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Weirdest was a tournament where I came dead last and the organiser/shop owner gave me the "getting last" prize.

Then immediately took it back and laughed at me because he'd given me the winner prize, then gave me nothing. This was in front of everyone. What a total witch.

Never went back there.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Weirdest was a tournament where I came dead last and the organiser/shop owner gave me the "getting last" prize.

Then immediately took it back and laughed at me because he'd given me the winner prize, then gave me nothing. This was in front of everyone. What a total witch.

Never went back there.

I dunno, it does seem kind of funny, in a tough love way. Like he was trying to encourage you to win first prize next time, but without actually sayong so

That definitely reads like a dick move to me.
It's something that could easily be a joke, but only between friends.

Trying to play a game with a newer player in 8th. Just a pick up game so my list wasn't tailered to be the softest but just taking it easy on not using any strategums etc.

Except this was the game were my dice decided to be on championship form, I couldn't fail a roll for some reason.
5 hits turned into 4 wounds while needing 6's type stuff.
I think that's excessive pick up 5 new dice and yeah still 3 from 5.

What made it even worse was they couldn't seem to roll anything they needed, rolling 3d6 pick the highest two for shots and they got 3. Psychic tests oh yeah then they get double 6's.

Maybe it's lack of skill on mypart but I couldn't think of a way to throw the game harder. Like when your ignoring multiple units in your list it gets super obvious your trying to give them a chance and they're still loosing.

 addnid wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Weirdest was a tournament where I came dead last and the organiser/shop owner gave me the "getting last" prize.

Then immediately took it back and laughed at me because he'd given me the winner prize, then gave me nothing. This was in front of everyone. What a total witch.

Never went back there.

I dunno, it does seem kind of funny, in a tough love way. Like he was trying to encourage you to win first prize next time, but without actually sayong so

"tough love" is a dogwhistle for abuse. In this case it just seems like having fun at the expense of a poor schmuck that came last (in a game that's as well suited to competitive play as monopoly no less).

Years ago, had a 'fun' combat patrol game with my 13th company warband. Can't remember who I faced, maybe marines or chaos? Anyway who is faced isnt relevant.

My dice were tzeentchian. Simultaneously, with whatever attacks I made, I never failed to inflict wounds. I could also never pass any save I had to make from any attacks against me. Literally. Opposite dice spikes at both sides of a game.

Neber had anything like it since.

The lack of empathy and self-awareness in many of these stories (and in some of the posters here) really highlights some problems in the hobby (and wider) community. Especially regarding their perceptions of and approach to interacting with neurodivergent individuals. Honestly, it’s painful reading some of these posts and the reactions to them, like something from the 1950s in terms of understanding.

I’m still boggling at someone above actually calling people with ASD mutants and describing how they would be murdered in the 40K universe - not just because there are clearly ASD Dakka users but also because it’s really one of those thoughts that you probably shouldn’t put into writing as it’s abhorrent.

At the same time, simply declaring "Oh, that person must be on the spectrum!" is a cop-out.

Some people are just fething weird.

 Horla wrote:
The lack of empathy and self-awareness in many of these stories (and in some of the posters here) really highlights some problems in the hobby (and wider) community. Especially regarding their perceptions of and approach to interacting with neurodivergent individuals. Honestly, it’s painful reading some of these posts and the reactions to them, like something from the 1950s in terms of understanding.

I’m still boggling at someone above actually calling people with ASD mutants and describing how they would be murdered in the 40K universe - not just because there are clearly ASD Dakka users but also because it’s really one of those thoughts that you probably shouldn’t put into writing as it’s abhorrent.

You are being too harsh on people here, I think there is plenty of empathy shown here, perhaps you just didn't snes it ? What I am sensing though is a bit of a white knight syndrom arising from your post.
Please keep energy you seem to have that for when you see someone get picked on or mugged in the bus or something. It will be a better time and place for it my friend.

'The spectrum' is a very fluid target though, it wasn't long ago that it simply didn't exist in medical knowledge/diagnosis.
How weird can you be and still be 'normal', the term 'neural divergent' being used as the current polite term is extremely broad and only compounds the point.
Do any of us actually think the same way, regardless of how normal we are? Nope.

