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Games or People?

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29 Dec 2017 05:08 #259745 by __
Games or People? was created by __
At first I was not sure if this was a festive joke
boardgamegeek.com/thread/1887788/games-v...06&mc_eid=b6f4f28f82

but I don't think it is, and less than 15% of more than 1300 respondents even prioritized the people they play games with, I found that a bit surprising, but it certainly explains why I've had way more negative experiences playing games in clubs/groups of people I don't know than when playing games with people I already know/like to hang out with even when the games played with the former groups tend to be "better" games I'd "rather" play, given the choice.
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29 Dec 2017 09:02 #259746 by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic Games or People?
A better question:

Would you rather play a bad game with your favorite people, or a great game with people that you dislike?

I would rather play a bad game with my favorite people. Just being around them will be enjoyable, and we can make fun of the bad game as we play it.
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29 Dec 2017 09:22 #259748 by the_jake_1973
Replied by the_jake_1973 on topic Games or People?
I'd rather play a game I like with strangers than a game I dislike with friends.
Memoir 44, Merchants & Marauders, or Cyclades with strangers - Yes
Agricola, TI4, or Splendor with friends - No

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29 Dec 2017 10:40 #259751 by SuperflyPete
Replied by SuperflyPete on topic Games or People?
I'd rather play Candyland with Dave Denton and Charlie Theel than Spartacus with strangers. I can guarantee that us friends will find way to make Candyland epic.

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29 Dec 2017 10:44 #259753 by hotseatgames
Replied by hotseatgames on topic Games or People?
I don't really like playing with strangers at all, although I did have a great 8 player game of Cosmic at Gen Con once. But a boring euro game makes me want to slit my throat, and I don't really care who is sitting at the table.
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29 Dec 2017 10:46 #259754 by Michael Barnes
Replied by Michael Barnes on topic Games or People?
If I’m with friends I don’t give a flip what game is on the table or if there is one there at all.

I won’t play any game with strangers unless they are vetted by friends. I’ve done my time at the random tables.
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29 Dec 2017 11:00 #259758 by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic Games or People?
It comes down to how you value games as a hobby. Are games something fun that you do with friends? Or are you willing to seek out strangers who will play games with you?

As I think about this more, I have made quite a few friends through gaming, so I am certainly willing to seek people out just for the sake of gaming. And there have been a few occasions where a game fell flat because a friend spoiled the experience with some bullshit drama. But there have also been times where a game fell flat because an unfamiliar player was bringing drama to the table. And I agree with hotseatgames that a boring euro game can make even gaming with friends unenjoyable, because the game requires a level of concentration and analysis that discourages casual communication at the table, making play more like work.
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29 Dec 2017 11:39 #259762 by Sagrilarus
Replied by Sagrilarus on topic Games or People?
This is why I've given up on "big" conventions. I found I was traveling there to play games with friends, that I can meet up with anytime for games. Short of the trade show floor the convention isn't offering anything and costing me a lot more. The gaming with strangers was too much of a crap shoot to make it pay, regardless of the quality of the game being played. I met some great people, but I got saddled with a lot of duds too. The hit rate wasn't good enough to justify the hundreds of dollars being spent for even a three-day weekend.

I get together with friends at a weekend getaway at one of those big houses at the beach with a eight bedrooms. We play a lot of games, but we have as much fun at the grill or hanging out in the living room, in spite of three or four hundred games sitting in containers all around us. There are friends of friends at the event that have usually worked out fine because everyone understands that you invite A league players only.
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29 Dec 2017 11:48 #259764 by Rliyen
Replied by Rliyen on topic Games or People?
I won't play games with game designers. They act like your sifu whose student crapped on the rug. I'm looking at you Richard Launis... =o)

Kidding. Although his smack talking me during a show of his pre-production run, fight, or die! at Averyfest 5 years ago hurt worse than a bamboo cane to my pride. Still one of my favorite memories.

