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I have to confess that I am a complete 40k nut. It's my release from the stress of the real world and I enjoy consuming as much of the game as I can. But I don't force it. If I'm not feeling like it, I won't make myself paint, blog, read or whatever. I prefer to do something else (there are other things, right? Right?!?), because I do not want my precious free time being taken up by something that feels like work or that I end up resenting. I do this because I've learned from my past mistakes.
My interests tend to go
in long cycles. Before I got back into 40k, I was heavily into MTG
(which is great!). But after a few years of intense enjoyment, things
started to get a bit stale. I was playing and building decks out of
habit but not really with the passion I had before. I ended up just
doing it because I didn't really have anything else that I fancied
doing at the time, rather than because I really wanted to. I
eventually reached burnout – a point where I really couldn't stand
the thought of playing or making a deck, I felt completely uninspired
and detached from the game.
But I kept on playing
anyway.
And then I really
burned out.
Having had a break of a few years, I can now play occasionally for fun, but I no longer have the intense desire to make a killer rouge deck or try out loads of new combos. I dip into it when I feel like it and I'm happy with that. Perhaps I will return to my former all-consuming passion for the game, but equally, maybe I won't. I'm just going to see what I feel like.
I recently read this guest post on Imperius Dominatus by Adam from the Space Wolves Blog. Adam created and ran the site for years during the height of
the 5th edition love with the crazy space Vikings, just as
I was getting back into 40k. There was a huge amount of great content
for me to devour, and really helped develop my understanding of how
to make a decent Space Wolves army and had lots of cool hobby content
too. Then the posts started slowing down, and suddenly stopped. For
months nothing was added, and we were left with a big wolfy hole in
the blogoshpere.
Some time later, the
blog was re-launched in it's current iteration, purchased by another
blogger who paid Adam to contribute occasional posts. And they felt
forced. It was obvious to me (and probably many others) that sadly
Adam had hit burnout, and was pushing out the content. Adam knew how
he felt, but he just kept going anyway. Like with my MTG, he kept
going until it was just too much, and the result is his farewell to
blogging article linked above.
Wargaming, like any
wonderfully nerdy hobby (I embrace this!), attracts a large spectrum
of different personality types. I don't think I'm going too much out
on a limb here to suggest that a large proportion of us (myself
included) love to loose ourselves in the game, totally immersing
ourselves and loving every minute. But I know I can become reliant on
the escape it provides, and any other hobby or game doesn't seem as
interesting or exciting. I've done it before with Diablo II,
Morrowind, and MTG. But it can get too much, and whether through
habit/addiction or choice, overdoing a game when you've
actually had enough can lead to burnout and sometimes quitting the
hobby that you once loved.
Conclusion
We invest a great deal of time, money, effort and emotion into our hobby, and it's not easy to put things in perspective sometimes. I think what I'm trying to get across here is that's it's ok, healthy even, to step away, have a break, and come back to your favourite game if and when you're ready. For the gamers who want to get better all the time, to the blogger who's trying to maintain their success or push to the next level, for the modellers and painters who are working on their masterpieces or to complete their award winning army – it's ok to have a break. For a hour, day, week, month, or however long you want, take a breather when you need it!
So I guess through past
experience I've learned to pace myself and to recognise the signs of
burning out. Sometimes it's a natural thing as interests move on.
Sometimes it's overdoing it. Either way, I hope this has given you an
insight into what to look for, and maybe a moment to reflect on where
you are and why you're there.
Now, where's that codex...
I really appreciate this article, I've watched it happen to many times to friends. Where they get in a rut and all it takes is a little push from some as innocuous as a string of bad games or a codex update they don't agree with. Just a shame.
ReplyDeleteAlso from experience no one quits MTG...its worse than cigarettes
Thanks. It can happen so easily, and I think the trick is to be aware that it's happening and do something about it.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right about MTG!
I think the telling point in Adam's post is that he says he has pretty much played every 40K army. That is a huge amount of work painting and a huge amount of money buying. No wonder he is feeling burnt out, I just don't think that approach to the hobby is sustainable these days.
ReplyDeleteIf I was talking to anyone thinking about starting 40K, I'd encourage them to read a lot of novels and write a lot of lists before deciding to collect one, and only one, faction. If you do this and slowly build up your collection then although your faction may not be the most competitive at any given moment, you sure will know how to play it, and you can build up the sort of collection that doesn't require so much updating between editions.
You can target your purchases carefully on ebay or whatever, and if you follow the Golden Rule of NEVER SELLING ANY MINIS (even if you feel you are giving up the hobby, as it may just be a break and you don't know it yet) whatever went out of fashion last edition will probably come back in with the next, and you'll already have it painted and ready to go!
Good advice there. Buying, making and painting that many playable armies is a lot of work! Not many people have the funds, time or inclination to do this, especially to a high standard.
DeleteIf I remember correctly, Adam sold and remade his Wolves at least once, going for a very cool Heresy era army the second time, but still wasn't happy and talked about doing all over again!
Sometimes people have to sell an army to pay bills, and I've had to do this on a couple of occasions myself. However, it's good advice to hold on to it if you can. Like you said, you never know when yo may want to come back!
Completely agree, I try and have a few small projects on the go, just so if I start to lose inspiration on one I generally pick it up on another - and generally it's not long before the ideas are flowing for the original project again. Not everyone's ideal way to work, and it can be a little slow, but I find I enjoy every moment this way - and it is supposed to be a hobby after all right?
ReplyDeleteHi Headologist, thanks for stopping by! I totally agree that this is supposed to be a hobby, and it's so easy to forget that. There's nothing wrong with wanting to compete or improve our game or hobby skills, and there's more than a little bit of me that is a perfectionist by nature. However, I don't think it's possible to maintain an interest in something over a long period of time under too much pressure! Learning to take a break, or just change things up like you said, can make things so much better over time.
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