Welcome back once again dear readers to Mayday, Miss Marcy! Where I take the questions you have pumpkin spiced and add them to an increasingly large assortment of baked answers to help you with your hobbying, gaming, and other life advice queries circling our great space here at Goonhammer. The temperatures are changing, the leaves are coloring, the clocks are preparing to fall back, and yet there are still many questions to answer and more things to address!
Last week we took a look at Horror Game suggestions, TTRPGs for Spooky Scares, and scrounging up rocks for basing! If you're curious about how you could have your questions featured in this here article, well, read on to the blurb below:
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And now, let’s get this show on the road!
Office Space-Marines
Don't know if this would warrant a full article, but I'd love some expertise about hobbying while traveling or going into the office.
Currently I've gotten down to a small cardboard box with 3 or 4 primed minis, two brushes, two pots of paint to basecoat, paper towel sheet, and dixie cups that help keep minis from bouncing around and often my water cup or palette.
I try to keep my expectations low for actual time when visiting family, but might manage an hour in the evenings. With life already pushing my hobby time to the edges I'd like to be able to have a project on hand more often rather than staring at my phone.
Thanks!
Wandering and Wondering
Dear Wandering and Wondering,
I suppose my first question is whether you've considered upgrading your traveling kit to something a bit more permanent? A wet palette for one, but some sort of bag or case that you could more properly store your items in seems like a very smart investment. I don't even know if you have to get something ornate and fancy; a fairly large sized lunchbag would likely do well in storing many of these things and might make worrying about messes or clean-up easier, but would also probably make it simpler for you to bring this travel assortment along with you.
I think that expecting to have any specifically great amount of space or access to these things at all times is going to be the first problem that may cause you to get frustrated, so I also think you've got a solid handle on things with how many models you have with you. I think also having a mindset that you are going to focus on a specific thing--basing, basecoats, accent colors--rather than doing something very detailed and ornate is going to be very helpful to keeping you sane also.
I often find that with almost any hobby I take with my traveling, the thing that I have always run into is that my eyes are far larger than my space and time. It certainly seems like you should have more time or feel like you do, but then life finds a way and you are suddenly not actually as free as you thought, and that box of Space Marines is not getting built any time soon.
I do really like your commitment to using your hobby to try and avoid doomscrolling and reliance on your phone, though, and with the holidays coming up, there's certainly time to consider if you'll need something to keep yourself occupied while away from home. So, my suggestion in a smaller list form:
- Get a bag that will fit a wet palette and have room for your other supplies. Look for horizontal over vertical here.
- Get something that you can pack a few pots of paint and brushes with.
- You already prime them ahead of time, so great, but try to also see if this bag you select can't hold a few more than 4. This can also help if you find you are 'faster' than you expected. Something that can grow or shrink to how much time you find you actually have.
- Don't try to bring building; focus on your painting.
I stress the last part because the more things you need to plan to carry or have to carry makes it harder and harder; worrying about nippers and a knife (aside from issues of having, say, a sharp knife at your job) is going to just over complicate the matter. I think you already have a great idea in mind, I think you should look to make these items 'permanent' and more secure/transportable. A few other ideas you could look into are fishing tackle or tool boxes, which may allow you to easily carry many things and then bring it with you to work/family trips without having to go extremely out of the way to have a lot of things on hand.
Makings of Greatness
Hello Marcy!
Really like your columns so far, and appreciate the work you’re putting into all these other games that are what I would have played back before kids and a mortgage.
As a POC I have to say I’ve been pretty damn privileged in that I can count on a single hand the amount of times I’ve had negative interactions in any of my hobby spaces, and even then most of those are more awkward than negative. However, it’s also fairly obvious than I am a minority, in a niche, in an a very opaque space. If I bring up my hobbies with my ‘regular’ friends or acquaintances, well, we all know the kind of reaction you get (“oh, like monopoly?”).
Again, I am showered in privilege by having an amazing LGS full of awesome people who almost immediately took me in as one of their own. And while I don't stand out to them, I do keenly notice whenever someone like me (non-white, multilingual) is there, because it happens so rarely.
But I wish it weren’t privilege. I wish it was normal to come to game nights and see all sorts of people. Not because I want less cis white dudes, but because I want more of everyone else. However, I have no idea how you broadcast that sort of invite without sounding like a perv.
What can a FLG do to help make spaces not only safe and fun but also attractive to ‘everyone else’? What can I, as a member of my little community, do to help?
Thanks!
Friendly Local Gamer
Dear Friendly Local Gamer,
First of all, thank you for the kind words! Glad you enjoy the column. I'm also happy to hear that your situation has been mostly positive, even if things sometimes get awkward; I wish it were that way for everyone! And it is funny that you mention being the most oppressed group of person: Boardgamer. (That's a joke.)