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29 Dec 2017 13:33 #259776 by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic Games or People?
Still pondering this. Some of the greatest gaming experiences that I ever had were with total strangers, usually at GenCon. And I have had some very forgettable or even unpleasant gaming experiences with friends. I am hosting boardgames on New Year's Day again this year, and as I review the list of people who are likely to show up, it's split 50/50 between people I met through gaming and people that I met in some other context. I probably fall in the middle of the spectrum between people and games.

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29 Dec 2017 22:17 #259815 by metalface13
Replied by metalface13 on topic Games or People?
I'd rather play my least favorite game with my favorite people than my favorite game with strangers. That's easy. But then, you can't make any new friends until you try out some strangers. Jeff White and I were strangers once, albeit we chatted on these forums a lot before we ever got together. But now we chat all kinds of crap via email and texts even though I don't live in Austin anymore. Hell, this summer I flew back down for a gaming weekend with some mutual friends and some friends of his who were strangers to me and we had a great time.

I didn't know anyone in Pittsburgh except my wife's family before we moved here, but I'm slowly getting to know more people by forming a Blood Bowl league and trying out the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings minis game.

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30 Dec 2017 09:27 #259825 by Erik Twice
Replied by Erik Twice on topic Games or People?
This is a great topic.

I've been thinking a lot about this recently. As you might know, I'm not that happy with my current game group. There's only three of us, which heavily limits the games we can play, and lately one of the members has gone on the deep end of game-buying. I feel I have fun because they are fun guys, but the activity itself is getting tiresome.

I've been looking for alternatives, but I'm thorn:

- I prefer to play with friends or acquaintances or oterhwise people I feel socially comfortable with. When I imagine my perfect playgroup I imagine myself playing Cosmic Encounter with my friends.
- That said, I won't be able to play most of my favourite games with my friends. They'll play Cosmic, but they won't play March of the Ants or Steam. I'm not getting them to play Brass or Through the Ages, either. I need a dedicated game group.
- I don't mind gaming for gaming's sake if the game is unique or hard to play (Eg. 18XX, Civilization). I'm more than happy to go to a club to play
- However, what I like is playing the same games over and over, to learn them and try out new strategies. I don't like the "one new game a day" culture of most game clubs, it's why I'm unhappy with my current situation, actually.

It seems like, ideally, I would gather people I know and form my own group. But I don't have a place to invite people over and I feel I'm stuck in a weird place: I'm a young guy who loves "old man" games, like Euros or Avalon Hill classics. So there's either a problem either with the games or the social groups I move around.

I actually went to a club yesterday and had a great time despite not enjoying the game much. The guys me and my friend played with actually told us it was the best match they had ever had and they told me it would be fun to play The Republic of Rome with us. And it's appealing, but I think it would just be a small piece of the puzzle.

So perhaps the best thing would be to to both have a small group for repated plays of cool games and going to the club for big games I can't play elsewhere.

I'm going to try the following:

- I'm going to talk with a friend and her boyfriend. They have gone to a couple game meetups, I played Terraforming Mars with them and it was fun, I can suggest meeting together to play games. They are not as experienced, but I think they could be interested.
- I'm going to try to meet with a couple guys I've played with in the past and try to meet ocasionally.
- I'm going to sign up for the club for at least a month or so and see how I like it.

So yeah, been thinking about this a lot lately. Feel free to give advice, I would appreciate it.

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30 Dec 2017 10:46 #259828 by the_jake_1973
Replied by the_jake_1973 on topic Games or People?
I think Metal hits on the point I'm at. I have a few couples that my wife and I play games with.....this would be my 'Favorite people' group. However, my game genre interests go well past theirs and I do find myself thinking about playing C&C while playing games with them. Thankfully, I am a bit more outgoing than perhaps the standard game meetup attendee and that helps me ferret out other players of my same game leanings. It doesn't always work and I have to play some duds with people that are not compatible with my personality, but by getting out there to meet strangers, I can slowly expand my gamer connections.
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