Anti Shiny Syndrome League

[guillotine 16039xp 9]

I’m starting a new sub-cult in gaming: The Anti Shiny Syndrome League. People who’ve stopped the purchasing madness, gotten clean of the plastic crack and started enjoying the stuff they already have. Yes, we exist, we are the Anti-Shiny, the Matt Ones!

In all seriousness, this is coming from personal realisation of how much anxiety piles and boxes of stuff I will never have time to do anything with caused and how bad the addiction to Kickstarters, limited releases and gotta-catch-them-all FOMO schemes are. I know many of you’ve been there, and many have shared about this before.

The thread here is to celebrate all those purchases you DIDN’T do, all the KS pledges and Patreon’s you cancelled, the show hauls you skipped, the Weekender news sections fast forwarded, web store tabs closed and most importantly the hobby and gaming time you focused on the cool stuff you already have instead of looking at the shiny.

I’ll start with my accomplishments for this year. I’m not entirely clean yet, but this is a good start I think!

– Backed only one Kickstarter! And this is only few miniatures to supplement stuff I’ve been actively painting.
– Cancelled all my Patreon 3D printing pledges! Yeah, there’s just files but I’m not printing them all. Instead I’ve been now going back to the STLs I have on my hard drive, printing just one or two at the time and then actually getting to work with them when they’re out.
– Cancelled magazine subscriptions. They were just driving more purchases. And the covers of Wargames Illustrated are extremely shiny and we won’t have that in the Cult! I have hundreds of old magazines I can go read and enjoy.
– Unsubscribed from gaming newsletters. Sorry Warlord and others.
– Gave unbuilt stuff to a friend who had an active project. (Only give stuff to people who use them, don’t feed others’ shiny)
– Got an old army out and played some games (Gates of Antares). Didn’t plan extra purchases for the army, even though lost.

I still have loads of stuff to clear, sell, bin or give away, and I do occasionally look at Kickstarter, Patreons and such, so I need to stay strong.

So, wanna join my sub-cult? What have you not purchased recently?

[pagan8thParticipant 10863xp 5]

I recently cancelled pledges to Bardsung, Iron Kingdoms Requiem, Zombicide: Undead & Alive and Carbon Grey RPG.

Didn’t buy Age of Sigmar Dominion (but I did buy Warrior Set as I wanted a few minis for RPG).

Reduced my pledge of One Ring 2nd Edition to PDF only as I didn’t like the rules changes, but still wanted the campaign material for my 1st edition campaign.

Backed Mythic Battles: Ragnarok at $1 for the Mythic Battles: Pantheon upgrade kit and possibly an addon, but the postage is ludicrous so I’m bidding farewell to the dollar (it seems petty to ask for a refund). It’s put me off kickstarter indefinitely as shipping costs are stupid at the moment…

Note to the kickstarter creators out there… china may be cheap for plastic, but if you put the shipping costs on to backers you will lose funding… get stuff made locally…

I’ve not bought Speeder Bikes for Legion to use in a West End Games Star Wars game I’m planning… but that’s down to the scale being noticeably larger than the Imperial Assault minis I’m using for the game.

I’m hoping to not buy several more things this year.

[warhammergrimace 13766xp 4]

I think this cult will be very small lol

[tankkommanderParticipant 6421xp 4]

Sign me up 🙂

 

[hobbyhubParticipant 4169xp 4]

One additional advantage for cult members is not buying a lot of stuff is better for the environment.

I have stopped myself from starting a new Thousands Sons force for Kill Team (2018) and 40K just this last week.

I recently purchased a whole lot of GW product for a rather large Word Bearers force, which I’m slowly making my way through

Tempted as I was by the new TS codex, and all the conversions I had planned in my head, I didn’t want to make the same mistake I made with my last few 40K dabbles, which I have either flogged off unmade in their original boxes or are still incomplete.

I think the initial dopamine hit on making the purchase soon wears off, and a rash purchase can lead to a bit of buyers remorse.

If you want to make yourself feel better, perhaps a donation to a charity would work out.  Don’t think I have ever regretted one of those.

The term “disposable income” is taking on a negative connotation for me, especially with all the suffering that is going on in the world, and even locally.

[pagan8thParticipant 10863xp 3]

I think we have pretty much mortally wounded the planet and all we can do now it delay the inevitable demise.

