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i would like to disagree with a few points

phase1- the happy noob
No One i ever met would be happy to lose every game, even a new player. As well losing every game may turn this person into your phase 4b- gamer burnout. even in my first game i didn't want to lose.

phase 4c- Gamer Utopia
i think gamers reach here faster than you do.
after a small skirimh game 500pts we didnt finish, and my 3rd game ever, i was hooked.
im constantly searching the web for tactics, rethinking my army lists, and helping others with thiers.

Basically it comes down to you own gaming club and friends, you can be a brand new player and if your playing a fun, polite, game with a person or group, you will find yourself in a utopia faster than most

i always build my lists to win(while being fun) and would expect my fellow opponents to do the same, how much fun would it be if you knew you're going to win after the deployment

omg this is true i'm a 4b-burnt out gamer

this is unbelievable...tome to get back 2 the hobby

i would take my hat off (if i was wearing one) to who ever wrote it

Crap! I reached gamer utopia before I even started playing 40K. It was a series of three 12,000 AD&D Battlesystem Second Ed. battles, on a 12'x8' table in my garage. I just realized that I've been trying to recreate that ever since. Grrrr!!!

You forgot "hopeless incompetent".

"The happy noob" lol

Some ironic necromancy, here.

Phase 4b: Gamer Burn Out

The player was never able to achieve his/her much loved win, and he's starting to believe he never will. Because others in his/her gaming group are still hungry vets or warlords, he/she is lead to believe that the only true goal of the group is to achieve victory. Since he believes he can never be good enough, or he believes that it is no fun to constantly play the same kinds of lists, he gives up. A sad day for him and the hobby.


I like the idea of this type of player, because it sounds like me...but the reasons why I'm burned out aren't due to lack of a wanted win, or thinking all anyone cares about is winning. I also think that players can burn out more on one system but not on tabletop wargaming entirely. In my case, I'm burned out on 40K but still have interest in Flames of War.

I'm also not at "given up" with 40K because I still do play the occasional game with friends of mine who I want to tabletop wargame with and 40K is all they play.

I went through most of these phases in regards to 40K in four years. I got burned out because:

1) When I first entered the hobby I painted a bunch of units extremely well which all turned out to be useless choices, or extremely difficult choices to use well, without knowing at the beginning and it felt like wasted time, money, and energy as all they do now is sit around in my display case.

2) I went through a Codex change and had to purchase a sleu of new units if I wanted to remain competitive when my goal was to come up with a set of units and stop purchasing anything.

3) I burned out on modeling and painting. I just wanted to play the game, and I got tired of all the effort I had to put in just to START playing a new, competitive army, much less master it.


I burned on 40K, in the end, because I don't think there's much room for the totally-casual player. There's a lot of work that goes into being able to play the game, and if you're a gamer first like me, particularly someone like me who is a hardcore video gamer who came into 40K through Dawn of War, the amount of effort required to play becomes a decided negative after a while.

40K isn't a game, or a hobby - it's a lifestyle. Not all of us want to make lifestyle changes just to play games. I would add to this article this whole, other reason for burning out.

I got so lucky. My best friend and all of his brothers play 40k, so my first few games were at his house. We didn't really care if all our models were painted properly (heck, he fielded half his IG army using WFB pieces) or even about winning all that much, we all just had a fun time.

Then I went to a local hobby club and had a couple people make fun of me for using some models as stand-ins. One of the players that sound like either phase 3 or 4a said to me "wait a minute, you had Stealth Suits and fielded them as Vespids? Why would you do that, Stealth Suits is so much better?". I just said "Well, I like Vespids. They're fun to play and have good fluff." I don't think he knew how to respond to that.

I guess I went from stage 2 straight to 4c. At the end of the day, it's just a hobby. You can't take it that seriously.

-I would be a determined rookie, but this lot is for the path to tourneys.
-I am rookie going on veteran level (better than most rookies, but not as good as veterans).
-I'm not determined at all.
-I don't particularly want to enter a tourney.
-I just play, build, paint, have fun, get more knowledge and experience, repeat. I'm content ATM.I follow this wise old saying: "you win some and lose some, it's all a game to me."

Im a 4c... started the hobby with some friends who all burned out one by one leaving me and a single comrade, we enjoyed the collecting and painting more that the gaming and never had a "Big Win" as such but the games we played in a small hobby store were the best times ever spent... every battle ended in a victor buying the loser a BurgerKing and talking over the battle and giving pointers... great times...

