What is a National Player?

[IRSMARTLIKEROCK]

I've started writing for Muse on Mini's, where I break down the difference between a regular and national level player.

http://museonminis.com/what-national-player/

Love it? Hate it? Let me know what you think.

[McNs]

Neat article, though I think it could use some more meat.

More importantly, you've got an errant space at the end of your link, causing it to not direct to the article (in Chrome, at least).

[zorrax]

That photo?
Really?

[IRSMARTLIKEROCK]

Neat article, though I think it could use some more meat.

More importantly, you've got an errant space at the end of your link, causing it to not direct to the article (in Chrome, at least).

Fixed and thanks for that.

That photo?
Really?

You got a better one.

[zorrax]

Fixed and thanks for that.


You got a better one.

The one of you winning Tier Tournament would make more sense for the article.

The one of you playing in the RHPS would be the best.

[Dan from Chicago]

Well ... every member of the Cubs is a National Player

[IRSMARTLIKEROCK]

Well ... every member of the Cubs is a National Player

Different game different rules. Though I am willing to bet that national baseball players have a different mindset than amateurs.

[Dan from Chicago]

Different game different rules. Though I am willing to bet that national baseball players have a different mindset than amateurs.

The only 'professionals' in Warmachine are painters.

[IRSMARTLIKEROCK]

I don't think anything you said was wrong or not valuable... but that's not really an article. It's more of a personal anecdote without any real thesis or content.

Well, I hope to give you some more to think on in the next piece.

The only 'professionals' in Warmachine are painters.

That's part of the reason why I don't say professional and instead say national, as in nationally recognized.

[SchnauzerFace]

I don't think the term "National Player" means anything. TBH, it kinda sounds like a made-up term someone might use to make themselves sound important. If someone referred to themselves as a "National WM/H Player," I'd probably just stop talking to that person.

[West996]

I don't think the term "National Player" means anything. TBH, it kinda sounds like a made-up term someone might use to make themselves sound important. If someone referred to themselves as a "National WM/H Player," I'd probably just stop talking to that person.

That is the hard part about reading things in text. It easy to misunderstand the tone, or attitude in which something is being said. I'm sure the author didn't intend to sound condescending.

There is a difference between a casual player, even a casual player that plays a lot and someone who is competitive and successful in a National tournament environment. It doesn't mean that one player is better, or smarter than the other, but they do play different games.

I think that that is part of the reason the theory machining and discussion gets to heated sometimes and why peoples opinions vary so widely. Just because we are playing with the same rule set, don't make the mistake of thinking we are all playing the same game.

You can even consider yourself a competitive player, but if you don't go to National tournaments and your local meta is fairly small, your opinions may vary greatly from someone who competes on a National level because the meta alone could be quite different.

It might actually be helpful to know from what level of play an individuals opinion is coming from to first understand from what perspective of the game they are speaking from. It might put some things into context.

[IRSMARTLIKEROCK]

I don't think the term "National Player" means anything. TBH, it kinda sounds like a made-up term someone might use to make themselves sound important. If someone referred to themselves as a "National WM/H Player," I'd probably just stop talking to that person.

Well we could go with person who's placed really high / often in national tournaments, seems a bit unwieldy to me, but I am open to suggestions.

[PG_petegrrrr]

I don't think you need labels.

Honestly, there is even a strata difference between what you would call national players and players that actually have a good chance to win a con event.

And in that case, you are literally talking about a handful of people. a few dozen maybe. I'd just avoid labels all together and make the article about what it takes to compete at a convention, and what first time players can do to prepare

[IRSMARTLIKEROCK]

I feel that the strata difference is a lot smaller than people think it is, but that's what article two is going to be about. Which is as much as I can give away for the moment. Though I do appreciate the critiques, keep them coming.

[PG_Chris Cuevas]

I dug it. Would have liked to see more writing. You could probably expand a lot of that content while still keep it succinct and readable (and I also disagree with whoever said it sounded condescending).

[Bubbles]

yes I agree. Put some meat on that thing because it was rather good but to short.

[PG_Duckboy]

I like it. It may be short but it is inspiring to a local meta's player that wants to compete.

I was the same way, started right before legends but I always wanted to compete and felt (kind of still feel) I will never get to the national level of competition (going to a lot of cons). But luckily, this year, I made my goal of making the 2nd master tournament and it felt great. Boosting my confidence and ambition to do better next year.

*edit*

I don't consider myself no where near a national player but just saying that I had a goal and I achieved it, which I was doubting myself all the way. Hopefully with some patience and time, I can do it again.

[Temoinlanuit]

I like the general idea of the article. There's definitely a divide on who can get past plateaus in local meta, whether or not "national player" is the term that you want to use. It's a large divide.

[Heavygear]

Sounds way to much like BoLS and their constant droning about "Hard Core" players and "Fluffy Bunny" players. I think most of us just consider ourselves players of warmahordes. That being said I don't know that I would travel half way across the country or the state for that matter just to play a game. Luckily I have a FLGS 5 minutes from my house.

[doom_reaver]

It's not a bad article. Quite minimalist but a good message that anyone can compete with anyone. Gaming is quite weird in that some "personalities" get put on a pedastal and can only be mentioned in hushed tones and that their advice is taken as gospel. I've always found that reverence of big tourney players to be BS. The only difference between player levels is practice and what people want to get out of the game. If someone really want to win tournaments they'll find a way to do it I certainly don't believe in certain people only being able to achieve a certain level of competitiveness.

One small gripe though with your last line. "In the end I hope that this article encourages some of you to get out there and try harder" I'd change "try harder" to compete. As you said you can't read tone and to me that reads as you're looking to change lazy gamers or people you feel aren't pulling their weight.

as I said a minor gripe. Well done.

[Jables]

I liked the sentiment but it was a touch too short and could benefit from a bit of fleshing out.

I also think the article would benefit from some tightening of your sentence structures and punctuation.

[Hal Gill]

I wouldn't get too hung up on labels. It's intuitively obvious what you're talking about in the article and whether you call it a national player or a competitive player or a serious bizness player doesn't ultimately make that big of a difference. The meaning is clear.