Evan and Jay are joined by an old friend to talk about Star Wars: Legion and the difficulties of being committed to a miniatures game.

https://podcast.thefifthtrooper.com/e/star-wars-legion-podcast-ep-27-so-uncivilized/

I listened to it. I wish it had stayed on topic of burnout (and fixes for it) more.

24 minutes ago, TauntaunScout said:

I listened to it. I wish it had stayed on topic of burnout (and fixes for it) more.

Agreed. Listening to it currently and the burnout subject is well over.

One thing I personally am working on to “prevent burnout” is rather than chase the rat race and buy up more of my faction is to build a loaner pool of the other faction. It means I can’t buy all the new shiny at release for my faction, but if I treat it like a board game where I have all the pieces needed I think it’ll keep the game forever fresh for me. I don’t really care for tournament play in Legion.

Will it help? No idea. But it seems worth trying and will shake up my painting scheme at least so we shall see.

The main way I prevent burnout on any one game is to vary what I am working on and not worry about dedicating myself to keeping up with Legion. Assembling medieval knights or painting up some vastly different models helps keep me from getting into too much of a rut, as opposed to "Whelp, time to get these X colors out to match these models up."

And honestly even with these releases the meta hasn't changed significantly, there really hasn't been a new "must have maximum number" unit in my opinion.

I'm painting both factions because I basically supply everything when I host games. I've faced burnout a few times.

I think taking mini-breaks can also help reduce burnout. I find if I put down the paint brush for a week or so I can jump back in with renewed vigor. I've got to be careful however, because a week or so off and easily escalate into a month. And then it's harder to get back into it.

Agree with @Caimheul1313 about working on different things. I'll sometimes jump into terrain as a change of pace. Or make card organizers, token holders, a dice tray, something I can use for my game that isn't painting miniatures.

Buying a new paintbrush/paints can help provide motivation to paint.

Keeping my work area clean and organized helps me stay motivated (I don't know why).

A really nice motivator for me is playing with the miniatures I've painted! I enjoy the hobby aspects of this game but playing is much more fun for me. So seeing my stuff on the table is a physical reminder that the work is worth it.

I'm no Sorastro, but it's nice to get complements on my miniatures, even if I know they are pretty much tabletop standard.

Lastly, I'd say take the time and make good pictures of your miniatures. Post them. It seems the feedback is usually very positive. You've got a whole community of folks out there who are as excited about the hobby as you are. Feed off their energy!

Good show, recently came to a similar conclusion on the DLT while mulling over why people say vehicles are "bad". I think in addition to maybe new heavy options if more corps units which weren't quite as specialized as say Snows got more popular you might also spread out the DLT a bit.

Also though, I disagree with Jay, I think the "half core" or "faction starter" model isn't "wishful thinking", because A( that's actually kind of how they've previously handled this sort of release with Runewars and X-Wing, etc. and B( FFG actually stands to make more money that way, because typically these boxes don't include stuff like range or movement tools, dice, etc just the units and their elements - so you either have to already own/buy a regular core or buy their seperate dice packs, ruler, movement tool, etc. Core 2.0 is less because you buy an all in one kit once, and can split the cost with somebody or sell off the other half of the army if you're not gonna use both.

1 hour ago, Prokins said:

I've got to be careful however, because a week or so off and easily escalate into a month. And then it's harder to get back into it.

I find forcing myself to lay down two colors a day no matter what is a good way to keep going.

5 hours ago, ScummyRebel said:

Agreed. Listening to it currently and the burnout subject is well over.

The two things I did like were the point that painting is helpful (I could write a lot about the personal benefits to only using painted models) and the fact that casual play makes up the bulk of sales. Some people seem to refuse to believe that last point.

4 hours ago, TauntaunScout said:

The two things I did like were the point that painting is helpful (I could write a lot about the personal benefits to only using painted models) and the fact that casual play makes up the bulk of sales. Some people seem to refuse to believe that last point.

Oh yeah. I’m a 100% casual player, even if I go play at the game store some of the time. I’ve never played in a legion tournament, and I think I’d be burned out trying. I build stuff that I want to play, not meta gaming (like Max activation spam etc).

And I really enjoy painting the minis. I was intimidated by it at first, but I’m getting better every mini and finally comfortable with it at least for tabletop standard (or a little better than that, as it’s far more than Adepticon “three color standard” but I’m no Sorastro).

I try to not play with unpainted minis (of my own, anyway).

The best way to avoid burnout is to have a rudiculous work schedule that means you only need get to play any type of game a few times a month.

I have never suffered with burnout in 23 years of war gaming at tournaments and to be honest have never understood how people get enough free time to play as many games as some people seem to do so that this becomes an issue.

20 hours ago, Dave Grant said:

I have never suffered with burnout in 23 years of war gaming at tournaments and to be honest have never understood how people get enough free time to play as many games as some people seem to do so that this becomes an issue.

Sometimes it’s not caused by playing so many games. It can be the self-created pressure to get everything painted and prepped for a game. It can be many factors. In some cases, a lack of free time can be the stressor for burnout because you feel you can’t keep up.

18 minutes ago, ScummyRebel said:

Sometimes it’s not caused by playing so many games. It can be the self-created pressure to get everything painted and prepped for a game. It can be many factors. In some cases, a lack of free time can be the stressor for burnout because you feel you can’t keep up.

Agreed. I think as people aim to be competitive they stress more to complete models and build lists and so on. When I start stressing about a game because I need to finish something, I take a step back and just say oh well, not gonna happen. The moment my hobby becomes a chore, it is break time. There may also be a constant drive to be max competitive that runs your games/builds. Wasn't the goal when you started to have some fun?