Although I don't think this thread should be dragged into discussions of this.

My weirdest gaming experience probably comes from a kid that was most definitely getting large handouts from mum and dad. Every time a new (OP) army was released, he'd turn up the next week with an army of very badly built, entirely unpainted, miniatures.
Then, either his interpretation of rules was horrific, or he deliberately misread everything. I suspect the latter because he always left his codex at home and his mistakes were always to his significant advantage despite being quite explicitly explained in the rules "oh it's S8 no saves allowed" instead of the S4 AP- stated by the rules type stuff.

The weirdest bit though was one time he brought in a Razorback he'd bought, and just glued all the guns haphazardly over it. He claimed that WYSIWYG is a rule that states you need to run the model with all the weapons it's equipped with.
I tried to argue that, no, WYSIWYG means you need to build it to match the rules, not the other way around.
So he called over the store manager and asked something to the affect of "WYSIWYG is a rule right?" the manager, who had a job to do, just replied "yup" and went back to his customer before I could clarify what was being asked.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
At the same time, simply declaring "Oh, that person must be on the spectrum!" is a cop-out.

Some people are just fething weird.

Which generaly means they have some sort of a disorder. On my card it says autism and social behaviour other. Only the doctor and my mom, probably know what the second one means.

But you are right, just being wierd should not be a free card to be acting wierd in public, and specially to live people. That is why self control is IMO the most important thing, if you don't know what and how to do stuff, then maybe it is a good idea limit the ways in which you can do them. Safer for you, and other people. Can't really imagine the world working in another way, because people handing each other notes about what they okey and not okey, as a hello would kind of a break any forms of interaction in real time.

How weird can you be and still be 'normal', the term 'neural divergent' being used as the current polite term is extremely broad and only compounds the point.

Oh you can be totaly bonkers, but if you make specific people a lot of money or are important to the state, you can practicaly do what ever you want. A real famous pro sports person who kill a person, well maybe not in the open with a lot of people around, and walk free, as long as in the end he generates enough income for his company. Actors, musicians, big execs are wierd people. One person goes to jail for 30dag of weed, and here is sir Paul McCartney getting caught with three times as much of a hard drug, and all he gets is slap on the wrists and a you better not let us catch you again.

This will be my only reply on the topic again as you're right, it's off topic but it is important, even if you cannot get your head around that yet.

H.B.M.C. wrote:At the same time, simply declaring "Oh, that person must be on the spectrum!" is a cop-out.

Some people are just fething weird.

There's weird and then there's a situation where there's clear clinical indications, even from a small interaction like playing a game with them.

addnid wrote:You are being too harsh on people here, I think there is plenty of empathy shown here, perhaps you just didn't snes it ? What I am sensing though is a bit of a white knight syndrom arising from your post.
Please keep energy you seem to have that for when you see someone get picked on or mugged in the bus or something. It will be a better time and place for it my friend.

I feel that blaming me of being a "white knight" reflects your crappy attitude rather than mine. If you think anyone showing solidarity with people living with such disorders is some kind of woke posturing or whatever, then you are mistaken. My day job sees me working with people who have very severe neurodevelopmental disorders and the one thing that families and patients want is some level of normality. My wife works with a disabilities service and mostly works with people with ASD. I live with a neurodevelopmental disorder (not ASD but one that has been targeted for eugenics and genocide in the past). So to see ASD individuals being labelled as "mutants" above is horrendous (and apparently go unchallenged about it), if you can't see that then you need then my "white knighting" is not the problem here.

kirotheavenger wrote:'The spectrum' is a very fluid target though, it wasn't long ago that it simply didn't exist in medical knowledge/diagnosis.
How weird can you be and still be 'normal', the term 'neural divergent' being used as the current polite term is extremely broad and only compounds the point.
Do any of us actually think the same way, regardless of how normal we are? Nope.

