Quality vs Quantity

When it comes to gaming, I have always had the tongue-in-cheek version of A.D. D. When I was younger I was more focused in my gaming and would take 1 aspect of a game and run it in to the ground. In middle school I was really in to wrestling video games, and I would pick one character and play him nonstop. The same was true of Mortal Kombat, Pokemon TCG, YuGiOh... if something gave me numerous options, I would pick my favorite and stick to it no matter what.

I'm not sure when I got tired of that, but as time wore on I found myself wanting to experience everything in a game. When I quit Warcraft I had five characters at max level and only one was remotely capable of raiding. When I quit Magic I had at least 10 different decks built, and none were very good. In the Elder Scrolls series I would beat the game once, and rather than go through and finish up quests I'd start the game with a completely different character. Even in Call of Duty I never stuck to one weapon, even if it meant I died a lot more using a different weapon.

And now that I play Warmachine, my restlessness has started setting in again. I started with Khador and bought a good chunk of the army over the last year. But after playing them for months on end, I got so bored with the big red machine. As I looked at other models I could buy to spice things up, my mind starter drifting to other factions. After all, for the price of buying a new Conquest I could buy a small starter army off Bartertown.

And so as I started selling off some of my older stuff, boxes started hitting my doorstep. The first one contained a large Circle Orboros army, which I've been really enjoying lately. But I found a few more deals at over 50% off, so I slowly started acquiring Cygnar and Skorne as well. And now with 4 armies to play, my painted Khador army has received no love other than a friend borrowing them one night and using them to teach Warmachine to a friend. I'm not even sure the last time I played them in a true game.

The question I often receive is "Why not just sell your Khador?" Because then I wouldn't have the option to play them! How broken is that? I can't stand playing the army, but reducing my number of potential options isn't acceptable.

And so I now have one large Khador force, one medium Circle force, and two small Cygnar and Skorne forces. And with my new resolution to only play painted models (which I may have to suspend in order to try out Infinity next week), I have a ton of models I don't have time to paint that may sit in their box for months before I can play them. And then I'm talking about buying in to Convergence of Cyriss...

My problem is that I want to know everything about a game. Sure I could become unstoppable with Khador, but I wonder what it's like to field Menoth and set your opponent's army on fire. Or ignore the majority of the battlefield using Legion. Or win with an underdog army like Minions or Retribution of Scyrah. Or spell assassinate with Cryx...

That's the eternal cycle of options that runs through my head about any game. It's also why I've found a great appreciation for games with limited options. Games like Tomb Raider or Assassin's Creed let me enjoy a game without wondering how different the game would be if I played it again using an entirely different approach. Yes, almost all games have some semblance of an ability tree, but those are more about adding flavor than dramatically changing how you experience the game. Specializing in shotguns over handguns isn't quite the same as playing as a spell-slinging wizard instead of a tough, vicious warrior.

I really wish I could value the quality of one option over the quantity of others. Maybe it's because I've always been a jack-of-all-trades sort, but I can't stand the idea of spending so much time focusing on one thing and making minimal gains at the expense of never experiencing what else a game has to offer.  I will probably never be a master, but I also never have to fear stagnation.

So which is the better way to be? Is it better to excel at one thing, or experience many things and be good at those? To be honest, I wish I had the personality that let me get good at one part of a game. However, I play games to relax and take a break from real life.

In the real world I like doing things perfectly, but it's also incredibly stressful. After you leap those big hurdles and see yourself making huge strides, all you're left with is to get better at smaller things, spending a lot of time to see a little progress. In life that's just fine, because the stress usually pays off. But if I'm trying to relax and take a break from reality, I don't want to waste that time trying to get slightly better at something, especially if it turns out I've basically hit the ceiling on how well I can do with the limited time I have.

From what I've seen, I think I'm in the minority here. And that's probably a good thing, because this personality quirk makes it hard for me to fully appreciate something until I feel satisfied that I've experienced every aspect of a game that might interest me. It's why I loved Tomb Raider so much, but it's also why I still feel like Dark Souls is incomplete despite beating it several times with several different characters.

So what about you? Can you focus on one thing for a long time, or do you need to experience most (or all) that a game has to offer?

See you tomorrow! Remember, just 5 more days until my Warmachine/Hordes faction dice giveaway!