‘We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.’ - Abraham Lincoln
Too often have i seen the distance that lay between tables at the gamestores…too often have i spied wary glances over shoulders, looking at ‘the other table’. Far too often have the whispers that defame and denegrate other players based solely on the selection of system, genre, or even edition. I’ve put off writing on this topic for far too long. Its something that needs to be addressed and spoken whole-heartedly about. I’m refering to the immediate issue of what several publications, both dead-tree (print) and digital have refered to as ‘the edition wars’.
When Wizards of the Coast announced the latest edition of their Dungeons and Dragons pen and paper rpgs in early 2008, i like many players were excited and a bit intrigued to see what changes could be brought about to the system and the game, that would be such a reach beyond what was accomplished by both 3rd edition and 3.5, respectively. WotC, back by their corporate owners Hasbro shovelled metric tonnes of cash into its promotion, not only in gaming publications and blogs, but as well as comic books, and trade catalogues. At the time, i was working at a chain bookstore and was organizing a gameday to commemorate and usher in the new edition; i thought then, as i do now, that anything to promote the community, would do well for gamers of all types. Upon reflection, i wished i had cancelled the event. There were those players, before the release that stated, ‘I’ll never give up 3e, i’ve got too much money invested.’ or ‘4th edition? what was wrong with 2nd?’ or ‘Whatever happened to Chainmail? and Hackmaster?’ Even then, the rumblings of conflict seemed eventual and foreboding. The event went well, with over 40 players. That parleyed into an ongoing group that met monthly but only survived three to four months.
Although the demise of the group was completely unrelated to the ‘edition wars’, it bears mentioning that it did fall victim to the internal politics that has ravaged gaming in recent decades. We as a group have been overtaken by the mentality of showmanship and competitiveness and powergaming. Players now have resorted into character shells, with stats on laptops, spells written on cards, figures, and other board game elements. That in itself isn’t the problem. The problem resides in the residual ire that accompanies any update to a system.
Old vs. New. Sci-Fi vs. Superhero. Fantasy vs. Cyberpunk. Collectable card games vs. Board games. GURPS vs. RIFTS. 40k vs. Warmachine. Pathfinder vs. D&D. White-Wolf vs. Everyone else.
The thing of it is…everyone of these listed above is a game, wholly and certainly played by thousands if not millions of players each. Every single one of the them has merit. All of them are vital to the hobby, and all of them are just as important to its fans and its players as our system is to us. And while it is human nature to have favorites and preferences, we tend to forget a simple fact….that each and every one of us has started on some old card table, sketching on grid paper, rolling d4’s that are practically spherical, with old bent plastic figures warped from years in dusty closets. Every one of us has been the new kid, squeezed into a huddle, learning the effects of prismatic spray on kobolds, or why you never utter the phrase, ‘Its just a dragon.’
But it seems that we have forgotten the nature of who we are as gamers, and the industry itself seems poised to cater to powergaming, and massive armies, and pie-plate templates. It seems determined to keep the gamers spending money on micro-managed ‘essentials’, rather than keeping the players playing, and enjoying themselves. And we buy into it. Every one of us, myself included, has uttered the terse, underhanded comment about ‘the other table’. The funny thing is, given our stereotypes, that the rest of the world sees us by, we have no room to be elite-ist. We dress funny, some of us don’t bathe, some still live with mother, or dad, or grandma. We’re socially outcast, we quote movie scripts to films only we’ve seen. We laugh at Monty Python. We are NOT the peak of social darwinism….
But that’s not the point. We don’t have to be the pinnacle of social grace. We don’t need to be the poster boys for GQ, or Esquire…and who cares if some of us wear Old Spice?
But; this is what we need to do….if this industry and this hobby is going to continue to grow. If gaming, as a whole, regardless of genre, media, box or book. Lightsaber or spellstaff is going to succeed, the only thing that we as a community must do, is recognize that each and every one of us has a responsibility to be ambassadors to new gamers, could-be-gamers, those who are interested in coming back, or never even picked up a die. We need to carry the torch and let people know that despite our grim exterior and terse response to light and Reality Television, that there is something unique and wonderful about the gamestore experience and the hobby. That there is something monumental about high-five-ing the nat20 roll, or the exhaltation of killing Strahd due to the efforts of a swift paladins blow…(thanks Travis.) Set up by a flying leap of a thief from a belfry (thanks Karl.) And just imagine, if we, as people, in an age of smartphones, and toll booths and crappy $5 an ounce coffee can derive that kind of entertainment, and commradeship from a book, and dice, or minis and terrain, or cards and counters, how much of a draw that would be to outsiders.
If we are going to be elite-ist about anything; don’t worry about whose playing what game, or what edition; don’t concern yourself with tabletop or CCG. And who cares about LARP’ing, or boardgamers taking your thunder. You want to brag about anything. ANYTHING. You brag about being a gamer, and the fact that we don’t need computer interactions, or gamestations, or motion controls. We don’t need LAN’s or headsets, don’t need online subscriptions to sit by ourselves in the dark for hours talking to some kid in Hong-Kong. We are here, now; across the table, interacting, making friends, slapping hands and throwing holy hand grenades. You want to brag about something…brag about that.
-Geoffrey T. Barton
