Wednesday, December 17, 2008

[OOC] Indecision Delays

So, its been a little while since I posted anything. With Christmas just around the corner, and all the time demands that brings, to be honest, I haven't lifted paintbrush, nor really considered a single scenario in a week. The closest I have come has been lurking and posting on TMP in the wee hours or from work.

Well, that's not entirely true. I started on some telegraph poles that I have decided I cut way too tall. So I need to fix that.

Anyway, the point of this post was indecision delays. I was corresponding with another gamer today, and he mentioned how his current project is stalled out while he tries to decide exactly what he wants to do with it. And that got me to thinking about how many of my projects have stalled for extended periods for exactly the same reason: indecision.

I think it stems from two things: perfectionism and lack of funds.

Perfectionism is that drive that I have when it comes to my miniatures to get them 'just right.' That doesn't necessarily mean historically accurate. With VSF, it often does not mean that. I mean that it looks 'right' to me, and is such that I think others will ooh and aah over them toa degree. I don't expect abjecy adoration. Besides being blasphemous, I think its ridiculous considering my skills in converting and painting. I'm decent, but not more than that, and so expecting a lot of WOW factor is not in the cards. But everyone likes to have their efforts appreciated, and the more thought that goes into the project, the better the results are likely to be. Since we want the best we are capable of, this leads to lots of thought. In turn, it means a lot of time spent planning and less in doing. The end result is that little gets done, although perhaps it is of a better quality. I actually ran a poll over that not too long ago.

Lack of funds is an even more fundamental cause of indecision. If, like me, your gaming budget is rather limited, you simply can't afford to buy new minis when your conversion doesn't go as planned, or the paint job comes out completely horrible, or what have you. So we again spend a lot of time in thought and planning and tweaking ideas, rather than implementing them. Again, delay through indecision.

Is there a fix? Beyond massive government bailouts of the wargaming community, that is? (Sorry - no more politics, I promise.) I don't know if there is, but I know I need to get something done, or the Lead Pile may cause the Earth to wobble.

Thanks for listening. Let me know what you think.

1 comment:

Eli Arndt said...

To continue this thought, and the original thread. I have found that I must truely will myself to get things going. To this end, I try to adopt a "do something rather than nothing" attitude.

Even if it means doing things out of order or painting/modelling projects that strike my fancy rather than those that fit the immediate plan, ultimately something is getting done. I guess it's a sort of big picture attitude.

I too have been bound by the budget/perfection hesitence.

-Eli