I think that unfortunately the solution to your question is probably far wider and harder to overcome than a single LGS can possibly approach, because there are numerous intersections of gender, ethnicity, and economics that are going to be at play. I think also that there are probably groups of people who would be interested in hobbying of all sorts (TCGs, TTRPGs, Board Games, etc) but who either never had the time to check it out, the space to do so, or the money to pursue it. And, of course, insulated groups like gamers are, unfortunately, more often than not seemingly unwelcoming to newcomers to join their circle, which can extend to issues of marginalization as much as it does vibes and the existing 'circle' of people already in the group.
However, a lot of that puts up some great excuses as to why nothing will, or can, change, and I think that sort of thinking doesn't accomplish much. So let us talk about things that could be done. If you know the LGS runner fairly well, perhaps you could speak to them about trying to arrange some outreach to groups that are not perhaps overly familiar with or seemingly commonly their customer base. Aside from easy slam dunks like "Ladies Night" (which I have some issues with that we don't need to get into, just that 'Ladies Night' can result in some awkward problems), I think an LGS could likely find new customers and new patrons by actually participating in their local community in more ways.
An example of this is things like art shows or vendor exhibitions if you have them, essentially things like farmers markets or the like, where LGS might find the time to set up a small booth and have a swap meet or just offload things, or simply just bring some stuff and try to meet and expose themselves to new groups of people. The problem is usually that you can't inherently MAKE a space inviting to groups that you don't regularly service because they don't know, or don't think they are, welcome to go there. But finding ways for the LGS to spread beyond their own door and comfort zone is a great way to potentially bring in new people, and having the interaction with the community that may engender curious parties to check the place out can also help.
There's no real silver bullet on how to make spaces 'inclusive' other than just being, well, a welcoming and inclusive space anyway (which is what you should be doing), but there are outreach steps that can be taken to try and attract more people. If you have friends you think would like to check things out, try to find ways to introduce or bring them around on days or times that fit them and that also may seem less overwhelming to them. To use my partner as an example here, she often finds huge swarms of people at LGS intimidating no just because they are primarily men but also because they are primarily gamers who tend to be intense and at times overwhelming, so instead I found success in going to the shop on days that aren't "Board Game Night" or "FNM" for a bit which helped break the ice of "this is a place you can come and hang out and play games" before re-introducing her to larger groups. As you mention, when you see people you tend to 'notice' them, and I think those people also feel 'noticed', which can really make you feel like you don't want to bet here even if the place is inviting, friendly, and welcoming; the overwhelming attention one can get for being 'new' and different can honestly be similarly unsettling.
Starting Up To Here With This
Miss Marcy,
I am looking for advice from a tired and disgruntled community leader. My gaming area, like many others, is dominated by Games Workshop games; 40k being the main one. For any other game (including other Games Workshop games) it feels like pulling teeth to get a community started and keep it consistent. I have tried many many times with different games, and it always sputters out. I don't think I have the patience for it anymore, but it feels like it I don't lead the charge no one will even try. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you for your time,
TheInsulinDependentWargamer
Dear Insulin Dependent Wargamer,
I think you're reaching the point of potential flare out that it would be best to avoid. It is unfortunate that we can't always seem to get people to be as interested in other games like we'd hope they would be, and also that it seems like we have to listen to people complain about games they continually play but then refuse to do much of anything in regards to trying a new game or experimenting. There is of course the fact that some people are just going to stick to what they know and what they like, but with such a wide variety of games and types of play, it does seem annoying when getting people to try something new is like pulling teeth.
I do think though that if you have tried numerous times and that nothing seems to be taking, putting it to rest for a while may be the best. It sounds like the effort is actually stressing you out and making you less interested in your hobbies, which is the worst thing you could have happen; there's also the issue of tying your hobby to "value creation", and that isn't always monetary. If you feel like you aren't gaining ground in getting people to try new things, it can make you feel like you're failing, and thus it makes your hobby time less attractive because it reminds you of how you couldn't convince people to play a game, or more specifically, it it reminds you of failure.
If you want to continue trying, though, I think the best actual suggestion I can give you is that you need to consider recruiting someone to help you out. While it can be easy to maybe get people to play a single game or a few games of something they haven't had a lot of experience with, organizing something wider and longer lasting than that really requires committed people beyond yourself, and ironically you can't count on the people you're asking to play it to do that.
It sounds like what you need is not willing players (they help) but someone who can help you organize things. This could be someone else at the LGS, someone you play games with frequently, or both. See if you can't try to carve out some time in the LGS schedule, or you could also perhaps see if the store will advertise playing the game on their socials; if the game is easily available, then it can always be a way to open new business for them, aside from just foot traffic. But if this doesn't seem attractive to you, I do think that you really need to consider how to avoid burning out of your hobbies completely; you can't lead people to playing games and being responsible for your entertainment and other people's entertainment and expect that balance to be maintained without someone else to help you out.
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