The dopamine hit was particular prevalent in kickstarters… for 2 to 4 weeks you see stretch goals unlock… and then the months drag on… usually beyond the ‘promised’ delivery date and you start to think… “Why did I bother?” backing this…

A feeling that often gets worse when the ks arrives and the amazing renders you backed have turned into dodgy plastics with bendy bits that won’t look as good as the expertly painted resins you saw on the ks page.

Best bet it avoid ks altogether… what you don’t know about you can’t buy.

[sundancer 42972xp 7]

Hello, my name is Tim and I am a plastic crack addict. For years I’ve been drooling at store windows and magazines. Then came along Kickstarter and 3D printing and it opened another vortex trying to suck all my money.

Yes I want the shiny!

No, I’ll probably never paint it less play it.

Yes I do have a Pile of Opportunity (PoO) and it’s dragging me down. Miniatures that I carry with me for 25+ years. Still in box. Still sealed and unpainted.

“Luckily” I’m a cheap bastard and short on money ever since I first got some pocket money. So the logically clear thinking part of me keeps me from buying random stuff. Most of the time. I do allow myself a hobby budget for a month that is set aside. Haven’t really touched that for nearly 3 months now.

I do look at Kickstarter but most projects pose no threat to me. Simply because the pledge levels are to high and most of the time shipping is ridiculous. (Example: Westfalia stuff. Would love to have it, not paying those shipping fees)

Having a big PoO at times really drains the hobby mojo. But I’m a hoarder and I can’t part with stuff once I bought it. So currently I’m only buying Star Wars: Legion minis (and only Rebel and Empire factions), hobby supplies (paints, glue, brushes) and the occasional board game (I just couldn’t pass on Talisman Star Wars… should be on it’s way by now)

And to reduce my PoO I’ve started painting some of the old stuff. Currently nibbling away at the WHFB bos 6th edition, SW:L bunker. I need to look at my projects here on the site and see which one can be finished most easily. “Done and dusted” sounds so good.

That’s my story. Happy to be here.

*sits down again*

[tankkommanderParticipant 6421xp 3]

The Joan of Arc KS was a heck of a ride. New stretch goals, lots of expansions, I would keep changing my pledge every few days. And then a moment of clarity…this huge mound of plastic didn’t really match for an average (at best) game. Glad I bailed out and have avoid KS since then.

I do relapse now and again 🙂 But I now have it limited to Team Yankee (a few bits here and there to expand my forces) and some D&D stuff (avoiding the latest books as I have more than enough fun options to keep me adventuring for years). I can repurpose my Legion figures for use in Stargrave.

 

[guillotine 16039xp 4]

Along with Mythic Battles: Pantheon, Joan of Arc has been one of the worst for me. I’m staring at the ridiculous tower of boxes right now. At least I’ve painted the core set and the reliquary box, and actually enjoyed the game, but I should have skipped the expansions.

And @hobbyhub ‘s point about the environment is extremely valid. There’s the manufacturing and then hauling shipping containers full of toys half way across the planet to gather dust in our homes. Hell, I consider myself an environmentalist, I’ve detested many industries for this for years, but kept participating in the hobby hoarding just because of the shiny syndrome.

[oriskany 60771xp 7]

I would genuinely like to join your subcult. Lemme see if I qualify.

• Haven’t bought a new game since 2014.
• Never bought a KS ever.
• My favorite game (still play twice a month) was published in 1974.
• Earnestly know of only four good wargames published this century.
• Earlier this week pulled down an army built in 2017 to play again
• . . . the system was published in 1989.
• My lead/plastic mountain is officially, no shit, ZERO.
• I still play wargames publically at LEAST once a week, sometimes twice.

So do I qualify @guillotine ?

[pagan8thParticipant 10863xp 5]

Can someone check if @oriskany is still breathing? He’s not showing any symptoms of being alive 🙂

[warhammergrimace 13766xp 2]

I haven’t done a Kickstarter since around 2013/14 as well. I just avoid the website completely lol

I’ve started playing Warhammer Fantasy 1st edition recently was initially for nostalgia reasons but I enjoyed the simplicity of the game.

I plan to do the same with Blood Bowl and drag my 1st edition off the shelf.

[guillotine 16039xp 1]

@oriskany You totally qualify and are an inspiration to us all!

