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As I was talking to other gamers I noticed at least 50+% of our discussion revolves around bitching. Complaining about the direction of the store, staff, rules, models, pricing, other gamers, forums, basically anything that is somehow related to gaming. My LGS caters to a bunch of other hobbies like RC and scale modeling so I asked the staff member in charge of scale models (he also plays Battletech) if he thought gamers complained a lot in comparison to modelers. He concurred.

From what I understand the PP forums is a whinefest and FoWers complain so it's obviously not limited to GW. Ill-thought out theories?

i don't think that wargamers are inherently whiny, its just that the ones that bitch and complain stand out more.

though the pp forum does seem to run on 73% doom and gloom, which is why i've only posted there something like 45 times since 05

LOL I marked down yes but had to laugh at the third choice.

When you point it out, it does seem like most gamers complain. I think it is whats pushing me away from playing recently. A lot of the people I play with have been real downers. Even if they're winning they'll bitch about how they still should have been able to pull off more shots or something. Even when not playing I hear a lot of bitching... Whenever I try to discuss something like list composition or tactics... instead of talking about what could work they constantly harp on the negative side of choices. Don't get me wrong. I understand if you want to prepare for the worst but when thats all you talk about how the heck do you improve... or even have fun?

I run a store and I don't think wargamers are any more whiny than other gamers. Gamers are hobbyists as opposed to "consumers," and as such they feel strongly invested in their hobby. They follow company news, product releases and generally feel they're involved in the process. When the process doesn't go their way, they feel they have a right to complain.

Ever talked Politics? Same thing.

I think people are inherently whiny.

Whiners are the vocal minority. Forums are only a certain slice of the gaming population, and doesn't necessarily represent the hobby as a whole.

Void where limited, results my vary.

^True, but I'm not talking about forums. I expect whining on forums since when nerds and the internet meet the results are never pleasant. From my experience cynicism is expected from the majority of gamers who have been at it a while. Then it mellows out as they approach veterancy.

I suspect it's the unfairness of gaming combined with the competition. No system is perfectly balanced so every game you play there is always someone who's at an advantage. It creates an environment for whinging.

Whining is where passion meets commerce.

@blackdiamond:gary is that you?
but any way i dont think so.
its humans that are whiny not wargamers
we just have more to complain about.

People who don't complain are generally wimpy sheep who just keep their heads down and take whatever pablum is shoveled their way. I am proud that occasionally I am compelled to stand up and say "That sucks!"

Id say a majority of the gamers whine. Prolly 50% the other 50% is a mix of listeners/head nodders/people that dont like confrontations/others that dont care and just want to play

Well, generally "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"

But I guess GW is all out of grease.

Or if they had grease they'd raise the price about $5.00

Grease is now $5.25 and is direct only.

Gamers in general are whiny, not just the types that play with models.

Yes, though some in particular like to keep on nitpicking over things we already know.

There mostly younger kids for example their this kid at my flgs whose like 13 14 and he whines all time he didnt like it when my ig whiped half his choas marines with 1 basi

Overanalytic. Anal even.

Which often translates to whiny.

leetbeef wrote:Well, generally "The squeaky wheel gets the grease"

But I guess GW is all out of grease.

Or if they had grease they'd raise the price about $5.00

blackdiamond wrote:Grease is now $5.25 and is direct only.

LOL. Pure awesomesauce.

blackdiamond wrote:Whining is where passion meets commerce.

I think blackdiamond hit the nail on the head. As a hobby, most of us put ridiculous amounts of time, energy, passion, and money into what we do. It's probably a fair assessment that we bitch more than most, but many of us have earned the right to air our grievances now and again about something we're unhappy with. Most whining is pretty harmless and ineffective, IMO. But, where's the foul in commiserating with fellow geeks from time to time?

Now, I don't think it's particulalrly good manners to make it a habit, though. No one wants to be around someone who constantly spews something negative and hobby forums are no different.

Wargamers are whiney jobless neckbeard weaboos.

This is nothing compared to Video game whining. See, wargamers only whine about things they don't get, or which are crazy expensive.

Game fanboys (which I was in the past, guess which company I rooted for!) will bitch when other people get things...that they are also getting! Whenever a game goes mutliplatform people will go crazy. the complaints about Devil May Cry going to the 360 actually made game news headlines (that might have been because of an awesome quote about a car crash, but anyway).

In any hobby that is dominated by one purveyor of goods there will be complaining. Whith gaming, people bitch when they have no right to.

that said, I do understand the psychology behind fanboy-related complaints. It all comes back to investment, just like with wargaming.

I think wargamers ARE inherently whiny. There really is no explanation about why. And it's definitely not just about wargaming either.

I noticed this whenever I'd be waiting for a table at my FLGS, and thought everyone was being whiny.

Then I found myself complaining about the last X-Men and about how bad it was. I died a little on the inside.

HUMANS are inherently whiny. Ever ask a sports fan (the specific sport doesn't matter) what he thinks about the officiating in that sport? Or members of ANY political party that lost the most recent election (ANY election, not just last November) how the nation's politics are going? How about a comic book fan about the latest film adaptation of his favorite comic book? Or, god help you, a Trekkie about the latest movie?

People LIKE to whine about stuff - complaining about it is a method of empowering yourself above the situation. What's more, it's cathartic. What should concern you is not whether people whine or not, but whether the amount of enjoyment in your chosen hobby is overshadowed by what's "bad" with it. If you aren't getting enjoyment out of it - or have more bad feelings about it than good feelings - then you need to get out of the hobby. It's actively unhealthy to subject yourself to a stressor masquerading as a relaxation activity.

Why have you made a poll? You've ruined everything!

The reason I made a poll is this is actually an experiment to see what percentage of people would go for the comedy option when presented with a simple yes or no question with no definite answer.

Your answers have been tabulated for use in the War on Terror; armed men are being dispatched to the domiciles of those that participated. Please do not resist.

I voted "Yes".

We (in general) are so whiny it hurts. The best example is when it comes to the rules themselves.

If the rules are unclear, we whine about that.
If the rules are clear and spelled out, we whine about how the games designers treat us a s children.

*Sigh*

I don't whine.

Its just that everyone else is WRONG goddammit!!

Strange parallels to GW here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/06/apple_angering_the_fans.html

nintendoeats wrote:This is nothing compared to Video game whining. See, wargamers only whine about things they don't get, or which are crazy expensive.

Game fanboys (which I was in the past, guess which company I rooted for!) will bitch when other people get things...that they are also getting! Whenever a game goes mutliplatform people will go crazy. the complaints about Devil May Cry going to the 360 actually made game news headlines (that might have been because of an awesome quote about a car crash, but anyway).

In any hobby that is dominated by one purveyor of goods there will be complaining. Whith gaming, people bitch when they have no right to.

that said, I do understand the psychology behind fanboy-related complaints. It all comes back to investment, just like with wargaming.

Nintendoeats wins the thread!!!

I think the question is flawed, because you included the word "inherently". I would agree with the premise however, that there seems to be a lot of whining going on by gamers. I believe it's more of a cultural thing, and even has to do with a lack of social skills. Lets face it, there are a LOT (notice I didn't say ALL) of people that play wargames that are social outcasts, whatever moniker you want to call them, be it nerd, geek or whatever. I'm no psycologist but our hobby attracts this type of personality, and I have just come to accept that that is how it is. I try very hard not judge people, and try to accept them the way they are, but it is certainly hard sometimes with the types of people you run into in game stores.

GG

"You can't simplfy a complicated topic like this into 2 choices also this poll is inherently biased because this is a wargaming forum."

In other words, yes! FTW!

Good Stuff!