You're probably familiar!
Since this series promises to lead right up to and through Adepticon, let's set up a standard opening with hyperlinks. That's a very bloggie, forumy thing to do, right?
*and key music*
Brian and Brent, Brent and Brian... two men, two perspectives, one mission: prepare for Adepticon 2012! Guys with a mutually supporting but totally manly self-supporting goal: to assist one another in marshaling little metal and plastic warriors to do battle on fields of styrofoam and flock.
Who will bring dishonor upon himself and his blog? Who will be forced to seppuku due to the sheer shame of it all? Who will fall in defeat; who will rise from ignominy?
Who will meet his goal: one, both, or neither? Find out in this week's exciting installment of...
Which 'B' Will It Be?
(Or as I like to call it, WAAC You!)
Hell, yeah! That's an intro!
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So, here's a thought; is the tournament condition as it pertains to the hobby a spectrum disorder?
By that I mean certainly not everyone falls exactly on one end of the WAAC vs FAAP paradigm or the other. Let's take a look at a line illustrating the point:
WAAC -------------------------*------------------------- FAAP
WAAC: Win At All Cost
FAAP: Fluffy At Any Price
It's why, contrary to the thinking of a Rush Limbaugh and Bill Maher, most of us are a little less ideologically driven in our daily lives... and moderate or free-thinker isn't a bad thing.
It's a spectrum, from one pole to the other, and it's a concept in thinking that allows more substance than 'either-or.'
* * *
Here it is again:
WAAC ------------B------------*------------B------------ FAAP
For the sake of argument, let's assume we're looking at the WAAC/FAAP spectrum; my 'B' is more left of center...
...uh... just a second...
FAAP ------------B------------*------------B------------ WAAC
(What?)
Much better! So my 'B' is more right of center while Brian's trends closer to FAAP. I can't say for certain, but I'd argue those points represent us as we normally are.
(Oh.)
Brian's a bit more the fluffy hobbyist and I'm a bit more the tournament player. That's us...
 |
| I should point out, his army is still a work in progress. |
...but what if we're going into Adepticon needing a bit more of the other in our approach?
And that's this series in a nutshell. Brian is playing in the Combat Patrol Tournament at Adepticon, while I myself need to improve my painting scores over last year's. I hope as many of you as possible will follow this series and provide advice and insight.
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Just keep in mind it wouldn't be much of a series if we immediately adopted all the great insight I'm sure you fine folks have to offer! Sometimes, the process is the thing.
* * *
Here's the Bell of Lost Souls Article that kicked this whole mad mess off, and here's Brian's first article on A Gentleman's Ones. We'll be responding and corresponding on either or both blogs, as appropriate.
Wish us luck!
(Whatever.)
2 comments:
I think it's more complex than two poles. That's the divide and rule route of so much modern thinking.
How about plotting positions on a circle instead, like the thinking here.That gives us a lot more subtlety. We could have say COMPETITIVE / COLLABORATIVE opposite each other at 0 degrees / 180 degrees, and maybe NARRATIVIST / MECHANICALIST at 90 degrees / 270 degrees.
A setup like this can show players interested in narrative-driven competition as compared with mechanically-driven competition, and players interested in narrative collaboration in setting up campaigns or better representing the world in play, as compared with those who want to collaborate on a ruleset which plays more smoothly or with better balance.
This is just a starting point of course - other terms might well describe the interests of the player base better.
I like your style, Brent-not-Brent.
We've only just begun (thank you, Ms. Carpenter) ...and already you've given me plenty to consider.
Food for thought. Food for thought, indeed.
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