Anti Shiny Syndrome League

[hobbyhubParticipant 4169xp 4]

Hi, I’m Andrew and I’m a shiny addict.

I recently got tempted by GW twice…

First was the Black Templar Launch box…. I’m not a Primaris fan, so wasn’t interested in the sprues. After watching a couple of reviews of the Codex, turns out I’m only really interested in the John Blanche art work so any idea I had of buying the box just for the special edition Codex (selling off the rest) went out the window.

Second time was the Thousand Sons, for a second time…  I’m interested in the set of rules for using TS Warpcoverrns in Kill Team (2021) to be published in WD 469.  My local Warhammer store still has the Start Collecting set, as the Combat Patrol hasn’t come out yet, I know since I visited it today… I felt compelled to go, but when I got their, and looked at it on the shelf, it seemed just kind of boring….No allure what so ever.

I had thought this morning that the two items together could be a Christmas present to myself, but I’m no longer sure….

I’m, however, a bit more interested in my Word Bearers’ PoO tonight.

[civilcourageParticipant 11134xp 4]

Hi my names Nick and I’m a miniature addict….this is the right place right?

I’ve never been one for big purchases and are quite mindful of how much I spend on miniatures but recently my free time has virtually disappeared and so my grey pile is growing ever larger, its not getting painted and I’m not getting to play games. Because of this I’ve realised I need to focus on a few favourite games, so when I actually get some time I’m not trying to remember the rules or searching for the right minis. I also need to be more mindful of the minis I buy, for example do they work across multiple systems, are they few in number etc

This realisation has also helped me not buy into much that’s new and find ways of using the models I have in different ways. For example using old 40k models that have been gathering dust for years on the onepagerules ruleset, no new minis required.

Mulling this over whilst writing this i think we need to identify why we buy new minis and see if we can limit those reasons so we don’t go over board. Are you buying the newest thing because the new rules have made them the best and made your older models obsolete? Maybe don’t move to the new version/rules.

Are you buying new things because it’s exciting and new, maybe have a cool off period to let the excitement die down a little and look at what your actually getting and the liklihood of you playing/using it.

I know I tend to buy things when I think they’re good value for money, I’ve now started really looking at these offers and thinking am I really ever going to use that or am I just attracted by the price.

Reading these posts I was interested to hear people also buy to help with mental health lows and it’s great to see people realising how temporary that ‘hit’ is and how it can also make things worse in the long run. It’s great to see these messages getting out there and hopefully help others be more mindful of why they are succumbing to shiny syndrome.

There’s a lot of time and money spent on marketing and I think it’s good to fight back and say actually I don’t *need* this, however much I feel I want it.

I’ll still buy new models every now and then but I’ll be thinking very hard about why I want them before I do, and as for new rulesets I doubt I’ll be buying anything new for an awful long time to come.

This hobby is here to make us happy, less stressed and ultimately more fulfilled than we would be without it, I think if we ever find its not doing that something is wrong and we should look at why and that’s exactly what you all are doing so kudos all.

[somegeezer 18431xp 3]

I just had a moment: thinking about an army project I have (maybe 50, 60, 70 models of which 10 are actually painted) and … has an idea. I went on to eBay looking for a few more things. I’ve watched £75-£100 worth of stuff and nearly bid on a thing ending tomorrow. I took a breath and caught myself and will go unwatch this stuff. Inspiration it’s everywhere and time to paint is not. It’s so bloody easy.

Not too mention the Warlord Games discount code I have burning a hole in my inbox ?

[pagan8thParticipant 11218xp 4]

@civilcourage in your post you said…

“Are you buying new things because it’s exciting and new, maybe have a cool off period to let the excitement die down a little and look at what your actually getting and the liklihood of you playing/using it.”

GW is banking on this particular aspect of gaming with their release system… if you don’t buy in the ‘preorder weekend’ the implication is that you won’t get the new shiny plastic.

Kickstarters are the same with their ‘Early Bird Specials’ and ‘Kickstarter Exclusives’.

There will always be a ‘new shiny’… you can’t get them all… you don’t need them all.

Be strong gamers… resist the temptations of these devils… save your souls… erm… save your money.

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 1]

Yup. When I worked at GW (1994, Jeebus I’m old) they’d negotiated rates with Royal Mail – good ones too. Very few KSes will have the clout to negotiate on postage, some may also have the business sense to do it.

Maybe this will help some of you kick the overseas plasticrack KS habit (: but KS creators don’t have clout with overseas plastics manufacturers, either. With Myth (still waiting) the plastic manufacturer tried to pull a fast one by changing the plastic used between the sample and final production. Myth caught them, and had to use their leverage that they didn’t pay the balance of the cost to manufacturer to force them to use better plastic. Various overseas KS have mentioned that you need to have someone fly overseas to make sure the manufacturing is going properly — and I’m sure someone who speaks the same language and has a rep who can visit the factories more often is more reliable (eg. CMON, which is located in Shanghai, China, iirc). I was in a failed KS, where the creator had to restart production because the QC failed (one of the Cthulhu dice KS), and the manufacturer had to find him a time slot, rather than prioritizing his project over others.

I’ve also noticed that some KS have “outside investors” which I tag as a yellow-flag. Worst is that they’re not mentioned during the campaign, although a low target funding may indicate one in hindsight. The money from these investors are needed to fund the *real* cost of the KS, and, because they control the purse strings, these investors have MORE control over the project than the backers and sometimes more control over the project than the creator wants, adding “too many cooks” risk to the project. A Fairytale Battle Royale KS had an investor pull out, and a boardgame even had the investor adding a board of directors (?) to a boardgaming project. Neither went well.

