Re: Actually leaving my house more often
I didn’t mean to do JulyReply, but here we are with reply number two, I guess.
When I read this post by Puppy, about how getting (back) into Magic the Gathering led to it leaving the house more, meeting a new group of friends, and spending more time socialising irl, it made me think about how I have met all my recent friends through games.
When I moved to the town I now live in, I didn’t know anyone local despite growing up 30 minutes away. Most of my school friends had gone off to university and not yet felt the draw to come back. Not long after I moved, a local game store opened up. It was a pleasant walk from where I was living, and more importantly, the owner played Blood Bowl. He had his own scratch built stadium, and one of the first regular gaming groups that started at the shop was a Blood Bowl league.
I went down to the shop with my girlfriend, awkwardly browsed for a bit, gawped at the stadium, and finally spoke to the owner. We talked about Blood Bowl, and I signed up to the league.
There were 8 players1, and we played games in two groups of four before a knockout stage. After a marathon of a final, in which I had to move my car because my parking had run out, I won the league! Inaugural league champion!
I had also met 7 other Blood Bowl players, and I still play games with them today. Now, fourish years later, that league regularly has over 30 players, I play in two different local leagues, attend tournaments across the country, and went on a weekend trip with a group of people I met through this game (organised by the player I beat in the final of that first league). I regular play various games with someone I met in the first league, who I also go to conventions with. We also do joint dump runs.
I would not have met these people if it weren’t for Blood Bowl, and an awesome local shop.
Blood Bowl is great for meeting people because of the league format, and this is also true for other game. Trading Card Games are another good example, as they often have a regular weekly play night, where you can play games with a regular group of players. Often, it’s more about the community than the game. Although, as someone with a small social battery, I appreciate having a game there, both to get me out the house, and to focus my attention on when worn out! 2
Quack