Games that cause you to leave

I disagree with this. I can socialize with people without playing a game with them

I can socialize and have a good time with friends without a game too, and I agree with your sentiment here. But really, what you're describing is something different than what's really the issue here, packing up and leaving if you don't like the games. It's one thing to say "you know what, I'd rather be at home with the kids than play this" or "I'm tired, want to leave" than it is to cut and run solely because a game doesn't agree with your taste.

My policy has always been "play whatever, and have a good time doing it". Even if I hate it, I'll drink another beer and crack jokes the whole time. Or talk movies with Branham. I'm happy to just be playing games in good company, most of the time. It beats sitting around at home.


Some of this kind of digs into the reasons why one of my game groups imploded a couple of months ago. It was a social group, all friends and people that have known each other for years. We'd get together on thursday nights, eat pizza, drink beer, and play a couple of games. We had a special system set up so that everybody got a night to pick all the games that would be played, which come to find out does not work because then you get games that one person out of five or six want to play. So a lot of nights, we'd play halfway through two or three games and then just shoot the shit. It was actually very difficult to find a game that pleased everybody and held everyone's attention. So those of us who really wanted a side of gaming with our socializing were getting disappointed. There were a couple of nights where I think we barely played anything.

I do think that if you're going to get together under the pretense of playing games and everyone is coming expectign to play games, then play some damn games. But that being said, socializing and having a good night with friends is always the most important thing to me, not whether or not we played a shitty Euro or a game I wanted to play.

With this group though, we had some folks that just wouldn't play certain games. As in, they'd leave early, not come at all if they weren't assured that a certain kind of game was being played, or they'd tune out during the game and ruin everyone else's fun. The result was that the quality of our gaming really suffered, and the social element suffered as well as this fragmentation started to affect everyone.

I really felt like the people that were doing this- ironically the members who went to the greatest lengths to separate themselves of any notion of being "hardcore gamers"- were shifting the focus from "group of friends" to "group of gamers" even though what they intended was exactly the opposite.

Their idea was that we were just a group of friends doing what was more or less a poker night. Yet their reactions to some games and their refusal to just go with the group and enjoy the company made it all about the games, and I hated that.

So that's why I feel like I do about it.

As for Eurogames, if you play any game with the right people and a good attitude, you'll have fun. Even really awful crap like CAYLUS is fun in spite of the game itself if you commit to having a good time regardless of it.

Michael Barnes wrote:

If you're gaming with friends or a close-knit game group, I think it's really, really stupid and childish to leave rather than play a game you don't care for. If you do that, it's basically like saying "I'm here for the games, not you guys". If you can't make _any_ game fun when you're with your friends, then I'm inclined to say that you're focused on the wrong aspect.

I do understand it if you're at a convention or a group where you're there without any social context. I'd rather pack up and leave than sit around with a bunch of losers playing THURN AND TAXIS.

But I'd stick around if my friends decided that's what they wanted to play, I'd just do my best to have a good time socially regardless of whatever game is on the table.

I gotta agree with Barnes. When playing with a bunch of friends, it's as much about the players as it is about the game.

I can sit and play a game I'm not too fond of because of the people I'm playing it with.

Michael Barnes wrote:

As for Eurogames, if you play any game with the right people and a good attitude, you'll have fun. Even really awful crap like CAYLUS is fun in spite of the game itself if you commit to having a good time regardless of it.

That just hasn't been my experience. I've played Euros with four different groups of gamers.

1. Some CCG players who also were into RPGs. They're like a specialized subset of AT gamers, not quite as fun to hang out with as the local AT players, but somewhat social. Playing Euros with them was dry and procedural, with discussion mostly limited to rules issues, and a bit of discussion about strategy during the games.

2. My old Vampire CCG group, which was also into RPGs and older AT games. They mostly just play Magic and Euros these days. They are fun to play with except during Euros, when everybody gets quiet and analytical.

3. A local Euro group. These guys are pretty uptight and play quietly. They resent table talk and will even ask people to quiet down during the game. After a couple of painfully quiet game days with these guys, I swore off Euros for good.

4. My high school RPG group, which also played some older AT games. I rarely get to game with these guys outside GenCon anymore. But the last two times I did game with them, they were into Euros, and again, table talk was mostly just about rules. However, I did get them to try Fury of Dracula, and that brought them back to life, with plenty of smack talk and laughter.

So, at least in my experience, Euros can make even a fun group less fun.

I've gamed with Barnes, Avery, Martin...and their group fits me like a glove. That's pretty much how I game with my friends here at home; lots of shit-talking, socializing, jokes, non-sequitirs, movie quotes, you name it. The game is the 'centerpiece', sure...but it's more about having fun with the people you're with.

