Like many wargamers, I subscribe to a number of forums and chat groups online. Now admittedly I’m not much of a chatter, more of a lurker, but its a useful way to keep abreast of current conversations and topics of interest. One thing I have noticed repeatedly over a number of years is the tendency for people to be ‘brutally honest’ in their assessment of other peoples painted mini’s. They tend to get even more ‘honest’ when they are anonymous, and when I say honest, what I really mean is they are being nasty, condescending, mocking and often foul-mouthed. In short, they claim to be members of our hobby community, but in effect, they behave like the worst kind of Troll.
Friday's episode of The Quarantined Wargamer discusses the thorny issue of online bullying from the perspective of our hobby.
I hope you found that interesting and thought-provoking. If you did please leave some comments here or over on my YouTube Channel.
Hi Lee,
ReplyDeleteAs I commented on your previous post, I feel people don’t understand how much this occurs and drives potential New blood away from our hobby. Certainly sent me packing from a club I was keen to join here in the UK. I never went back. I am not a great painter, a bit older than you, but enjoy the games and the history. I now have a great board games friend but figure gaming has stayed a solo venture. Pity.
Good topic again Lee.
Cheers
Dave
I've only noticed it a couple of times 'in the flesh' but its a lot more common online (sadly). I once tried joining a club local to me but they weren't very welcoming (not rude, just a bit cold). Most of the small games shops that used to host games near me have long since gone the way of the dodo. It must be hard to reserve space for gaming when rental costs are so high.
DeleteAgree totally. I recall about 100 years ago a gamer at our club in Australia painted Airfix plastics and the paint jobs were very pedestrian to say the least. The important thing was that the paint work was fine for him and more importantly, he was playing games.
ReplyDeleteNow having a look at the rest of your blog/channel :-)
Cheers,
Back in my early days of Wargaming a friend of mine brought a Space Marine army to a game painted in what can only be described as Turquoise Green. They were god-awful (even he thought that) but I didn't care, because for the first time ever my painted army wasn't facing a force of unpainted lead! I just appreciated that he'd made an effort.
DeleteI think it's also a wider problem in society. With the possibility of giving "reviews" for everything (hotels, restaurants, ...), it's as if people think it's ok to criticize anything, and many people confuse constructive criticism with downright insults. But it's always someone's work or actual job you're criticising. Even if you didn't like the food, it's not ok to give the restaurant a bad review. Rather keep your mouth shut, or send a private email if something really went wrong.
ReplyDeleteI teach for a living, and I always say its very easy to completely break down the work of a student. You're the teacher, after all, and you know your stuff inside out. The student doesn't. But giving constructive feedback such that the student learns something and wants to do better next time is much harder. That's also what distinguishes good teachers from the not-so-good ones.
When I was at Uni the best advice I ever got was, "don't worry if you make lots of mistakes, just make sure you learn from them". It wasn't "make one mistake and be ridiculed until you give up". All learning is a process and we all have to start somewhere.
DeleteI would agree with your assessment though I haven't seen a lot of it on the blogs I read.
ReplyDeleteMy painting verges from average to... average. Some a better average than others! Certainly far from the best but not at the bottom end. But I'm pleased!
Blog comments seem (and this is a very unscientific assessment) to be better than other social feeds. Maybe because many bloggers moderate comments and weed out the bad stuff like I do.
DeleteI've always thought my painting was average and after 30 years its probably not going to get any better.