My Hobby Holiday list, part two

Good evening to my fellow hobbyists. Tonight I'd like to present to you the second part of my holiday wish list. In part one, I focused solely on Games Workshop, so today let's look at other companies and the fans ourselves. After all, we make the hobby just as much a GW does, in my understanding, and having said that we are not without faults.

I received nice feedback on my previous list and I'm glad more people share my views. Sometimes I really think I'm the only one who thinks this and that. Thanks for the support.

So, here it is, Drazhar's Hobby Holiday List, part two.

I would like:

• Fanboyism to stop. I think this is the number one reason why the hobby scene sometimes looks like 4chan. If you like GW products, that's great. If you prefer, say, Privateer Press, that's also great. But would you kindly stop that mantra-like chant of "PP is SO MUCH COOLER than GW!!!!oneone"? It's nice if you like it, but don't look down on people who still prefer The Company. Or the other way around. I, for one, have never managed to get to like Rackham products and their aesthetics simply eluded me as far as awesomeness goes. But I've never called these minis "gay" or even "faggy". How can you actually say that about a piece of metal?! This goes for forums and fansites too. Do you prefer BoLS over Warseer? TWF over BoLS? Perfectly fine, but openly declaring the other site's users as inferior is just immature. Nobody likes a fanboy.

• Elitism to stop.
  
  Whew. I had to do this.
  
  Now listen very carefully: your hobby is essentially painting and moving toy soldiers on a pretend battlefield, playing a make-believe battle. It does not make it, or you, in any way better than people who prefer to spend their time and money on pimping out their cars. Or skateboarding. Or fencing. Or chess. Or knitting. Or anything else they find enjoyable, fulfilling and relaxing. You are not a member of a "subculture", and in no way a member of the elite. You just have a pretty "closed" hobby.
  
  Do you understand? Great! Now practice it.

• Tournaments and their organizers - please make the painting and modeling go hand in hand with actual gameplay when it comes to awarding points to the participants! I realize I might be wrong in assuming they don't, I haven't played in a lot of tournaments, but I have seen many as a spectator and I don't think painting should award like 20% of the overall points. Please promote a holistic, encompassing approach to the hobby. It's not only about winning!

• GW bashers - give The Company a chance! Granted, there are better producers out there - Vallejo make better paints, Army Painter makes better primers, GF9 makes better basing products. But don't assume that if it's GW, it has to be bad right away. Sometimes The Company actually does make something that is genuinely good. Don't be so close-minded.

• Tournament gamers, and please excuse my French - don't be as big a douchebags as some of you are. I'll refer you to point two of this very list. It's really good that you are able to play well and play to win. Clearly you are a competent gamer. But that does not make you the king of all that is gaming. This in fact applies to the masters of any facet of our hobby. I know winning something at the Golden Demon is extremely prestigious and you should be very proud. That, however, does not give you the right to talk down to anyone. Most of us will never reach your level, do you honestly get off on contempt you give out to people who will probably never achieve your standard? Really?

There we go. I hope at least some of you can agree on at least some of my points.

Let's get back to these savage orcs, shall we?