What makes you want to ragequit the hobby (or a project)?

[irishserb]

Interesting how we associate different meanings with words.  In my case, “Ragequit” is a term that tries to inject a little humor while expressing frustration with something.

Curiously, describing my hobby as  “…intrinsically silly as fiddling about with toy soldiers”, feels kind of insulting, despite believing that there was no intent to do so.

Given my own tendency to be silly, I fear how I might sound on the reader’s end of my posts.

 

 

 

 

[Rhoderic]

I guess I come from a culture where the word is common, uncontroversial, and often used and interpreted in a mild, slightly ironic way that communicates a happily self-deprecating, self-conscious attitude. That’s not to say it can’t also be used to ridicule and demean someone else’s reaction to something, similar to calling a person “butthurt”, but that’s not the way I was using the word and I hope that’s discernible enough from the fact that I’ve been speaking of ragequiting as something done by the subject, not by the object.

Let me explain my position, and please forgive me for making this a long post. It might get a bit self-centered, so having issued that warning, I don’t expect everyone to go to the bother of reading this:

I’m not entirely surprised that the word would turn out to be controversial on TWW (though I’m somewhat fazed by the fact that it’s now becoming “a thing”), but expecting controversy is not always a reason to avoid posting if the controversy itself seems unreasonable. I sometimes feel like our branch of the miniatures wargaming online community (i.e. the branch which includes TWW but isn’t limited to or defined by this website alone) is a bit like a body with a malfunctioning immune system, that tries to combat some harmless things alongside the bad things that rightly should be combated.

So when I use words like “ragequit”, it is meditated, I don’t fling out these words without weighing them (in fact I’ve spent nearly three hours writing this post, and I consider it a worthwhile use of my time). I won’t conceal that I’m trying to “shape” TWW by influencing it, but it’s only toward the end of making the community more liveable for a type of people (like myself) that aren’t unreasonable in any way that I can see, and I don’t shape and influence this place any more forcefully or assertively than any other accepted member of the community does; I do it only by projecting my own attitude and culture, in reasonable ways, like other people here project their respective attitudes and cultures. By “reasonable”, I mean it’s not political, transgressive, coarse or abusive, and it doesn’t elbow aside anyone or anything else that’s likewise reasonable.

Is all of this a millennials-versus-older-generations thing? Maybe, though I’m old enough to only barely qualify as a millennial by the most commonly accepted definition of the term (the first generation to reach adulthood no earlier than the turn of the millennium, which of course is also a terribly arbitrary way of defining a person’s nature), and it dismays me a bit to have so many differences of opinion on TWW land at the conclusion that “it must be generational thing”. Frankly it’s starting to haunt us like a spectre.

As for being a valued forum poster: If that is the case (which is flattering to think of myself, for I’m much drawn to the ideal of the “gentleperson debater”, though I must ultimately question such portrayals of myself), then the fact that I’ve been hanging around communities like this one for half of my life must have something to do with it. I’ve been influenced and shaped by people here, and on other similar forums since my teenage years. Still, it’s not as if I’m not also influenced and shaped by other things that are equally well and good, but very different. So, I try as best I can to be a man of reason and intellect, but at the same I also naturally project a culture that, for instance, uses terms like “ragequit”, “riding the Struggle Bus” and “don’t @ me”, because despite the likely opinions of some, my experience has taught me those things aren’t mutually exclusive.

Again, I apologise for the long, self-centered post.

[Mike]

I am in my 40s.
I have seen people older and younger than me ragequit things. I don’t get out much and have not witnessed anyone ragequit anything hobby related in the flesh.

I am aware of at least one person who has ragequit TWW however. I am also aware of ragequitting in the video gaming world.

It is from my experience not exclusive to any age group any more than being adverse to something new and different is.

[Guy Farrish]

I suspect the term is new but the action as old as the hills.

I’m 63 and will no doubt shake my head in disbelief that neologisms represent anything more than fads in language , bloody Shakespeare, but every generation since language evolved has done the same thing, plus ça change.

We shouldn’t believe that because we find replacement of old words with new, or the creation of new words to describe unlabelled activities, disorientating, they are signs of the fallibility of younger generations.

So ragequit whatever you like Rhoderic, but please, not TWW!

[Gone Fishing]

Well said, gents, all.  Clearly much of this stems from a different take on terms. The same can be said of many misunderstandings, of course. A few thoughts:

Serb@  Oh, don’t misunderstand me (!), I think it is important to be “silly”. I am a great admirer of Josef Pieper and his theory of the importance of leisure; in other words, man at play, or “being silly” – with no direct connection to finding food, or with shelter, procreation, with economic gain or, with faith. In the end it explains Mozart and so no excuse, at least in my book, is needed. Quite likely I chose the wrong word. My apologies!

