem to have less hobby time, and as such if I'm going to spend some of my limited free time (irony: currently unemployed and have TOO much free time...) I want it to be something a bit special.  Again, I've been hugely encouraged by the group I game with to get a good quality game going, and I'm always happy to know I'll be in for a little bit of a treat whatever we play.

[Legion1963]

Indeed. I gues i am guilty as charged. But in my defense i can say that i did it all for the betterment of the human race. Alas. ;-)

[gary42]

I'm no snob but dear boys, unpainted minis are simply not done in polite society.

[Pijlie]

I am afraid I am. At least with regards to good visuals. So nice terrain and painted figures are the minimum standard for me. Certainly when playing outside the home.

Apart from that I have no standards. I will even mix metals and plastic 😃

[Michi]

I always play only with painted miniatures. When I set up a game I do it to the best possible terrain standard that I can achieve. However I don´t hesitate to play on tables that don´t meet my own standard of effort, but I would try to talk my opponents into using painted miniatures if they tried to face me with bare metal or plastic. Luckily that never happened yet. I do not expect a certain standard of paintjob, but painted it must be. I feel that this is a way to show respect to an opponent who also puts time and effort into improving his gaming pieces by painting them.