On the suggestion that I "love something."
A few weeks ago, I perused a Twitter list I created; a list that includes people I always consider following but simply don’t for one reason or another. There, in somewhat passive-aggressive text was a tweet that probably wasn’t aimed at me but very well could have been, knowing my online disdain for… well, A LOT.
Cynicism, it claimed, is a boring a lazy practice. I should, as it suggested, “Love Something.” I paused, a little miffed at yet another post telling everyone to take the stance that “everything is awesome!” Then, I stopped to think about all the things--gaming and otherwise--that I do love. And the overwhelming conclusion is that there are quite a few things that fall into this category:
I love when the most popular decks in a game are control/combo rather than aggro. I loved the old M:tG days of Donate+Illusions of Grandeur or Prosperbloom. I love running Armorsmith Warrior while playing Heartstone, and I love hopping into a SolForge queue with Kitfinity, drawing my entire deck and going off for the win with mere seconds left on the clock.
I love the game group I have that meets (almost) monthly at Panera to play a vast spectrum of genres and titles: from Ghost Blitz and Animal Upon Animal to Caverna and Keyflower. I love that I have a completely different game group comprised of my wife’s college friends, who have now become my friends. Though they aren’t the typical definition of “gamer,” their willingness to try anything is a trait I can only hope more people at my FLGS adopt.
I love telling my favorite ‘gamer moment’ stories: yarns that include playing a 2 hour game of Ascension with Paul Bender at GenCon 2011; a game that lead a then aspiring designer by the name of Christopher Badell to come over to our booth and trade me a debuting game by the name of “Sentinels of the Multiverse” for a copy of “Return of the Fallen.” Or the time that I ripped a giant hole in my pants at GenCon2013 right before I was supposed to join a playtest of Take the Bait. Thinking up a quick excuse, I muttered that the oven at work had gone haywire and I needed to go check it out! (That should buy me enough time to run out and get a new pair of pants, I thought). Several hours later, I returned, having driven all over Columbus after midnight only to find a K-mart in the ghetto with jeans my size that were surprisingly not Fubu or JNCO. The game was fantastic, and the experience solidified itself in my memory because I was able to squeak a victory out over TC Petty III by trading a bikini and then going Otis Redding and “Sitting by the Dock of the Bay” to block other players during the final round.
To a snarkier degree, I “love” when people think Twitter is the equivalent of a blog and post the rules to their untested game in a blast of 45 successive posts. I “love” when people forget that there’s this thing called a cell phone or DM and @ reply back and forth with their significant other for an hour about inside jokes 99% of their mutual followers don’t understand. In the same vein, I “love” when people feel the need to include their significant others in all their tweets, as if it’s more important to tell followers that you’re in love than it is to spend time or directly say something to the person with whom you’re “in love.” We all get it, you’re in a relationship and you like each other. Simma’ down ‘nah!
I love the support that my wife has given me in the past 2 weeks after I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I will miss Soda, Craft Beers, Milkshakes, Pretzels, and eating @StarEater’s cookies at Origins and GenCon. I will love the feeling of not being lethargic and tired all the time more.
Finally, I earnestly love friends on social media who aren’t afraid to say when something sucks or when a campaign or publisher seems to be full of s__t (e.g. Anthony from CBJ or Nick Ferris). I love people like Rhiannon Ochs who bluntly tell you that your petulant little brats need to lose at games because it builds character. Likewise, I have immense respect for reviewers who take a middle ground approach; reviewers for whom “everything is not awesome,” and to whom a designer’s name or award nomination isn’t cause for salivation. I read and watch people like Joel Eddy and Chris Norwood for this very reason, and harp on other sites to take this approach. I do this not, as others assume, to be an asshole; rather, I do it because I agree with Eric Zimmerman when he opines:
Loving something is great. I too encourage people to love things: games, people, experiences. Love is profound and transformational on myriad levels, but don’t mistake loving something with loving EVERYTHING. As a gamer, if you love a title, you tell others about it. They might buy it, and if enough people spread the word and cause an increase in sales, a company learns that genre/designer X is popular, and they produce more games of that genre or by said designer. You, in general, are happy with this outcome. If you love every title, it’s a tacit suggestion to a company to print more games...which seems like a good thing, except for the fact that there’s no discernment or guide about what to print, meaning there’s going to be crappy games coming out along with the good ones. While you might not care, because hey, you love everything, people who have limited time or money want to know what’s worth their investment. Criticism and honesty, in this case, are invaluable resources. Yes, there are seemingly interminable things I dislike about gaming. I do; however, love many people and things in our crazy hobby/industry as well. I simply choose to be critical of things because I want them to get better; in short, because I love them. I don’t believe that’s boring or lazy; I think that’s passionate and respectful… in my own critical way.
