Accepting and Interacting with your Hobby

[Overread]

This is my camera, I've spent more on this than many people will spend on one 40K/AoS army*, and yet its got problems.

Sometimes the AF misses its mark or isn't fast enough to keep up.

Sometimes the lens has colour fringing (just look at all those greeny and purply fringes all over the place!)

Sometimes its not got enough ISO range to get a good shot in all conditions 

Sometimes its operator is a twit

(thankfully I think I've deleted/lost all those photos!!!)

It's got issues! It's not perfect and one can see that even just with software updates its AF could be improved, its ISO algerithms polished, its overall performance enhanced. A few mb of code, less than most games get in a single patch, and my camera could work better. A few improvements at design and manufacture and it could work better. More sensors, better AF, faster processing. There are a slew of ways it could work better that would likely have little effect on its end price per unit. I can write pages on faults and failings of the camera, accessories, attachments, addons and more. 

Every part of my setup has flaws and issues in its design and features. Things that manufacturers could improve on, adjust and fix. Both before and after sale.

However it also works great, fantastic even! 

It's far more capable than its operator is half the time and has infinite potential if one is willing to put the time and effort in. To learn its weaknesses as much as its strengths, to work with those strengths. Indeed when one chooses to work with it its potential is astounding and far beyond me.

This doesn't make those problems go away, they are still there, they will still always happen. However its my choice on how I can react to those problems. I can let them dominate me, let them win. I can let them overwhelm me; throwing my hands in the air that unless the manufacturer improves the product its hopeless. That my potential is constrained and limited, restricted and prevented. Sure there are limits, sure there are constraints, but if I choose to focus on them in a negative way then that's going to taint me.

It's going to limit what I can do and what I can achieve. Perhaps sometimes those limits are too strong, they are too powerful and I have to consider what I do then. Do I give up and move onto something else; do I try something new; do I change manufactures and buy into a different line of equipment that gives me potential to do things that are otherwise impossible (or very hard) with other setups? 

Well all hobbies are like that. All have their ups and their downs, its how one chooses to react to them and work with them that defines who we are and what we can achieve within our hobbies. The same is also true about how we conduct ourselves in public when interacting with others in the same hobby. Are we griping and complaining, bitter at the hobby and others at failings and problems. Choosing to focus on those negative aspects and to hold them up high as our main problem. 
Are we focusing on the success stories, on when things are great and looking at the positive side of things. Choosing to share our success with others, our creations and our joy.

Or have we left the room, deciding that the problems outweigh the good and moving onto something else. Indeed are we in another room sharing our joy and optimising on something else. 

Personally I think that the mental attitude and how we conduct and relate ourselves to our hobbies is very important. I think that when a person chooses to share the negative in abundance; when it becomes a prime part of their focus and how they talk with others, then they've hit a very low point. Misery loves misery and it will drag a person down far worse than anything else. It will reinforce your demoralising elements; shore up the problems; make them from surmountable hills into insurmountable mountains. What might be a minor annoyance at the start of the week, reinforced with the complaints of others and our own act of reinforcing our own by repetitive talking/typing of those thoughts, can turn them into huge issues by the end of the day, let alone the end of the week. 

At the very same time reinforcing our own enjoyment and sharing that with others. Repeating describing and talking about what we enjoy, what we've achieved and what we are looking forward too. This will also have an impact on us and those around us. We've not ignored the problems; we've not overlooked them; we've not forgotten them. We have put them in their place to the side and chosen instead to reinforce our enjoyment and our achievements.

When we learn something we repeat it and what we repeat we learn. 
If we repeat the negative we learn the negative; if we repeat the positive we learn the positive. 

In my view a hobby is something to be enjoyed and shared, something to gain a sense of self worth and value. If I choose to repeat the negative then all I am doing is undermining myself; if I repeat and share the negative then I'm dragging others down too. All moving toward losing that sense of self worth, value and confidence. 

