Goatboy’s 40k Thoughts – What I am doing for the Hobby?
Goatboy here again chatting about the hobby this time around. We all talk, write, discuss, and argue because no matter how much we complain we like this hobby.
The nights of having glue covered hands, paint under your finger nails, and long discussions about how we have the best army and the internet is wrong – these things make us keep coming back to this game. Heck, I came back after a long hiatus (failed marriage) and will most likely not drop this game – or at least the model aspects – for a long time. So today I want to go into the things I am trying to do to keep the hobby fresh for myself as well as foster a better growth of it, even in the face of sheer hateraid.
I am a – “gasp” Smalltime Internet Personality
No matter how much you can “hate” me for whatever I decide to do (comics, art, modeling, writing, playing) I am at least trying to not just be a dbag player. This game is supposed to be fun for all players. I do enjoy winning, but I want it to be a tough win. If things go bad for my opponent I feel bad (except for Darkwynn).
With this so called “popularity” I get to be helpful in a lot of ways. I get to give some alright advice from time to time as well as help people find that answer they need for an army. I also get to meet other so called “famous” players, too… and have a chance to be more then just a dice chucker. This year I am one of the leads for the Heroes of Armageddon and this is such a cool honor. I get to help generate some donations for a great cause, and create some cool models in the process. It is stuff like this that makes me think all the time and energy I put in this game can go beyond the dice.
Of course the so called popularity is not always for the best – the trolls love it. It is a part of life and anytime you get bigger britches there are always people coming along to call you fat. Most of the time I find it pretty funny. One of the best quotes to one of my articles was “Ruining 40k 2 months before it comes out” with my whole Shunt Punch article. I try not to read too much into the anger I get, but every once in awhile you get a gem of a comment. I agree you have the right to your opinion. I don’t comment on most because it isn’t healthy for the game nor my sanity. Also any dialogue in the comments is not a real dialogue. Tone and connotation is lost a lot of the time and what someone might see as a complete Dbag might be a fine person when you meet them on the faux battlefields of a tournament. Heck I have seen some commentors go from being raving jerks to actually decent commentors and still get railed on. It is those glimmers of decent conversation that give me hope that most people are just a lot cooler when they get down to the table tops and throw dice.
I Produce a lot of Content
Whether it is a panned web comic (new writing is jumping on soon, so maybe you can hate on him and like the art), “tactics” articles, or just a crap ton of painted minis I am constantly producing something relevant to the hobby. Well at least relevant to me. I know at times it can seem like I might be stretching myself thin at times (which I probably am thus getting help on the comic with a writer) but I just really enjoy the hobby and I am constantly thinking of things.
This is not a call out to anyone, but I just want to say that producing this stuff does take a lot out of me. I pretty much don’t have a day I am not working on something mini related. Lucky for me this hobby is a stress reliever so the actual work is part of my mind’s cool down time. I know that all the other bloggers also put out a ton to create content, too. I read a lot of it. In fact I am usually swimming around in the internet pool looking for all kinds of new ideas and things to test out. Plus I can usually find the places I get called special names too.
I won’t post all the links but you can guess where I like to read stuff by seeing some of my art up on the banners. Heck I was worried this hobby might kill some of my art drive but I am thankful it has come back. A mixture of bag drawing, banner drawing, and even “terrible” web comicry has helped me complete my hobby circle.
Yes there is a Venture Brothers themed bag. Hank is the floating Servo skull because there is no way he would survive in the year 40000. If you haven’t watched the Venture Brothers then go find it. It is brilliant. If you like the art and want someone on a bag come find me at an event. I plan on bringing my markers to get down and dirty on your bag live art style.
Beyond that I am painting a ton of minis lately. I got my Grey Knights done (yes they are actually Grey Knights and not Goat Knights or Grey Goats or FU INTERNET IN THE EYE GOAT MONSTERS) as well as a clients Blood Ravens army after coming back from Adepticon. I have a bunch of new CSM stuff as well as some random bits and pieces. I plan on fully building out my Grey Knights (probably my last full build out army) and will post some of my design work I want to do for my Rogue Psyker squad in the future. I have some model reviews coming out too and look forward to the next few months being filled with Orks and other random bits and pieces.
So all in all my plate is pretty full of Miniature gaming goodness. Thankfully there isn’t a whole lot of fat on it or you would look at an even bigger Goatboy. I will hopefully get more art drawn, more games played, and have more army builds in the coming months. This hobby means more to me than just a way to defeat people through dice domination it builds on everything I enjoy (art, fluff, and competition) and keeps me sane in a world of trouble shooting and corporate dancing.
I hope it means as much to you as it does to me. So look at this as a call out to have other people write and create more. The more things we do to help the hobby the longer this hobby will stay around. I don’t know about you but the thought of losing the game makes me sad as I stare at all the unbuilt plastic in my Goatboy Cave. So the question is what are you doing to help the hobby?