Rhoderic@ Another finely crafted post, and no need to apologise for being self-centred. You are a fascinating fellow, and much of the misunderstanding here is in the way we use certain words. I remain a great fan. You won’t, however, convince me of the viability of a word like ragequit. It is simply dreadful. So there.

Mike@ You are always a level head. And of course, such behaviour is not the monopoly of any one generation. Didn’t Aristotle say somewhere that the young people of his day were going to the dogs? Also, I was quite blessed in grandfathers – who both saw horrors but stuck with things regardless – so that was probably a naff thing to say.

Guy@ I couldn’t agree with your last sentence more.

Now to the bar and drinks on me!

 

[Phil Dutré]

@Rhoderic Don’t take my remark about ‘ragequitting to be something for teenagers’ too serious … although I must admit it certainly sounded like that to me, and I assumes it comes from the computer gaming community, which I have left more than 20 years ago. I consciously never had heard the term before, but I am not a native English speaker and live in Belgium, so that might also explain something as well.

But anyway, vocabulary and slang slowly changes over time, even within the same subculture. IRL, I teach at university, and as a 51 year old, I sometimes find that 20-year old students have a different form of humor, have different culturul references, etc, although we both belong to the computer-science-geeky subculture, only with a 30 year gap. Why is that? Probably because they have read different things, have seen different tv programs, have grown up in a slightly different cultural setting. This then sometimes leads to funny misunderstandings, or sometimes puzzled looks on both sides. When I refer in my lectures to a – in my mind – recent event, I sometimes get blank stares. Turns out that what for me is recent, from their perspective, is ancient history.

Funny anecdote: I once was in a discussion with one of my grad students about the Lord of the Rings. For geeks of my generation, LOTR by default means the books. For his generation, by default it meant the movies. He never even had read the books … 😉

[deephorse]

I’ve been playing a particular mobile gaming app for some three years now and it was there that I first came across the term ragequit.  Initially it was as the in-game name of one of the players, so it didn’t mean anything to me, but subsequently it was used more and more in the in-game chat and the game’s dedicated forum.  So I can see the possible youth and computer gaming origins of this term.

This particular game is quite addictive in its gameplay, but the company that runs it is appalling in terms of its customer service and its dedication to squeezing every last penny from its customers.  Consequently ragequit was used quite frequently on the forum etc., and without a dictionary definition of the term I came to regard it as little more than a feeling of frustration or disgust with the company.  There was certainly more quitting going on than there was raging and so I don’t see it as a particularly emotive term and am quite content to use it in the context of this topic, though I don’t see myself actually speaking the term in any conversation I might have.

Following on from what Phil says above about language changing over time, I fully understand that, but what I don’t grasp is the wholesale and instant adoption of terms by certain groups of people.  I’m, unfortunately, in my seventh decade now and so was brought up and was surrounded by language used in a certain way.  To look at them I guess that the majority of senior business people and leading politicians are also of a similar age to myself.  They would have been brought up using terms such as “in the future” and “piece”, “section” or “part”.  So how, virtually overnight it seems, did these people move on to saying “going forward” and “tranche’?  I don’t use those terms, and no human being that I’ve ever had a face to face conversation with has used them either.  To me their use of these words just distances them from normal’ people, and I find myself raging at the TV screen shouting “IN THE FUTURE”!

Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen

[greg954]

deephorse wrote:

This particular game is quite addictive in its gameplay, but the company that runs it is appalling in terms of its customer service and its dedication to squeezing every last penny from its customers. Consequently ragequit was used quite frequently on the forum etc., and without a dictionary definition of the term I came to regard it as little more than a feeling of frustration or disgust with the company.

That seems familiar, I myself have ragequit such a game. Or shall I say got fed up with it. The grind, the endless grind which leads to frustration. Which, in turn boils over. Not fun. I guessing we might be talking about the same game Deephorse.

And that’s the whole point, having fun. Games need to be fun. The same frustrating catalysts are not present for me in table top wargaming.

[OldBen1]

I found collectible games made me pretty angry in the past.  I liked the games but hated buying blind packs for the miniatures or cards I needed.  I have also found that playing with overcompetitive players is also really annoying.  Take it easy guy, we’re playing with tiny blobs of lead here.

The only other thing that gets me depressed or angry is the abandoning projects.  I have way too many on the go and not enough storage.