Unfortunately, while these risks (and “been there, rolled that” dice mechanics) keep me from funding KS that I’ve been on the fence for, they still haven’t kept me from the holiday sales. Just picked up a Mantic orc starter and undead starter on sale when I already have boxes of the same mini’s that haven’t been painted years ago… 😛

[phaidknott 7027xp 2]

To add to this, not sure if it’s due to the pandemic but……..

How many project/periods do we have where we’ve finished the “hobby” side of things, only to put them on the shelf/storage as “finished” but then hardly play games with them?

I’d say that easily about 50 percent of my collection rarely gets used on the table (sometimes for want of an opponent, sometimes because I’ve done a period/theatre that no-one else has any interest in). I feel no urge to sell any of these, but I just get a curious sense of satisfaction from just “owning” them.

I wonder if at the heart of things that most wargamers are just hoarders (or we could say “collectors” if we don’t want to be so harsh to ourselves). I think part of the issue is the sheer range of miniatures and rules available. Back in the 80s we had one or two sets of rules for Napoleonics, and just two figure scales (15mm and 25mm, 25mm if you were rich) with a figure ratio of 1:20. And now it’s 6mm, 10mm, 12mm, 13.5mm (Warlord), 20mm, 25mm, 28-32mm, games are anything from “Grand Tactical” to skirmish. So it’s a lot harder to find a “community” of gamers who all do the same thing, perhaps this is why we “collect” more then we used to (and “game” less with them).

So perhaps we need to join the Anti-Shiney Syndrome League not because of the amount we’re spending, but rather we’ve just run out of storage space 😀

 

[sundancer 43074xp 0]

What is this “Storage space” you speak of? 😉

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 0]

> I’d say that easily about 50 percent of my collection rarely gets used on the table

Better than my .05 percent!

Although I’m an Ameritrash boardgamer , I barely touch dice-based games anymore (eg. dungeoncrawlers, miniature games), and there’s pretty much NO overlap between miniatures I’d like to paint, and games I want to play. With Gloomhaven, I at least have miniature proxies, but Dominion is solely a card-based game.

“Unfortunately” painting miniatures is a challenge (albeit usually a frustrating one), so I have some reward out of it when I’m done or during the paint job. Plus there’s an “I did that” feeling when I pull out a painted miniature from the plano box. Very different than videogames, which I didn’t feel any sort of “accomplishment” after playing a game.

Anyway, Halloween is coming up, and you can always give away your unloved hobby things: unpainted miniatures, comic books, extra Magic cards, etc. Better than floss and toothbrushes, and no support of the sugar industry, either!

[sundancer 43074xp 0]

Some meme potential here:  Your collections get used? oO

[osbad 4279xp 1]

I get this totally.  I haven’t run out of storage space, but thanks to the amount of painting I got done during lockdown, and the fact that little playing got done I now have a “backlog” of completed projects just waiting to get played.  All are for game systems/periods etc that my friends play and are interested in but sheer logistics mean that I expect it will be many years before they all get used as club meets only once a fortnight.  It means my motivation for buying anything new is nil as it would just sit there at the end of the queue.  I suspect my pile of completed stuff will keep me gaming well into retirement before there is any “need” to acquire any more stuff.  As it stands I am now only feeling the itch to buy come along when there is a new ruleset that improves on one I already have, or I spot a really nice miniature that I would like to paint simply for the joy of painting.  Neither of these things happens very often, and neither are particularly expensive.

 

[horati0nosebl0wer 19661xp 1]

Perhaps this lockdown has been a boon to get us off our collective asses and do what we do in painting. With the whittling down of our Hoards of Shame we have come to the point of crisis in practical versus pragmatic. Its pragmatic to have figures for a need we want to fulfill in gaming. The practical matters of how much time we have available to us that we use for hobby/gaming, the space available for play/storage and how we can engage in order to play or hobby. Hard looks are being made at what plastic crack,  mounds of metal or hills of resin we have available to us and if it means anything anymore other than a pile of stuff. Our minis might well be part of our emotional baggage that we’re all getting through and coming to terms with where we are as hobbyists/gamers.

[pagan8thParticipant 11218xp 1]

Ah yes… lockdown and furlough… those mythological concepts that applied to other people whose job was not deemed ‘essential’ by the government.

[osbad 4279xp 1]

Its a digression, but on balance lockdown really was nuanced in my personal circumstances.  I still had to run my business and fulfil my obligations to my customers with staff (who what were essential?  No one ever *really* knew what the definition was) who didn’t want to come out of their homes.  For a few weeks until we got the tech sorted it was an absolute stressful nightmare which ate my life and sanity.  Sorted in the end of course, and out of 30 staff so far we have only seen 2 mild cases over 2 years so I think that was a success.  For a few weeks however I had no commuting, which definitely WAS a boon, and that did aid things.  However, most painting was achieved simply because all alternative leisure pursuits bar walking and watching tv were off limits.

So it wasn’t anything to do with work, but absence of anything else to do with my leisure time!  Whether that is actually a boon as such, I would argue probably not! 😀

[warhammergrimace 13766xp 0]

I agree with most other activities shut down, apart from those already mentuoned, painting was one of the few past times I could still carry out.  So I made good use of that free time by getting a big chunk of the grey army painted.

 

I also made time for some training as well, which was fitted around working from home and freelance work.

 

It also provided time to actually go through my collection and realise which items were gathering dust and I’d probably never use, so I got rid of those items and culled the list of games I’m never likely to play again. Which means I can concentrate on those that I will play.

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