Luckily there's a lot more 4c gamers out there than 4a, I think.

I may have skipped straight there from stage 1 myself. All I know is I take the Ork Filosofy to heart. "Orks neva loose. If we wins, we wins. If we'z ded, den we'z ded, so it don't matter no more. If we runz away, well, dat's allroit den- we can alluz come back fer anuvva go, see?"

If there's things dying and exploding on the tabletop, I'm winning. I don't particularly care if it's my own models- my main goal in all games is to blow up every single tank or item with AV on the board by the end of the game, and have it all come down to a Tac squad and a Mob of Boyz racing across the table to see who can get to the objective first.

Wolf Kharok wrote:Im a 4c... started the hobby with some friends who all burned out one by one leaving me and a single comrade, we enjoyed the collecting and painting more that the gaming and never had a "Big Win" as such but the games we played in a small hobby store were the best times ever spent... every battle ended in a victor buying the loser a BurgerKing and talking over the battle and giving pointers... great times...

bit of threadomancy but hey, this is my favorite article and the only article I've seen by russ, so I say keep it rollin' ^^
that story you told sounds exactly like mine, minus the burger king.
around 5 of us, all bar me and another burned out, we enjoy modelling and gaming most (though painting we like too on important models), never had or tried getting a "big win" but we are in a nice small GW store and some of those battles were just "euphoric". Every battle ends in the victor talking over the battle, nominating the best model/unit and giving pointers about where the loser went wrong.

Sounds like a More than fun time to me

Wolf Kharok wrote:Sounds like a More than fun time to me

but no food :(

4C, I never go out for the win. Just the pure enjoyment that this offer. I'm willing to help the younger ones and will always play a game with the aim to make it fun and get the opponent to lauugh.

I build armies to have fun with/fit fluff.

Plus, I will always help my opponent in game/after the game.

Wow, this is actually a really great article, so true!

The jump from 2 to 4c is actually quite common.

It involved detachment from the competitive mindset. The catalyst are competitive jerk players and the desire to ignore them not beat them.

It is based on the realisation of not playing to win but playing to take part. If you are facing 'that guy' and he doesn't really want to take part, just win, then be in a position where you don't mind if you let him. Ignore the result and give your good game to good players.

You can tell this type of players when you get a rules disagreement. When facing 'that guy' the enlightened 4c players may just relent/or 4+ at every turn and if/when the game turns against him not care. However when facing a good and respectful player might argue their logic briefly resolving it one way or another and moving on.

Relaxed 4c players require other 4c players to blossom. One chemical doesnt react on its own.

I definitly followed the classic pattern for this.

Coincidence or no, but within a year of each other I won a hardboys semis and started a full time job.

Now, I turn down tournaments where I know I'll play TFG, I enjoy painting and modeling, and I love apocolpyse and fluff driven games.

I think that 4c requires two things: a love of the hobby and the realization that having fun is more valuable than winning.

I think it's just hard to have that realization unless you actually win something, once you start trying to win competitivly.

warpcrafter wrote:Crap! I reached gamer utopia before I even started playing 40K. It was a series of three 12,000 AD&D Battlesystem Second Ed. battles, on a 12'x8' table in my garage. I just realized that I've been trying to recreate that ever since. Grrrr!!!

Good lord! Thanks for bringing back memories of fighting gigantic battles with Battle System. It also brings back memories of using TSR's chain mail rules back in the early 70's for fantasy combat (before D&D was written).

I think I might be a 4c, but it really only happens every few games, usually a fluff-oriented or lucky game (good or bad luck).
90% of the time for me, it's in a 2-4 player game- any more it's less personal.

I am at the Phase 3: The Hungry Veteran. i oly compete in touraments now and spend endless amount of time twinking lists and research.

Reminds me of this article on mmorpg
http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001646.php

This is interesting and all, but why is this under humor???????
I just dont get it.

Because it's a joke... >.>

Observational comedy, if you will.

I'm Definitely at the determined rookie stage. Getting womped in some games and pounding in others the enemy into the ground!
Oh dice gods be kind to me today, when my orks take on the chaos heretics!

Nice article, very recognisable!
In our club, tough, everybody has been playing the game for so long (I think... 10 years average?) that gaming Utopia had been achieved before we even moved to our current location.
We need new blood. Any.. new... blood...

Fun reading and a list that can be applied to almost any (competitive) hobby, it is an accurate description of so many things I've seen over the years.