[Mike Headden]

Deephorse, as one at the midpoint of my seventh decade I positively welcome the vagaries, oddities, neologisms and slang that English accumulates.

The notion that the language should be preserved like a specimen in formaldehyde horrifies me.

I like James Nicoll’s take on English

“The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” 🙂

There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

[deephorse]

Mike Headden wrote:

Deephorse, as one at the midpoint of my seventh decade I positively welcome the vagaries, oddities, neologisms and slang that English accumulates. The notion that the language should be preserved like a specimen in formaldehyde horrifies me. I like James Nicoll’s take on English “The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.”

So Mike, why did the perfectly useful phrase “in the future” have to be replaced with “going forward”, but only, for the most part, in the vocabulary of politicians and business people?  I find it difficult to stifle a laugh when I hear it being used.  It’s not the language of ‘real’ people.

Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen

[deephorse]

greg954 wrote:

deephorse wrote:

This particular game is quite addictive in its gameplay, but the company that runs it is appalling in terms of its customer service and its dedication to squeezing every last penny from its customers. Consequently ragequit was used quite frequently on the forum etc., and without a dictionary definition of the term I came to regard it as little more than a feeling of frustration or disgust with the company.

That seems familiar, I myself have ragequit such a game. Or shall I say got fed up with it. The grind, the endless grind which leads to frustration. Which, in turn boils over. Not fun. I guessing we might be talking about the same game Deephorse. And that’s the whole point, having fun. Games need to be fun. The same frustrating catalysts are not present for me in table top wargaming.

I don’t suppose there can be two companies like Scopely, can there?

Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen

[Norm S]

deephorse wrote:

Mike Headden wrote:

Deephorse, as one at the midpoint of my seventh decade I positively welcome the vagaries, oddities, neologisms and slang that English accumulates. The notion that the language should be preserved like a specimen in formaldehyde horrifies me. I like James Nicoll’s take on English “The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.”

So Mike, why did the perfectly useful phrase “in the future” have to be replaced with “going forward”, but only, for the most part, in the vocabulary of politicians and business people? I find it difficult to stifle a laugh when I hear it being used. It’s not the language of ‘real’ people.

In the future is, well in the future. I am going to buy an egyptian army in the future. When exactly is that future?

Going forward, I shall only play games with my egyptian forces – that means as of now and by implication into the future and offers better precision. Corporations like going forward because it means, people get your backside into gear because we are doing this now!

I am OK with changing language and accept that youngers use it tio gain their own identity, in the same way that todays older generation did and new language became national through army / national service or in huge corporations like the NHS. If it is really correct to preserve language, then we would all be speaking like the victorians (my son would call be father or sir instead of dad) or worse like the elizabethans etc.

I’m not quite sure how a bird’s eye view became a helicopter view (that appears to be corporate speak) or getting to the bottom of things is now drilling down … though perhaps losing the word ‘bottom’ is worthy of change, but anyway that is how things are.

I can better understand criticism if one does not understand the person speaking, but generally we do and therefore to ‘correct’ someone for how they speak, when they are not in a classroom doing English’ is of itself probably a worse thing than shifting language. I have no idea how to sign this off as an 18 year old, but thankfully I don’t have to, though i would like 18 year old eyes, legs and back.

[Guy Farrish]

The ‘Going Forward’ is redundant – ‘shall’ is being used as the future tense – you can’t ‘shall’ backwards.

[Mike]

Are we still discussing gaming?

[Gods Eye Games]

Everyone gets super excited about something and agrees to pursue it as a group. Everyone races off to collect and paint their figures and play games.  By the time I get my figures ready everyone else has already decided the game is dead and moves on.  Then I ragequit something that never was.  Its more of an internal fizzle out.

[Ruarigh]

Given that some prefer the preservation of language, I shall endeavour to write a rules set in proto-Indo-European. That should keep people happy. 

Bringing it back to wargaming, I have quit several rules sets because the writing style was overly opaque to me; not so much in a rage, but more out of frustration. I also recall a phenomenal argument we had playing DBM 1.0 about what one particular part of the rules actually meant. I gave up gaming with that group after that. I think that one fell under the rules lawyer, win-at-all-costs heading. It’s a hobby and it’s meant to be fun. When it stops being fun, then it’s time to call it a day.

Never argue with an idiot. They'll only drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

https://roderickdale.co.uk/
https://emidsvikings.ac.uk/

[greg954]

deephorse wrote:

greg954 wrote:

deephorse wrote:

This particular game is quite addictive in its gameplay, but the company that runs it is appalling in terms of its customer service and its dedication to squeezing every last penny from its customers. Consequently ragequit was used quite frequently on the forum etc., and without a dictionary definition of the term I came to regard it as little more than a feeling of frustration or disgust with the company.

