Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Counter Culture: BadWrongFun

Earlier today, a mother and daughter came into my store and asked where my Dungeons and Dragons stuff was. I introduced myself and showed them our selection. The mother mentioned that there was a new DnD book coming out in March but couldn't remember what it was. I said, "We don't know yet, we have seen the dice set that goes with it, but we won't know the details on the book until Thursday."

She then asked me what they would need after the Starter Box and Player's Handbook and I showed her the Essentials Box and several of the campaign books.

Then, she said, "We were playing yesterday and then watched some videos on YouTube and I realized we were playing it wrong." She even look embarrassed.

I asked her, "Did you have fun?"

She looked surprised and then said, "Yeah, we did." Her daughter was smiling and shaking her head to agree.

I repied, "Then you weren't playing wrong, most games aren't going to be the same as most of the streamed games because sometimes professional actors are running and playing those games. If everyone at the table is having fun, then you are doing everything right."

She and her daughter really smiled now, it was like a light went on. They started talking about the type of miniatures they were looking for and asked me which campaign I liked the best and even mentioned  Arkan the Terrible.

And let me add, it made me feel good too. Sometimes when you get into a new hobby, at least in my experience, a veteran of the same hobby can be more cynical about it. Sometimes I think the fans of a thing can get grumpy, even hateful. I'm not judging anyone, I've done it too. For whatever reason the only way to show you are a "true fan" is to hate the thing to some degree to prove you love it.

Both ladies spent quite a bit and preordered the new book, sight unseen, from me too.

I hope I might have made a small impact on them, because they made my day better.

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