I think this is a very blasé dismissal of what neurodivergent means (largely ASD and ADHD, the vast majority with a clinical diagnosis rather than self-identification). The idea of the spectrum is not new or even that fluid, in fact it goes back through most of the medical literature in the 20th century but only started being called a "spectrum" in the 90s/00s. I feel you are confusing personality (which is part of but by no means the only part of ASD) with neurodivegence, which is where there is a fundamental divergence on a developmental level (when the brain is forming connections and establishing its networks) that results in differences at the behavioural and the cognitive level. It is a spectrum because there is a range of changes that can occur in the developmental program leading from the very mild to the really severe (who you are not going to see playing games anywhere).

Karol wrote:But you are right, just being wierd should not be a free card to be acting wierd in public, and specially to live people. That is why self control is IMO the most important thing, if you don't know what and how to do stuff, then maybe it is a good idea limit the ways in which you can do them. Safer for you, and other people. Can't really imagine the world working in another way, because people handing each other notes about what they okey and not okey, as a hello would kind of a break any forms of interaction in real time.

I agree it shouldn't be a free pass but equally we need to adjust environments to be more inclusive - and this includes our games stores, clubs, and tournaments. If supermarkets can have an ASD-friendly hour every day where they stop the loud announcements, reduce the lights, etc. then why can't there be a games night in a store operating in the same way. It's not entirely up to the person with any disorder to do all the hard work, society needs to try and meet them in the middle. One of the things we've been looking at doing is working with a local shop to set up an inclusive D&D evening.

Okay. I'm done and I'm kicking my soapbox into the corner.

Something that came up in me, even if it is more of a store experience than a tabletop experience: not to long ago I was the weird one myself I guess. I was in a nice big LGS looking through stuff, when a guy beside me asked one of the store guys which colors he would recommend for Skin. Back then I was already well in my "darkskinned IG" project and pretty satified with the different shades I had achieved so far. A bit hyped about that I joined the chat uninvited and started showing him some pics and talking about the colors I used. In that very moment I didn't thought about that but it must have been pretty weird and the other guys showed it. So should by any circumstance you read this, random customer: I'm sorry, I'm just a bit nerdy at times.

 Horla wrote:
This will be my only reply on the topic again as you're right, it's off topic but it is important, even if you cannot get your head around that yet.

H.B.M.C. wrote:At the same time, simply declaring "Oh, that person must be on the spectrum!" is a cop-out.

Some people are just fething weird.

There's weird and then there's a situation where there's clear clinical indications, even from a small interaction like playing a game with them.

No one playing a game with someone else for a couple hours has any business making 'clinical' assessments. That's a really offensive and outright dangerous thing to suggest.

HBMC is right. Sometimes people are just weird or trying to be funny. They don't need to be diagnosed, categorized and sent off for processing & drugs while playing a game in their off time. Even if they're acting 'off.'

I agree it shouldn't be a free pass but equally we need to adjust environments to be more inclusive

A big part of real inclusion is just taking people as they are, not trying to define and corral them into categories to be 'treated.' Especially not casual acquaintances (at best) you bump into in a shop sometimes.

"Some people are weird"...why?
Every behavior comes from something. Saying "it's just weird" is like going "oh they're sad" when someone's depressed.

Anyway, I don't think anyone mentioned anything about "treating" people except treating them right?

Yes, it is important to be open to all sorts of people. There however comes a stage when 'normal', as in, untrained randos like me and most posters here, really can't be expected to be able to deal with some behaviours. Yes, in a way, it isn't at all nice to ask people who don't meet certain standards to not show up for events and the like, but there also are all the other people (including, in shops and the like, minors) who also want to enjoy themselves.

 Horla wrote:
The lack of empathy and self-awareness in many of these stories (and in some of the posters here) really highlights some problems in the hobby (and wider) community. Especially regarding their perceptions of and approach to interacting with neurodivergent individuals. Honestly, it’s painful reading some of these posts and the reactions to them, like something from the 1950s in terms of understanding.

I’m still boggling at someone above actually calling people with ASD mutants and describing how they would be murdered in the 40K universe - not just because there are clearly ASD Dakka users but also because it’s really one of those thoughts that you probably shouldn’t put into writing as it’s abhorrent.