So I'd encourage you to pause and think about how you choose to interact with your hobby as well. Are you focusing on the achievements and good side? Are you repeating the good, fun points. Are you helping yourself along and others when you share your enjoyment. The latest greatest battle (even if you lost); the latest conversion or paintwork; the latest book you read or bit of artwork you found. Heck maybe you draw or paint and you are sharing your creative work. However and whatever you do in whatever hobby I'd encourage you to be aware of what you share; how you talk; what you talk about. 

*fun fact is the camera end is now worth less than most people would spend getting started with a new army. 

[Kadeton]

Interesting thoughts, and a good perspective on hobbies and mental health. Positivity definitely reinforces positivity. Nice photos, too!

When we're discussing wargames specifically (rather than cameras), I think there's an interesting split. Hobbyists who primarily get their joy from the painting and modelling side of the hobby tend to be (in my experience) more satisfied, supportive and overall positive online. Those who focus more on the gaming side of the hobby have a higher tendency to be negative about it online.

I have a theory that hobbies where you can show other people the end result of your efforts, like a well-painted army (or a great photo), generate more positive discussion, especially in online spaces. Even when the output you're posting is terrible, people will find ways to be encouraging and give helpful advice on how to improve. You can then apply people's feedback, see noticeable improvements in your work, and post your latest efforts to receive further positive reinforcement and tips. It's a wonderful community-building cycle.

In most gaming discussions, by contrast, the default mode is argumentative. This is better than that, so that is garbage. This is broken! If you disagree with me, then it's because you're bad at the game.

It's a form of discussion that naturally breeds negativity. The problem is, I don't think there's actually much discussion to be had in those circles that is positive while also being meaningful and engaging. The closest thing I can think of is helping newer players to wield their army more effectively or strategise against a specific opponent, but even that tends to devolve quickly into The army you've chosen is rubbish, take these units instead if you want to win.

At the heart of all hobbies is a sense of mounting achievement - acquiring a skill, building a collection, working towards a goal. Without consistent and noticeable gains, any hobby will eventually become stagnant and unsatisfying. Unfortunately, beyond the initial stages of learning the rules, it's really difficult to have any kind of consistent improvement in whatever metric you use to engage with the game, whether that's "fun" or "wins" or something else.

Anyway, I suppose the idea I'm putting out there is that conversations about improvement are generally positive, and conversations about optimisation are generally negative, by their very nature. Painting offers almost limitless room for improvement, but gaming quickly caps out and turns into an optimisation problem. Try to be aware of that, and balance out the negativity with some positivity once in a while, even if it means switching your hobby focus for a bit, I guess?

[JackStreicher]

18 hours ago, Overread said:

Misery loves misery and it will drag a person down far worse than anything else...

We have put them in their place to the side and chosen instead to reinforce our enjoyment and our achievements.

 

True. Yet it is important to understand  where that misery came from in order to stop it from reoccurring (if possible)

I know I am rather often on the negative side of discussions, since there‘s a lot happening that I do not agree with as an old GW Veteran.  And yes one should not dwell only on the negative aspects and also engage with all the positive aspects of the hobby which is the community and the sharing of experiences and projects.

As for our hobby I like to distinguish between the hobby itself (which is fun, positive, de-stressing even) and the company that is providing the hobby which is just the worst.

In my opinion it‘s best to enjoy the hobby itself, yet remain critical and demanding in order to keep the hobby itself in a healthy state.

[Greybeard86]

2 hours ago, Kadeton said:

Anyway, I suppose the idea I'm putting out there is that conversations about improvement are generally positive, and conversations about optimisation are generally negative, by their very nature. Painting offers almost limitless room for improvement, but gaming quickly caps out and turns into an optimisation problem. Try to be aware of that, and balance out the negativity with some positivity once in a while, even if it means switching your hobby focus for a bit, I guess?

This makes sense to me, I have for sure seen it happen exactly this way.

