Why it's completely OK to be into tabletop gaming and not play very often, if at all

Originally published at: Why it's completely OK to be into tabletop gaming and not play very often, if at all | Boing Boing

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Absolutely, gatekeeping how somebody enjoys their hobby is stupid.

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This same adage applies “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, coach.”

You can be a fan of something and not participate directly.

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Until now, this was my secret shame.

I have a growing collection of boardgames, most of which I’ve never played, simply because most of my friends are not boardgamers, and getting a critical mass of people together to play is nearly impossible. Sure, I could go to a local game store or club to find other players, but I just don’t enjoy playing with strangers.

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Except for the implication that coaching/teaching doesn’t require much ability or training itself.

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I apologize for that and I did not intend that implication.

Coaching is its own job that requires a different skill set, often one that does not require the physical aspect of the thing they coaching. And a good/great athlete doesn’t necessarily make a good coach.

Then of course you have academic coaches, and their role doesn’t have the same physical demands of sports, but require that same skill set.

In my opinion, a good coach is one that gets the best from their coachee, and may actually be less accomplished than the coachee.

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Well, when I was culinary school the idea that the “hot” chefs would be the best people to get as staff was rampant. Most of those guys were arrogant assholes who couldn’t teach successfully at all.

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I am now imagining Burgess Meredith cutting Rocky Balboa’s swollen eyelid as he struggles to see his Munchkin cards, debating his best play

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Kick in the door, loot the room, duh.

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This is Rocky Balboa we are talking about here…

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Never thought I’d say this, but I miss the COVID lockdowns. During that time, my family had nothing else to do, so it was boardgame night every night. Now we have real lives again, and all of its disadvantages.

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Reminds me of “Billy Bishop’s Flying School” by Kate Beaton
http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=206

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I’m poor, so I can’t afford to buy sourcebooks, but yeah, if I had the cash, I’d buy them and read them and probably not play with anyone.

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If you are ever looking for some good TTRPG reading material for free, the Internet Archive has a great collection of old Dragon magazines:

If you are looking for more contemporary stuff, the Dungeon Master’s Guild has quite a bit of pay what you want stuff:
https://www.dmsguild.com/

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And Humble Bundle frequently has sourcebooks for various RPGs. Currently a Witcher TTRPG bundle just came out

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I’ve definitely spent more time over the years creating characters I didn’t play, building worlds for games I never ran, than I did actually playing, even before my gaming group dissolved. It never even occurred to me that it might not be okay, even if it was often a source of personal frustration - lack of opportunities to play those characters, my GMing skills not remotely living up to the interesting game worlds I invented (and thus the games immediately collapsing)… These days, without even the possibility of gaming again, I can’t really gain any pleasure from doing anything related, as it feels too pointless.

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I own around 20 tabletop games. I’ve played exactly one of those games one time since the fall of 2019. Between work, school, moving across the country, and COVID, I just lack both the time and the people to play with these days. I still consider myself a tabletop gamer.

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I play every other week - unless someone has life happen/sick/etc. It can be a month or so before we meet up for about 2hrs, but it scratches that itch.

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Thanks. I should toss a couple of dollars to the Internet Archive at least,

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That is a wonderful idea. I will, too.

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