Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Introspection

I wonder, what does all of this accomplish in the long run. Sitting around playing with dolls isn't getting me any closer to a degree, isn't getting me in shape, eats up money I could spend elsewhere, and certainly isn't getting me laid. Would I have a better life if I had never picked it up? Is it a destructive addiction, or a harmless hobby? Something in between? Is it me? Do the people I hang out with really care about me, or do we just play games? Do I care about them? Are we human? Or are we dancers?

I just had a big dose of IRL drama dropped on me, it's made me start thinking. Maybe talking about it, even to my keyboard, will help. I don't think I can maintain my current level of involvement in the hobby. I suppose this has been a long time coming, but I need to cut back.

Maybe 2 armies per system, enough to keep me engaged, plenty to paint, and so I won't get bored. Everything else must go. I doubt I can recoup the costs, monetary or otherwise, but I think it's a step in the right direction.

That leaves me with:
Dark Angels/Deathwing/Vanilla Marines
Orks
Skaven
Dark Elves
Sprue Daemons (if I get arsed enough to finish them)

On second thought, I'm not even sure why I posted this. I'll still be here, spinning my spiel, just feeling a little thoughtful and depressed today.

4 comments:

Farmpunk said...

I think it's a good think to stop and check yourself from time to time.

Everyone had Real Life sneak up and bite them in the bum. it's what life's pretty good at. Take a Deep Breath and step back for a little while. nothing wrong with that.

I got too riled up about the blogosphere infighting. I just think it's so immature, and doesn't benefit anyone, really. I needed to step back away from the bar.

Get your degree. Noone can take it away from you. It will help you in many ways, and hopefully help you make more money to spend on silly little plastic men.

Ravendove said...

Wall of text alert:

I think this is an interesting point. I've been in this hobby for coming on twelve years now, starting in my early teens, and I've certainly had some highs and some lows.

Having a bit of a cleanout is always a good idea. Several times over the years I've literally chucked out or sold everything I wasn't using, put a few armies in storage and 'taken a break' for a few months. I did this mainly through the last year of school and the last year of college (UK; ages 16 and 18 respectively). As Farmpunk said, life does tend to sneak up on you and demand your attention.

But it really depends on how much you find it interferes with your social life. If the hobby *is* your social life, then perhaps it's time to take a breath and re-examine your priorities. I've had a career for the last five years, a long term girlfriend and many mates who do (and don't) play Warhammer. I have nights out and nights in. As long as you can balance all the aspects of your life with your hobby, I don't think there's a problem. It's when it takes over, that there is.

Since getting a well paying full time job after coming out of education (and the disposable income that came with it) I've blown more money than I should on little plastic men, for sure. Starting new armies left right and center. I've got at least £100-200 of stuff still in shrinkwrapped boxes tucked away in a cubpoard!

In the end, I sat down and had to limit myself. I vowed not to buy anything new until I had completely finished the armies I was currently working on. It has gives me an incentive to actually work with what I've got and ultimately made me consider the hobby more, consequently enjoying it more because I'm finding I take more pride in what I have accomplished.

TL;DR summary: limit yourself to few armies or take a break for a while, it will probably do you good... it did me.

Anonymous said...

Definitely get your priorities straight, but that doesn't mean you have to sell off your collection. Keep some stuff in a box or you'll kick yourself someday.

Chumbalaya said...

Thank you for your support.

I'm not getting rid of my entire collection and I don't intend of quitting any time soon, I just need to consolidate my holdings. I have a metric ton of stuff I just don't use any more and I want to move on to other projects. I've been accumulating stuff since I started 8 or so years ago and it's just reached critical mass. I don't have enough space for it at home and I'm sick of stowing it in my car or in the garage.

The IRL drama is just a matter of straws breaking various backs. Stuff like this builds up over time and jumps out of nowhere. I do need to focus on school more, but it's difficult when I'm working 40 hours a week too. It feels like there aren't enough hours in the day and now I'm just tired all the time. It's running me ragged and I just want the semester to be over with.

So, I'm gonna start selling or trading off my stuff. I'm going to try a new method, rather than just having things for its own sake and never using them (my half-company of marines, my Ork horde, Nob Bikers, little bits of CSM and Daemons) I'm going to have multiple armies. I'll build them up to 1850-2000 and have them set to go for tournies or casual play, nice and modular. That should give me the focus I need to commit to and finish them, plus it gives me more options to have different armies and playstyles available rather than foot marines vs mech marines.

Now I just have to figure out a way to offload all those models, organize what I have left, find adequate storage space, and work on getting a modelling/painting station put together. All of that on top of school, work, and our new dog.

Yay me.