I think part of why the "gaming" parts are often negative is because there isn't any possibility of consensus being constructive.  Ultimately, the rules, good or bad, are outside of the reach of players. In something like 9th age some possibility of changing the outcomes is there.  When it comes to GW, thing seem more futile, as "broken" metas emerge all the time (and its always been this way) and players at the receiving end of the stick either switch armies or get stuck in "bad situations". This builds a lot of frustration.

 

13 minutes ago, JackStreicher said:

True. Yet it is important to understand  where that misery came from in order to stop it from reoccurring (if possible)

I know I am rather often on the negative side of discussions, since there‘s a lot happening that I do not agree with as an old GW Veteran.  And yes one should not dwell only on the negative aspects and also engage with all the positive aspects of the hobby which is the community and the sharing of experiences and projects.

As for our hobby I like to distinguish between the hobby itself (which is fun, positive, de-stressing even) and the company that is providing the hobby which is just the worst.

In my opinion it‘s best to enjoy the hobby itself, yet remain critical and demanding in order to keep the hobby itself in a healthy state.

Absolutely! I do attempt this balance myself, always trying to have a "big" hobby project on the side.

[SunStorm]

30 minutes ago, JackStreicher said:

As for our hobby I like to distinguish between the hobby itself (which is fun, positive, de-stressing even) and the company that is providing the hobby which is just the worst.

Is GW really "the worst"? It's a UK based company, doing well, providing jobs, paying UK tax, investing in new manufacturing space in the UK. Yes they're a company that wants to make money for it's shareholders, but that hardly makes it the worst, it's no different to many other businesses. 

[Overread]

@Kadeton I disagree that game discussion is inherently negative. It's no more negative nor positive than hobby discussion, though I do share your view that gamers are actually very positive regarding hobby discussions in general. That said its not an inherent thing as I've seen art forums tear themselves apart over similar conceptual discussions. 

I think what it more outlines is that gamers tend to not really have as good a vocabulary nor experience sharing their thoughts on the game side of things. So it swings to extremes far too quickly and often gross simplificaitons. "X is over powerered nerf it" "No Y is overpowered X is under powered" etc... To me it more highlights how simplistic our game interactions are in discussions online. Also with hobby chat you can show your models and your paintwork so there's a grounding - you can tell if someone knows their stuff or not. With hobby chat we really don't have a community system of sharing and reviewing and critiquing our games. So someone can be spouting off anything they want and there's no means to validate their views or thoughts in a visual clear manner. Instead we get shouting matches. This can be very daft when it two sides of the same coin arguing about a point where there isn't a right or wrong.
I think as time advances this area might improve as it gets easier to share games and as things like Twitch become more and more important and part of our lives. Indeed we might one day arrive at a situation where its normal to upload and show your latest game even just for fun not for any game critique. 

 

@JackStreicher - I think if you keep thinking that your main hobby provider is the worst in the industry then you need a break. You're continuing to interact with a hobby that you enjoy the mechanics of, but where the provider you are following is causing you pains. Pains which get reflected in your interactions, posts and discussions. You say that its important to see where the problems are so you can deal with them, but at the same time dealing with a problem means dealing with the provider (GW) yet the interactions on, say a forum, are only dealing with the fanbase, which more or less should be supportive to tolerant of the game provider. 

So it can lead to a person building up a lot of frustration as they repeat the negative and feed it; whilst at the same time getting pushback. Even if we take the issue of prices (as an example) even where people accept that a price is "too high" people might well still pay it and play with those models. So for a person who sees it as a huge problem and barrier it can drive you to madness. 

Sometimes its good to step back and realise that you might have grown apart from a brand or hobby and that it might be time to set it aside in part or in full and take a break. We all take them and often as not you either move onto something that turns out even better; or you spend some time away and return refreshed and invigorated. Able to see the negatives, but not let them dominate you and control and influence and, in the end, drag you down.