STOP playing unpainted! STOP the Miniature Abuse!

Every time you bring an unpainted army to the table, a baby bear dies...

Something's been bugging me lately, and really ruining the overall fun, immersion, and enjoyment of the gaming hobby for me personally.... and that is the prevalence of "Miniature Abuse" that I see every time I visit the LGS in the form of playing with unpainted minis!  It's time that we, as a collective gaming community, come together and set a new standard bar of what is an acceptable level of painting before a miniature can see time on the tabletop.  Otherwise, what's the point the hobby aspect of this hobby?  Maybe I've just turned into a "paint snob" after my 25+ years of gaming experience...

Nothing personal.  They're nice guys I'm sure, but, no paint?

Exhibit A:  Look at these poor, neglected minis from a local 40k tournament.  I'm sure these guys are nice guys and all, but come on, where's the paint?!?!  Keep in mind, these are not noobs to the hobby either, these are veterans!  What happened to painting requirements, especially, at tournaments? EDIT: A buddy that was there informed me that out of 24 players, only 6 were painted, 18 were not.  And no, it isn't just something in 40k, but in all games it seems.  Even my beloved SAGA and other historicals.  You do realize that you can do the bases on an entire marine army easily in 1-2 hours.  Basecoat another 1-2.  All the shoulder pad trim, 1-2 hours.  In other words, from sprue to general basecoated in a weekend.  Don't believe me?  I once took a small army from the sprue to 100% fully painted including the bases, all face details, highlight, etc, in 3 days because I had a game set for the following Tuesday and wanted to offer my opponent a FULL GAMING EXPERIENCE in we played.

An honest fun guy to play against, in his defense he's only been in saga a few months....

Current gaming mood...

That's the crux of the matter right there, gaming is, and always will be a social contract.  (unless, you're gaming solo in your own basement of course)  For me, painting falls into that social contract of trying to make sure you are providing a fun, enjoyable gaming experience for your opponent.  If neither you, nor your opponent, enjoy the experience, then well what's the point?   For me, nothing cheapens the gaming experience by ruining the immersion than a "grey horde".  (or a primed one)  I view having a painted army not just as an achievement for myself, but as a way of putting my best foot forward for my opponent as well.  Give em something pretty to look, help them imagine events taking place on the tabletop by seeing things in full color.  This is coming from a guy that personally HATES painting miniatures, I'd rather just game, but I also want to make sure the game is as fun as possible for both sides, so I paint...

New to SAGA.  New to painting, finished in a week.  10/10, would play again!

Now, I can hear the collective excuses:  "I'm new, I'm not that good, I don't have the time..." and I'm here to call BS!  Exhibit B: A shot from a recent game with a new player to SAGA.  He had just started playing, heck, he had never really painted minis before.  BUT, I would GLADLY play games with this "new guy" anytime, and have way more fun doing so than against a veteran with a "grey horde".  Why, because he made the effort, and my overall experience was a lot more enjoyable because of it!  No one starts a new game with an instantly painted army, we all start over anytime we start a new game, but we also all need to at least make progress.  So often, week after week, I see ZERO progress out of gamers.  (are we just lazy?)  The next excuse: "I'm not the good", well, you don't have to be.  No one is going to truly notice if you paint outside the lines, skip painting faces, or don't have highlights at a harshly lit gaming store from 2-3 feet away... they WILL notice NO PAINT though!  You can always improve, and hanging out with and playing with other painters is a great way to do so, but you'll never improve if you don't START.  "I don't have the time".  I get it, not everyone has 36 hours in their day like I do.... oh wait, neither do I, I've got the same 24 hours in a day like everyone else!  Again, I call BS on the "I don't have time" excuse, everyone HAS some time, but not everyone has the discipline!  See my above paragraph on the actual anticipated time to get an army up and going.  Do you have 1-2 hours a day, even once or twice a week?  I'm gonna assume so.  I'm an adult, with a busy day: work, family, bills, responsibilities... I work, eat, and sleep, like everyone else, so I get it.  Yet, I manage to see a lot of paint progress while maintaining all the above, plus other activities in my spare time , so no, I'm not spending all my free time painting.  In fact, I hardly paint at all anymore!

Seriously, where is it?!?!

Here's the thing, wether you realize it or not, every time you plop down for a game in public, you are representing your game and your local gaming scene/meta.  People stop and look, maybe ask questions, and they are drawing first impressions on what a game of ______ would be like based on what they see happening in front of them.  What's more exciting to view, a game of mish-mashed grey horde stuff, or a cinematic game between two fully painted armies?  Time and time again, when I'm at the LGS I walk around and glance at the games taking place, NONE of the armies are painted, so nothing draws me in, and it is literally a quick lap around the game room.  People have tried to sell me on playing whatever game it is they are playing, but to be honest, its an impossible task to sell me on how fun of an experience playing said game will be, when nothing about what you are showing me LOOKS FUN!

So again, I ask, when did all this unpainted stuff overtake the hobby?  Personally, I think it is partially our responsibility as part of the collective of this gaming hobby to set the wheels in motion towards fixing it for the betterment of everyone within.  Otherwise, where is the incentive to paint?  Do other people in this hobby even truly care?

TL;DR - PLEASE, PAINT YOUR STUFF!

expecting some hate-mail...

EDIT:  This is mostly a tongue in cheek post, and is not meant to truly "shame" anyone or any specific group gamers.  (i.e. 40k players)  I play against unpainted armies all the time, each played by nice people.  I'm merely making an observation, and throwing out a wish that one day unpainted armies would become less accepted by gamers everywhere, and become the minority instead what seems to be (to me at least) the majority.  I'll gladly accept all forms of yelling, name calling, chastisement, etc in the comments.  (fair warning though, if you really ARE super butthurt by this post, and yell at me in the comments, I'm going to assume you are one of those people that never paint their stuff!)

Until next time,
WuhSawBe