Now hold just one effing minute. You are definitely going the the white knight route. You're the type of person who would get brought along to a comedy show and get visibly angry because the show host made a sexism joke. Learn to take a joke and take things with a grain of salt. When people make jokes, even below the belt jokes they are not a result of ones real opinion.

It was a "funny" observation that i noticed because thats how the empire in the lore works, that the empire of man dont look kindly to people with disabilities, yet people with disabilities for some reason still like space marines, the front fighters of the same empire. Somehow rather than loving Eldar or Chaos or Tau. In the same way that i would find it odd that people from capitalist America would mainly play Tau which ressembles communism. I dont know if they do play Tau the most, but if they did. Does my last comment about America and Tau somehow make me a racist towards Americans? According to you, it probably does!

So i think you should chill the heck out and stop pretending to sit on a pedestal, being some foremost expert on humanbeings who are in need of help. It was a funny observation, nothing more. and yes i said funny and you will call me out for it, but your humor clearly isnt the same as mine. I believe we must be able to make jokes with each other because only that way can we get avoid conversations being as minefields.


I dont go around in my every day life and call people with disabilities mutants, and screw you for making the implication that i somehow do. Ive taught people with disabilities and most of those understood a joke or a funny comment when they see one. They also made funny comments about me and that made me happy, because it meant they felt comfortable around me. Granted those disabilities were severely reduced cognitive functions, ADHD and dyslectic (is that how its spelled?) people and not people with downs syndrome or something heavier to deal with, but ive been in that environment.

There might be some heavy hitters who would never take a joke, but ive never met them, and i cant plan my comments on dakkadakka based on whether someone like that might stumble upon my comment.

But im not a super serious person, i tend to have fun and make jokes here and then, and what i said was only ever meant as a joking observation.

But according to you, if i make a "dead baby joke" that must mean i must HATE all kids and babies right? including my tiny nephew? feth him right?

No, thats not how it works at all. Making a joke is exactly that, a joke. Im not secretly a sadist who would vote for a facist dictatorship if the chance ever came.

I am pretty fond of democracies.

You know, in general, if you offend someone, it's appropriate to apologize. Especially if you didn't intend to cause offense-you can have a discussion about whether or not it was appropriate to say what you said, and if you like, try to convince the other person to not be as sensitive... But you should apologize first.

To get this thread more on topic, something positive and odd (speaking relative to what I'd expect from most places) is that I once left my car's lights on when I went into a GW for some gaming. When I left for the night, the battery was dead. However, since the folk I was with were friendly, one of them helped me get my car jumpstarted-not something I'd expect if that happened at, say, a grocery store or something. I feel like there's a little more camaraderie in a gaming store than there is at most places-you actually make friends there, rather than just smiling and being polite to the people you run into.

Also, if I don't consider any of the experiences I've had really all that odd, does that mean I'm the odd one? Because there is always one...

 JNAProductions wrote:
You know, in general, if you offend someone, it's appropriate to apologize. Especially if you didn't intend to cause offense-you can have a discussion about whether or not it was appropriate to say what you said, and if you like, try to convince the other person to not be as sensitive... But you should apologize first.

To get this thread more on topic, something positive and odd (speaking relative to what I'd expect from most places) is that I once left my car's lights on when I went into a GW for some gaming. When I left for the night, the battery was dead. However, since the folk I was with were friendly, one of them helped me get my car jumpstarted-not something I'd expect if that happened at, say, a grocery store or something. I feel like there's a little more camaraderie in a gaming store than there is at most places-you actually make friends there, rather than just smiling and being polite to the people you run into.

Also, if I don't consider any of the experiences I've had really all that odd, does that mean I'm the odd one? Because there is always one...

The only one i saw who got offended was him and he definitely dont deserve an apology the way he pretends to be high and mighty. the other guy, didnt understand it as a joke and simply left it at that. Im unsure if anyone else even read the comment which is.. what it is.


Im happy that people helped you out with your car though. Nice of them. Ive never had any odd, or highly odd, at least, encounters either, so i guess that makes the both of us the odd one out if there has to be one.