That seems familiar, I myself have ragequit such a game. Or shall I say got fed up with it. The grind, the endless grind which leads to frustration. Which, in turn boils over. Not fun. I guessing we might be talking about the same game Deephorse. And that’s the whole point, having fun. Games need to be fun. The same frustrating catalysts are not present for me in table top wargaming.

I don’t suppose there can be two companies like Scopely, can there?

Ah, I guessed wrong. But to answer your question I think there can.

[Northern Monkey]

Nope, never felt the urge to rage quit any of my many diverse projects over the years, I do sometimes put them away to return to later, or sell/trade if my interest drops enough, but never out of anger, more from boredom of painting the same thing for months. As for ragequitting in general I’m sure a recall storming off in a huff from an RPG session or two in my early teens, but at that point in my life storming off in a huff was the done thing

My attempt at a Blog: http://ablogofwar.blogspot.co.uk/

[Cerdic]

I remember when I was about ten years old and I got into a RAGE while attempting to assemble an Airfix Churchill tank. This resulted in the tank rapidly QUITTING my room via the window leaving behind a couple of wheels stuck to my fingers.

Does this count….?

http://28mmreview.blogspot.co.uk

[MattH]

I’m pretty obsessive about my hobbies which means I only have room in my life for one at at time. I’ve quit wargaming for long periods twice in my life, and usually it’s been because I didn’t have the space, or because I needed to focus on other things.

If you find yourself getting frustrated, annoyed or just plain bored, if it’s just not that much fun any more then… quit. It’s fine, it’s all still here when you’re ready to come back. Just don’t be tempted to throw all your stuff away in the belief that you’re never going to need it again. I’ve made that mistake twice.

https://shellsplash.blogspot.com/

[E.S Taylor]

I’m just going to list some things and not give an explanation because I feel I don’t have to:

Furries

Bronies

Kickstarter

Social Justice Warriors

THOTS

“Geek” Culture

The only explanation I will give is that none of these things existed when I started gaming around the mid to late 80’s. Most of these things are caused by the interweb so I guess I can blame at least some on it.

[DM]

Fanbois – I’ve played a few games and engaged in a few projects where fans have become somewhat obsessive about the rules of the company to the extent that their excessive enthusiasm blinds them to any fault whatsoever, and the mere act of questioning even the smallest detail or issue causes you to become unclean in their eyes. At that point I tend to drop it and quietly move along to another project where one doesn’t get the feeling that the Spanish Inquisition is about to descend upon you

[E.S Taylor]

DM wrote:

Fanbois – I’ve played a few games and engaged in a few projects where fans have become somewhat obsessive about the rules of the company to the extent that their excessive enthusiasm blinds them to any fault whatsoever, and the mere act of questioning even the smallest detail or issue causes you to become unclean in their eyes. At that point I tend to drop it and quietly move along to another project where one doesn’t get the feeling that the Spanish Inquisition is about to descend upon you

Good one, it would be like number 11 on a top ten list for me.

 

[Mike]

E.S Taylor wrote:

I’m just going to list some things and not give an explanation because I feel I don’t have to:

Furries

Bronies

Kickstarter

Social Justice Warriors

THOTS

“Geek” Culture

The only explanation I will give is that none of these things existed when I started gaming around the mid to late 80’s. Most of these things are caused by the interweb so I guess I can blame at least some on it.

Please be careful around the language you use.
Hoe is rarely acceptable and certainly not in the context of THOT, and some of those comments are a bit too politically slanted for TWW.
We are about equality and gaming here on TWW.
Feel free to drop me an e-mail if you wish to discuss.

[Not Connard Sage]

Old men displaying ‘I want things to stay as they were’ syndrome.

Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.

[Guy Farrish]

Not quite sure why most of those things would make want you to ‘ragequit wargaming  even if you dislike them.

Don’t notice many of these on the sites I visit (Don’t bother – I looked it up never heard the phrase before)

I must visit a very staid subset of the wargaming internet.

[Not Connard Sage]

Guy Farrish wrote:

Not quite sure why most of those things would make want you to ‘ragequit wargaming even if you dislike them. Don’t notice many of these on the sites I visit (Don’t bother – I looked it up never heard the phrase before) I must visit a very staid subset of the wargaming internet.

Things must be more exciting in the colonies 🙂

 

Obvious contrarian and passive aggressive old prat, who is taken far too seriously by some and not seriously enough by others.

[Author]

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