I could honestly give a rat's ass what's being played if the company is good. Sure, the game might suck, and we might ridicule it mercilessly, but we will have a damned fine time doing it.

The group is ultimately the meta-game, so to speak. Sure, you want to gravitate toward "good" or "great" games, because why not? But having to sludge through a shit game can be a lot of fun when you're with your friends.


In fact, the attitude that someone would just 'up and leave' because of some game hitting the table actively pisses me off. If that's how you feel, I ain't got time for you. Piss off. Go home and masturbate over a bag of cubes or something.

Yeah, I have to admit that there is a small handful of games where I'll just leave but believe me, it's for the betterment of the group. I know that I'll ruin the experience if I play the game and I don't want to do that. My stepdad is nice enough to bow out of playing Power Grid or many other games he despises cuz he's just a sourpuss if he plays. I'm the same way when it comes to:

- Scrabble (I'll never play this again)
- Trivial Pursuit (i hate the fact that my family gives clues when they get bored or give out free pie wedges just for fun)
- World of Warcraft (worst game I've ever played)
- Zombies!!! (never again)
- Prophecy
- Arkham Horror

Those last two games just take too damn long. I'd rather go home and do something else.

I live and die by that sword though. If people refuse to play a game I suggest and threaten to leave, it doesn't bother me. I'll suggest other things but if that person leaves, I don't care. I respect them for valuing their own time.

And I'll categorically leave the table if Ken B is there

Ken B. wrote:

Go home and masturbate over a bag of cubes or something.

Ludicrous, sir. That's worse than drinks on the table! Think of the poor games when your base urges consume you.

But seriously, these days I just don't game with people I don't know. When I play with my friends, if somebody doesn't want to play something, we don't. Other than that, I agree with the majority of folks here. In a friends setting, we could be playing Snifty Snakes for all I care. In a non-social-contract setting like a con, I'd happily say "Nope, going to find something else, later." and not feel bad about it if I can get out before the box lid comes off.

I have the opposite problem. My group doesn't want to offend anyone, so when I show up late they're usually playing something they think I don't like (whether it's true or not) in my absence. I'll walk through the door and they'll have guilty looks on their faces and apologize like I've caught them cheating on me.

To some extent this is less of an issue now that we have enough people to play two different titles. Walking away from a game generally means into the next room, and the chances of two truly awful games being up at the same time is pretty slim. I'm not terribly picky either.

Sag.

Sagrilarus wrote:

I'll walk through the door and they'll have guilty looks on their faces and apologize like I've caught them cheating on me.

That sounds just like the time I caught Patrick "Black Barney" McSully playing that Boy Crazy CCG from a few years ago.

I honestly never played that game EVER. I MAY have wanted to at some point just for the photo op.

But at that point, there were no many inuendo(sp?) cards in LOTR that I could get my jollies by putting 4 copies of "Softly Up Behind" in my deck and giving a big thumbs up to the media when they take pics of that card in play.


ugh.. i so don't miss CCGs

There is a perfectly nice local gaming group that has put me on their email list for invitations to game night. They play twice a month, except less often in the summer. But I played with them once, and the only games they wanted to play were Settlers, a couple of other light Euros, and light AT fare like Chez Geek and Kung Fu Samurai on Giant Robot Island. Three of them refused to try Battlestar Galactica, so we split into two tables, a small game of BSG, a two-player game of Settlers and one person just watching the Settlers game. We did all play Kung Fu Samurai on Giant Robot Island together, and it was mildly pleasant fun for all.

So I haven't had any enthusiasm for going back. A couple of the people are in my usual AT group, I like a couple of other people, and there are a couple of people that I can't even remember. Now they're saying that they will play any one game that I bring if I show up, which is tempting. But they play a lot of Settlers, probably 50% of all gaming they do is Settlers. So I haven't gone back.

I could get my jollies by putting 4 copies of "Softly Up Behind" in my deck

Well, I guess I spoke too soon. That's a game I'd walk out on, right there.

Shellhead wrote:
" The typical Euro discourages conversation, because the players are busy running numbers and analysis in their heads and will only be annoyed by attempts at table talk."
Never stopped me trash talking, if it puts them off their strategy then it's a bonus!

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I'd balk at playing Settlers again. I'd prefer to stay and chat but if they're encouraging me to play then I'd point out that my lack of interest would result in poor play/ So put me in the agreeing with Black Barney camp.

I think the emphasis is on the games rather than the group. How many times have you seen the same group of players change drastically in attitude depending on the game. For example, at my fortnightly group we all had a blast playing Loopin' Louie, but for Hermagor you'd've thought someone had died (if only it had been me).

There are games where I'd rather not play and just sit around and talk instead. Geshenkt (No Thanks!) for one. What a waste of 5 minutes.