In the same way that i would find it odd that people from capitalist America would mainly play Tau which ressembles communism.

wait, what about Tau resembles communism? I've heard the joke before but I thought it was just meming. They have a caste system for goodness' sake.

Rihgu wrote:

In the same way that i would find it odd that people from capitalist America would mainly play Tau which ressembles communism.

wait, what about Tau resembles communism? I've heard the joke before but I thought it was just meming. They have a caste system for goodness' sake.

maybe i should have said Marxism instead of communism, i dont know it was written a bit fast. At least, all people in the Tau empire have a designated role and a use, the same as Marxism and often communism intended to do, in its core. I know theres more to it, but they just give all people a role and try to work towards some great socalist society ish thing. again, it was a joke, yet a terrible one i guess.

but then again i didnt fully think through that Tau point, so its fine if you destroy my comment by saying communism is different from the Tau empire. i deserve that lol.

You're the type of person who would get brought along to a comedy show and get visibly angry because the show host made a sexism joke

...wow.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Weirdest was a tournament where I came dead last and the organiser/shop owner gave me the "getting last" prize.

Then immediately took it back and laughed at me because he'd given me the winner prize, then gave me nothing. This was in front of everyone. What a total witch.

Never went back there.

Witches are awesome, don't throw shade at us over some jackass.

Beardedragon wrote:

 JNAProductions wrote:
You know, in general, if you offend someone, it's appropriate to apologize. Especially if you didn't intend to cause offense-you can have a discussion about whether or not it was appropriate to say what you said, and if you like, try to convince the other person to not be as sensitive... But you should apologize first.

To get this thread more on topic, something positive and odd (speaking relative to what I'd expect from most places) is that I once left my car's lights on when I went into a GW for some gaming. When I left for the night, the battery was dead. However, since the folk I was with were friendly, one of them helped me get my car jumpstarted-not something I'd expect if that happened at, say, a grocery store or something. I feel like there's a little more camaraderie in a gaming store than there is at most places-you actually make friends there, rather than just smiling and being polite to the people you run into.

Also, if I don't consider any of the experiences I've had really all that odd, does that mean I'm the odd one? Because there is always one...

The only one i saw who got offended was him and he definitely dont deserve an apology the way he pretends to be high and mighty.

As opposed to you, a bastion of humility.

Cronch wrote:
"Some people are weird"...why?
Every behavior comes from something. Saying "it's just weird" is like going "oh they're sad" when someone's depressed.

Anyway, I don't think anyone mentioned anything about "treating" people except treating them right?

where it comes from doesn't matter. If I start talking to myself in public, people, being human, judge that under 5 sec of noticing. Explaing why I could be doing that, takes a lot longer. Plus, no one who doesn't know you, cares. Well maybe if your big or important, they will treat you different. No one bothers a 210cm dude talking to himself.

About halfway through this thread. There’s some weird stories alright. Guess I got one to add before reading the rest.

It was a game I played of apoc back when it was fairly new. We where something like 6 players and decided to go with Imperium vs everything else. I noticed that one of the chaos players had saint celestine in his army. I guess it’s fine being apoc rules wise. Always liked the idea of fallen SoB. I thought it a little odd that the guys Celestine was not converted at all, nor painted in chaos colours. He also had no other SoB models in his army. So I asked if he liked the model and if it was some kind of fluff character thing for his army. He said nope. He was playing it with the Saint Celestine rules because it was Saint Celestine. He’d decided that the special character had fallen to chaos and now served his chaos marine warband. He appeared dead serious. He later changed his mind, because he realized his backstory for including her was unlikely. It’s not as weird as some other stories here but I still remember how odd it was. Guy really seemed to take the lore seriously too.

 Grimtuff wrote:
...shouting "HELLO NICOLA!" (the German teacher)

This is the most hideous part of Steves antics for me, calling a teacher by their first name is just creepy!

Voss wrote:No one playing a game with someone else for a couple hours has any business making 'clinical' assessments. That's a really offensive and outright dangerous thing to suggest.