[osbad 4279xp 3]

I’m there.  After decades of self-analysis I am in the position of understanding what parts of the overall hobby I enjoy most, which less so, and which I don’t much at all.  I used to think this was all one hobby and I should enjoy all of it, but that really isn’t the case at all.

The bit I personally have enjoyed most is collecting, building, painting a “force” (army/fleet/warband/whatever) for a game in a genre I was excited about, getting it to the table and playing through a small campaign or set of scenarios.  At that point my interest tends to wane, the stuff gets stored away, and I look for something else to inspire my next project.

Playing games with old shit doesn’t really interest me that much unless I am somehow “back in the mood” – maybe because of a film/book/mate/new supplement having re-engaged my enthusiasm.  At which point I will dust an old force off, maybe add some extra pieces, and game with it for a while.  Then put it all back in its box and forget about it again for a few years.  I have been in the situation for a few years now where I am almost as likely to play something really old like WFB 2nd ed. as something new like Stargrave, depending on how the mood and opportunity strikes.

I have no particular “favourite game” beyond what is currently piquing my interest (although there are plenty ones that I think are uninteresting and I won’t bother with).  By and large the mechanics of any game are just a means to an end – and the simpler and less hassle they are the better for me as I will play them for a few weeks and then not again for maybe years, if ever.

Money and storage space are not particular limitations but neither are they infinite.  My actual limiting factor is interest, and at the moment it maybe feels that after 40 years or so of hobbying, I may finally be getting bored with the whole thing.

So that said.

• I have not bought a KS for years now. (Mainly because by the time fulfilment comes along my enthusiasm for the project has long since walked)
• The idea of 3D printing makes me shudder – I have zero interest in the concept (effing nerdy computer bollocks!! :-D).
• I am running out of excitement for bothering.

Proof to me was my birthday a couple of months back.  My wife had planned a special trip to a large and well-stocked FLGS in a seaside town as part of a long weekend break – she left me there as a surprise saying “see you in a couple of hours, my present is whatever you fancy”.  After coming to terms with it and walking around the shop (which is VERY well stocked) multiple times I surprised myself with the realisation that there was actually NOTHING I wanted to buy!  Out of respect for my wife, and the effort she had put into what she thought would have been a dream present (and would have been not so very long ago) I did buy something, but it was completely for show and I can’t even remember what I bought now.  I left the shop thinking “WTF just happened?”

So now I still find myself occasionally fancying sitting in my mancave tinkering with a hobby project, but really it has moved from being my first choice activity to something I do just to kill the time, and I am casting about (so far unsuccessfully, I have to say) for maybe another hobby to engage with that I can be more enthusiastic for.  There’s a possibility that I may get into maintaining the car I bought last month (although to be honest, while I am interested in how it all works, the idea of getting oily and greasy and sweating away at stuff for ages doesn’t have huge appeal… although that may change!

Needless to say, I have a significant PoO of plastic, lead and resin accrued over the decades, and I will probably tinker away at it from time to time as my years advance into decrepitude, but…

Seems I am now more of a hobbyist out of force of habit – it’s what I have done for the last few decades – rather than any real sustained interest in the hobby.  I still enjoy seeing pictures of miniatures and stuff, and flicking through the odd mag and website, but it no longer seems to engender a need to buy anything new, rather just to maybe go and tinker with my PoO.

Of course, now lockdown is over and my gaming club is back up and running, I may discover a bit more enthusiasm to game with older stuff I have, but I think I can safely say I’m pretty much done with buying more gaming crap, certainly when it comes to models anyhow.

I’m not sure what tripped the switch – possibly the long lockdown which meant I got all my longterm projects completed and painted up, so no longer have anything nagging at my mind to get finished?  Possibly. It may be that after so long you realise there is nothing new under the sun and a model is a model is a model at the end of the day.

Anyhow, we’ll see.  I may just be feeling grumpy.  Who knows?

[phaidknott 7023xp 2]

Just not buying any “new” games is not the answer. This last year I’ve bought a couple of books for Renegade Legion : Centurion (thankfully at reasonable prices), and had finally finished collecting them all. BUT now I’m faced with trying to get the minis for them, and they are only available in the US (CinC miniatures). So with the ridiculous amount the shipping companies are charging these days (they made a mint with all this home shopping during CoVid), and the likelyhood of import duty/VAT getting added….it’s going to be more than expensive. So going anti-shiney would work, but you’ve got to already have bought everything before you can join 🙁

 

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