In the 21st century, going from video games to board games feels backwards. I enjoy escapism entertainment and games (or anything interactive) has always been my preferred medium, followed closely by reading.
I grew up as the personal computer and later gaming consoles first entered people's homes. Throughout my growing up I played both video games and tabletop games, most notably Dungeons and Dragons of the latter. On the Atari I played Temple of Apshai, Zork, and many of the adventure/platforming games available on the Atari 800. But, up until the mid-80's, there weren't any good substitutes for table-top gaming.
Then the SSI gold box games, starting with Pool of Radiance in 1988, were released and they were incredible for their time. Ten years later Baldur's Gate was the game that absolutely blew me away with it's evolving story, characters, and graphics (despite not even being the best looking game at that time). Baldur's Gate came out in my final year in college. Here was the replacement for the game group I hadn't regularly had since high school.
Video games had become beautiful and had enough content and story to keep you emotionally invested as well as entertained for hours. Baldur's Gate was my interactive entertainment in the evenings as my peers sat on the couch and watched Friends and NYPD Blue, two of the popular shows that year.
I remember buying and playing Fallout in 1999, Icewind Dale in 2000, Pools of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor in 2001, Neverwinter Nights and Morrowind in 2002, Temple of Elemental Evil in 2003, Knights of the Old Republic around 2005, and then making the plunge into MMO's with World of Warcraft in 2006, and then Age of Conan in 2008, and Star Wars the Old Republic in 2011. I'd take breaks from the MMO's to play games like Dragon Age Origins (2009), and Dragon Age Inquisition (2014).
(By remember, I mean, I remember the games, I had to look up the years).
These games, plus others, ranged from awful (Pools of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor (woof)), to underwhelming (TOEE (meh)), to amazing (KOTOR and Dragon Age Origins). They good ones were immersive and the games provided many great memories. I remember asking friends "hey have you finished [the latest game]?" It was like a movie, you didn't want to spoil if they hadn't experienced it for themselves.
I've also had a blast playing MMO's sometimes with real-life friends and other times with people I'd only met online. Guild horse races and human lawn dart competitions (jumping off the guild building and the furthest away wins!) in Age of Conan's first year still remains one of my favorite non-raid/dungeon/killing stuff memory for that game. It was a group of people having fun in a make believe world.
But something happened along the way.
It seemed like the nice people became more rare than blue drops from random mobs and there were a lot more people being rude and mean. Being called a "noob" or an "idiot" for making a mistake made the games not fun. While I enjoy gaming, I was also working a full-time job, going to graduate school off and on, and trying to hold down various relationships at different times. These outside pressures of school, work and relationships encouraged me play MMO's as solo games as I didn't want to be the person wiping a raid or going 0-12 in a PVP match. I didn't have the time to invest to learn the tactics, grind, or be active in guilds. The games were just a way to blow off some steam and very slowly get better gear.
The online community everywhere felt, on average, toxic and not something I wanted to associate with. Being "bad" at these games was hard enough on me as a competitive person, but to be needlessly insulted by others was more than I was willing to put up with for fun. And I'm a male so I didn't even get the even more repulsive sexist crap that women routinely face.
In 2015, my wife and I welcomed our son into our lives. His crib went in the spare bedroom where my computer lived. I was told by my rational better half that I couldn't be playing video games while he's sleeping nearby (even after I suggested I could wear headphones). And she, also very reasonably, wasn't feeling my computer sitting in the living or dining rooms, so I went to look for an alternative form of entertainment.
I did some reading online, went to the store and came home with Wrath of Ashardalon. I could set up and play while my family was asleep and then pack it up when I needed to be Dad/husband. Then came Shadows of Brimstone. Then Ticket to Ride and Forbidden Island (so I could try and talk my wife into playing some of these new games) and then Mice and Mystics. And so on.
I discovered Kickstarter games, ironically, through the AoC forums for the Monolith Conan skirmish game. And then I went a little crazy. Four massive dungeon crawlers later plus a handful of other games and I'm addicted to this new hobby.
Three years in and being semi-active on BGG, I've noticed that community, on the whole, is friendlier than their video gaming counterparts. I'm speculating that part of it is because the idea of board games is to sit with people and play. Yes. there are still trolls and there are some rude people, but the ass hat to nice person ratio seems to be smaller. I'm starting to see the same names on multiple game forums and am feeling like I'm part of a small and dedicated community.
It's started to restore my faith in people online.
There's local meetup groups for board games that generally have positive reviews and looks like a good community that lives nearby. Another BGG user and I have been playing email tag trying to meet up for a game night.
With the right people, the mechanics of the game aren't even important. Some coworkers and I get together occasionally and have had a blast playing everything from Last Night on Earth to Adrenaline to Conan. It reminds me and reinforces that the people are one of the best parts of gaming.
Even the developers engage with fans on kickstarter and bgg helps build a sense of community. Sure, there are whiny backers and angry keyboard warriors making demands/threats on the creators but outside this vocal minority, I think most backers are enthusiasts who chip in with ideas, provide feedback to questions, and look forward to playing the games they're backing. On BGG, most of the dialog I've seen between players and developers have been positive. While social media has given closer access to their idols, this still feels like a higher quality interaction than just retweeting or responding to what a rock star said.
That being said, during the time I've been sitting on finishing this post, there has recently been some issues within the community. Bloggers and gamers are complaining of sexism and harassment. There was even an assault at Gen Con 2018. Sadly, these incidents have reminded me that the board game community isn't above what's plaguing the rest of the online world. Board game Twitter, while still better than other areas of Twitter, is still relatively toxic compared to BGG. But Twitter seems to bring out the worst in some people so I guess I shouldn't be shocked. And I'm not sure if this is US-centric, but I feel like tolerating differences of opinions has reached a new low. The name calling, threats, doxxing, etc. are making me want to retreat away again from being active online. And it's sad that a relatively small group of people can do this much damage to a community.
Even still, as my child gets older, I'm looking forward to introducing him to hobby board games. I've already simplified the rules to Latice so we can play what he calls "the matching game" and he's recently taken to placing the train pieces on the the corresponding colors for Ticket to Ride as an activity. He already "steals" my dice and picks up and looks at miniatures with some interest. I'm looking forward to getting Amazing Tales to introduce him to the concepts of RPGs and then Mice and Mystics. Because he loves cars and racing I've already picked up Monza by Haba (which he enjoyed while still struggling on strategy (he's three and a half, he'll be fine)) and then a Mickey (Mouse) and the Roadsters Racers game which, as a game is terrible but he loves the little cars rolling down the hill (I should note they assembled the starting platform wrong in the linked video). And while playing with him, it's about teaching him sportsmanship, strategy, and that the most important thing when playing is having fun (win or lose).
My father and I didn't share many interests as I grew up and while we're still close I sometimes feel like we missed out on something. I hope I can share some interests with my son and have something to bond over now and in the future. Hopefully there will be these types of analog games where we can sit, enjoy each other's company, break away from reality for a bit, and have some fun.
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