Heroscape Sportsmanship

[Snotwalker 8000]

Just wanted to shoot out a huge KUDOS to the general Scapin' community for the extraordinarily outstanding sportsmanship this community appears to generate.

When I stopped at our FLGS, The Source in St. Paul, MN, today to pick up my Wave 9 goodness, I brought my armload of awesomeness to the checkout counter and proceeded to have a pleasant chat with the store owner and two of the employees there about this great game. What really grabbed me in this conversation is the honest admiration these guys had for the Heroscaping Community. they had only started carrying 'Scape in the last year, and have been astounded with it's great sales. But what really caught my attention was what they then mentioned...

We recently had a Heroscape Tournament in the Twin Cities at The Source (which I, unfortunately, couldn't attend due to a last minute bout of the Flu) and the Owner related to me how incredibly impressed he was with the camaraderie and unequalled sportsmanship he witnessed that day. He said he was just amazed to see everyone having a blast, laughing, joking around, REGARDLESS IF THEY WERE WINNING OR LOSING!! (that last aspect really seemed to impress him)... it was a large crowd, and everyone there was apparently a great "ambassador" to the FLGS world.

This has also been my own experience, both in casual games with new faces, and in a previous Tourney setting. I don't know what it is about this game that promotes and encourages such fun and sportsmanship almost by default, but Kudos to this community and Kudos to the designers for creating a sustaining such a game that brings such joy to the players, regardless of winning or losing.

Hats off to the participants at 3T, the Twin Cities Team Tournament, and hats off to Scapin' Sportsman everywhere!

Now back to ogling my new plastic friends.

SW8K

[arp12]

I think the fact that this game is mare accessable to all ages and abilities makes the competition less intense. Or at least more of a spartsmanly mood.

[Mr Migraine]

Originally Posted by arp12

I think the fact that this game is mare accessable to all ages and abilities makes the competition less intense. Or at least more of a spartsmanly mood.

It's more of a game than a hobby like WH40K or MtG. Not that I have anything against those guys, but things like that are a full-time job if you want to play/win.

[Mombo101]

Originally Posted by Mr Migraine

It's more of a game than a hobby like WH40K or MtG. Not that I have anything against those guys, but things like that are a full-time job if you want to play/win.

Especially when money is involved. I think the Pro Tour Magic tournaments (the pro level events, for those who've never played/heard of it) has something like $100,000 in prizes...and usually it's all in cash.

I'll be honest, I think the general sportsmanship of the community is due to a couple of reasons, and I've seen in it in New England too. The players in my area are a great bunch of people, and our tournaments are the same as Snotwalker described. There's a ton of laughing, joking, and generally a good time is had by all (plus we get some of the design and rules team at tournaments competing occasionally :P).

Anyways, back to my point, I think the two main reasons there is better sportsmanship is because 1) money is not involved. Yes, we buy packs and Master sets, etc, but tournaments never have a huge prize purse compared to Magic, Warhammer, etc. The tournaments in my area, the admission is something for the prize pool, and everyone grabs something from the prize pool at the end. How can you get uptight/unsportsmanlike about that?

And 2) from the tournaments I've been to 9 times out of 10 there's at least 2-3 kids who are competing with their parent. I think this is big, because you don't see that with ANY other game. Heck, I'm 25 and I would still love to see my dad learn how to play this game. But, that's another story entirely, lol.

Finally 3) from what I've seen at tournaments, and from these forums, I think generally speaking we all keep this game in perspective. I know when I played Magic and you're making small talk with your opponent or someone else at the tournament, the conversation always go to your deck, or card power, etc. Here, it's the opposite. I've been to tournaments and have talked to people about things other than gaming in general. We all have lives outside of this game (school, work, other hobbies, etc) and I think we all keep that in the back of our heads whenever we are playing. In other words, I think we all know that this is just a game, and because of it none of us really get too obsessed with it.

[wriggz]

I'd say it is the nature of the game. We all love to win, but when a game is down to one Macdirk and one Samurai... well that is the stuff of legends.

Personally I love the way the battle unfolds, a single grut taking out Q9, Isumi Dogding Vampires until they are all slain, It is priceless. I think we have such great sportmanship since this game really lends itself to players being as much spectators as they are generals, and the satisfaction of the long shot attack, whether it succeeds or fails.

[Warlord Alpha]

Originally Posted by wriggz

I'd say it is the nature of the game.

No, anyone who is very competitive gets really angry at the dice. Dice is the nature of the game and everything you just described. The only way your comment could be true is if most people playing didn't care if they won or lost, because then the dice (and subsequently, their luck), would not matter.

Is it that people don't care too much whether they win or lose? I honestly have no idea because ive never been to a tournament (Connecticut is boring )

[Melwing17]

When I play a game like this, I view it as a story playing out, and I'm amused by it. I don't really care about winning or losing.

At the tournament I went to, I happened to be voted 'best sportsmanship' by everybody, that was awesome. But in my opinion everyone there had great sportsmanship. People won (and lost) with class.

[halobosspotter]

There's no money involved... Basically, a Heroscape Tournament is like the Special Olympics-- Win or lose, everybody is getting a prize.


-BossP

[Jexik]

I blame spider_poison. He has to go and be a nice guy when he's ruining all of your ****.

[chas]

Anyone who plays "The Game of All Time" has to have a sense of humor! When I introduced Wargaming in a long article on a toy collecting site, I mentioned Heroscape as one of three simple games or game groups to get started quick (as opposed to having to create your own customized toy soldier armies).

I talked about how great HS is, and then said "Join our cult. You have no choice." Anyone who plays the game seems to love it, including those who say "I'd never try anything like that," and then do--and love it.

And now its time for my own deep throated heroic voice over: "SENTINELS OF JANDAR!"

[Mombo101]

Originally Posted by chas

Anyone who plays "The Game of All Time" has to have a sense of humor! When I introduced Wargaming in a long article on a toy collecting site, I mentioned Heroscape as one of three simple games or game groups to get started quick (as opposed to having to create your own customized toy soldier armies).

I talked about how great HS is, and then said "Join our cult. You have no choice." Anyone who plays the game seems to love it, including those who say "I'd never try anything like that," and then do--and love it.

And now its time for my own deep throated heroic voice over: "SENTINELS OF JANDAR!"

You have a good point. You really can't take a game too seriously when you're seeing who would win in a fight, Shaolin Monks with a team of robots as backup or an orc riding a giant dinosaur followed by zombies.

[Targanth]

SW8000, thanks for sharing that feedback! The day of the 3T the Source was expecting maybe 4 to 6 players even though we had told them there would be lots more. I think they were rather worried when they came to open the doors and there were about 2 dozen folks standing around waiting to get in, all armed with Heroscape stuff. They were also surprised to learn that there were folks from hundreds of miles away that had come just to play.

Heroscapers are a pretty awesome bunch!

Next year we'll need their entire game room.