I wasn’t saying that but pointing out that weird and diagnosable are not the same thing and can look quite different when you actually stop and pay attention. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, you need a lot more than two hours to diagnose anything psychological and you can’t do it by observation alone. However, generally you can get the broad strokes of a person if you are trained to look for it.

A big part of real inclusion is just taking people as they are, not trying to define and corral them into categories to be 'treated.' Especially not casual acquaintances (at best) you bump into in a shop sometimes.

I take your point but I do think that inclusion has to go further than that - it’s not just a case of taking them as they are but adjusting to better accommodate their needs and their difficulties. Like you put in wheelchair ramps, you don’t just accept wheelchair users as they are as you walk up the steps and leave them behind.

Beardedragon wrote:

 Horla wrote:
The lack of empathy and self-awareness in many of these stories (and in some of the posters here) really highlights some problems in the hobby (and wider) community. Especially regarding their perceptions of and approach to interacting with neurodivergent individuals. Honestly, it’s painful reading some of these posts and the reactions to them, like something from the 1950s in terms of understanding.

I’m still boggling at someone above actually calling people with ASD mutants and describing how they would be murdered in the 40K universe - not just because there are clearly ASD Dakka users but also because it’s really one of those thoughts that you probably shouldn’t put into writing as it’s abhorrent.

Now hold just one effing minute. You are definitely going the the white knight route. You're the type of person who would get brought along to a comedy show and get visibly angry because the show host made a sexism joke. Learn to take a joke and take things with a grain of salt. When people make jokes, even below the belt jokes they are not a result of ones real opinion.

It was a "funny" observation that i noticed because thats how the empire in the lore works, that the empire of man dont look kindly to people with disabilities, yet people with disabilities for some reason still like space marines, the front fighters of the same empire. Somehow rather than loving Eldar or Chaos or Tau. In the same way that i would find it odd that people from capitalist America would mainly play Tau which ressembles communism. I dont know if they do play Tau the most, but if they did. Does my last comment about America and Tau somehow make me a racist towards Americans? According to you, it probably does!

So i think you should chill the heck out and stop pretending to sit on a pedestal, being some foremost expert on humanbeings who are in need of help. It was a funny observation, nothing more. and yes i said funny and you will call me out for it, but your humor clearly isnt the same as mine. I believe we must be able to make jokes with each other because only that way can we get avoid conversations being as minefields.


I dont go around in my every day life and call people with disabilities mutants, and screw you for making the implication that i somehow do. Ive taught people with disabilities and most of those understood a joke or a funny comment when they see one. They also made funny comments about me and that made me happy, because it meant they felt comfortable around me. Granted those disabilities were severely reduced cognitive functions, ADHD and dyslectic (is that how its spelled?) people and not people with downs syndrome or something heavier to deal with, but ive been in that environment.

There might be some heavy hitters who would never take a joke, but ive never met them, and i cant plan my comments on dakkadakka based on whether someone like that might stumble upon my comment.

But im not a super serious person, i tend to have fun and make jokes here and then, and what i said was only ever meant as a joking observation.

But according to you, if i make a "dead baby joke" that must mean i must HATE all kids and babies right? including my tiny nephew? feth him right?

No, thats not how it works at all. Making a joke is exactly that, a joke. Im not secretly a sadist who would vote for a facist dictatorship if the chance ever came.

I am pretty fond of democracies.

*massive eyeroll emoji*

 Blndmage wrote:
Witches are awesome, don't throw shade at us over some jackass.

Don't blame me that the powers that be at Dakka chose that word to replace another.

So another story:

Had a game with a guy, got my butt whipped, but we then chatted about painting for a hour after the game, then he ran me through some little simulations on the games table to coach me a bit. We then chatted about your work, found out we do similar things (legal) but were at different stages of our careers.

Fast forward a year or so, and we regularly play in the tournament scene against each other (I've even beaten him a couple of times!). We both still run RG, but have both started getting into 'Nids, so we swap lists, models etc. online. Groovy. Best bit: he still gives me painting and tactical tips (as he is a MUCH better painter and player than me!) and I give him tips for is IRL job, help with case strategy etc.