A Response to Lone Pilgrim

Lone Pilgrim made a pie chart and wrote a post in response to an article in White Dwarf in which Jervis Johnson discusses the motivations that people have for their hobby. It seemed like a wonderfully nerdy thing to do, so I made my own chart. My wife teased me for being such a nerd, but sometimes you've got to just be yourself no matter what other people say.

I think I've got the chart divided approximately according to my own personality. It is somewhat different from the one that was posted by Lone Pilgrim; the collecting models portion on my chart is significantly larger while the Camaraderie and Playing Games portions are much smaller.

I greatly enjoy planning, purchasing, putting together, and painting models. For me that is the main part of the hobby. Along with collecting and creating armies I enjoy the background material and coming up with forces that both make sense and include all of the models I enjoy. I have been having a great time with my plans for the Last Chancers and the Imperial Guard color scheme for my other troops, just like I enjoyed building up my Skaven army and coming up with a color scheme and force organisation for my Space Marines. I get pumped up about lists and plans and new products. I love to look at release schedules and plan out what I need next. I even enjoy sitting down and getting stuff painted or put together.

Playing games and camaraderie with other gamers are things that I anticipate and think about when planning and painting. They're sort of an end-goal for all the work and creation that goes into the hobby, but in my experience so far they have fallen short and left me disappointed. Part of it has to do with the local gamers and attitudes that come into play, and I imagine a large portion of the blame lies in my social awkwardness and the difficulty I have in putting myself out there to make friends and be a part of games. Whatever the causes, I generally find myself coming home from a game feeling let down rather than motivated and excited for the next one.

Lone Pilgrim had a couple of commenters who mostly agreed with him as well as some comments who trended more to the playing games and camaraderie end of the scale. It is interesting that the hobby is spread across such a wide spectrum. I suppose that it is really several hobbies in one. But if you think about it, many (if not most) hobbies are that way. People tend to specialize and move toward the aspects of a hobby that interest them most.