TheDancingPeanut
New Member
Dear Pokemon friends;
I may not be the most qualified person to make this statement, yet I feel it must be made none the less.
I believe we are at a very important stage in the development of the Pokemon TCG, as a game, and as a community. We are at a crossroads, and the direction we chose will shape who we are for a very long time. So it goes without saying that we should take every effort to make our choices in those matters wisely, and only after carefully weighing both sides of the equation.
The state of the game is very strong. We are recruiting new players at a more rapid pace than we have done in some time. We are seeing an increased number of players who have left the game, returning. We are even seeing that we can draw players from the Yu-Gi-Oh pool. We are building a reputation as a good, community, a strong community, a community which is here to stay. We are finally beginning to earn the respect of our peers we have so long desired.
This is all very well and good, but it must be approached with caution. And thus, we go back to our crossroads. We must decide, if we are going to be the type of community who will allow ourselves to fall victim to politics and immaturity. We must ask ourselves if we, as the leaders helping to develop this community, are going to allow ourselves to be susceptible to petty attempts to distract us - or, in contrast, if we as a community and specifically as the leader's of that community, will remain constantly focused, constantly working forward to advance the game.
We simply cannot allow ourselves to have public conflicts, even when we disagree - period. It is detrimental to the game when outside players see that. We can not allow ourselves to become narrow minded about our local area, but in contrast, we must remind ourselves to think about the big picture, and to believe in what the community can be. This, is not an idealist or socialist attitude. it is simply a positive attitude. It is an attitude of maturity.
I believe, if the game, and organized play are to continue growing and survive in the long run, these are the things we must do:
1) We must be welcoming to all new players, young and old. This, seems obvious, but it is not always the case. I have traveled to a number of different leagues over the past year and have witnessed numerous cases of new players being taken advantage of condescended upon. As leaders, it is our job to stop this. You may ask,"how can I keep a child from taking advantage of another", and my answer to you is this: Simply demand it. I believe we must EXPECT a certain level of behavior from ourselves and our community. A code of conduct if you will. True, some will not accept this, but others, the majority, will appreciate it. As leaders, we must be strong, we must be mature, and we must not allow bad attitudes and immaturity to be present becasue it spreads like a disease.
2) We must make sure that tournaments and premier events are scheduled, located, staffed, and promoted for the good of the community, not for the good or enjoyment of a single person or a single body of persons. If we are doing this for personal gratification, then I must ask ourselves if we really ought to be doing it at all.This, ties in to number 3.
3) We must work as community leaders to achieve exemplary communication between state PTO's, TO's, Judges, and players. Too many states which I have interviewed and visited (my own included) are fragmented and thus, have fragmented communication. We must open the networks of communication so that every leader and every community member in any given area knows every details of the events which are happening. An example of this, is that there were recently two somewhat high-profile events in my state, both within a reasonable driving distance. Out of the 10 players that I polled, 7 of them knew nothing about either of the events.
How can we expect to survive, let alone grow as a community, if we do not use the resources we have? We can't just say "oh, those players should have checked the pokegym". That does not cut it in the real world. If we cannot accept that we must work harder at keeping these communications open, than we are surely lost.
I would go so far as to say that I believe this, communication, to be the single most important thing we must improve upon.
4) We must change our attitude. We must be warm and open, strict, yes, but open. That goes for the way we treat people at leagues, at tournaments, at the pokegym, EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME. If we are forced to reprimand, we must explain the reasons why, or we cannot expect that person to change. We must change our attitude so that we do not seem burdened upon when new players come to us, but rather, so that we seem genuinely excited about their presence. And more so, we must actually learn to be genuinely exited about their presence. Every single person who comes to us is one more valuable community member.
Once again, it my utmost confidence that we are standing on the verge of something amazing. But we simply cannot allow ourselves to get caught up in any bit of negativity. We must purge ourselves of all negative thoughts, actions, and attitudes.
That is my opinion about the state of the game.
~ Jim
I may not be the most qualified person to make this statement, yet I feel it must be made none the less.
I believe we are at a very important stage in the development of the Pokemon TCG, as a game, and as a community. We are at a crossroads, and the direction we chose will shape who we are for a very long time. So it goes without saying that we should take every effort to make our choices in those matters wisely, and only after carefully weighing both sides of the equation.
The state of the game is very strong. We are recruiting new players at a more rapid pace than we have done in some time. We are seeing an increased number of players who have left the game, returning. We are even seeing that we can draw players from the Yu-Gi-Oh pool. We are building a reputation as a good, community, a strong community, a community which is here to stay. We are finally beginning to earn the respect of our peers we have so long desired.
This is all very well and good, but it must be approached with caution. And thus, we go back to our crossroads. We must decide, if we are going to be the type of community who will allow ourselves to fall victim to politics and immaturity. We must ask ourselves if we, as the leaders helping to develop this community, are going to allow ourselves to be susceptible to petty attempts to distract us - or, in contrast, if we as a community and specifically as the leader's of that community, will remain constantly focused, constantly working forward to advance the game.
We simply cannot allow ourselves to have public conflicts, even when we disagree - period. It is detrimental to the game when outside players see that. We can not allow ourselves to become narrow minded about our local area, but in contrast, we must remind ourselves to think about the big picture, and to believe in what the community can be. This, is not an idealist or socialist attitude. it is simply a positive attitude. It is an attitude of maturity.
I believe, if the game, and organized play are to continue growing and survive in the long run, these are the things we must do:
1) We must be welcoming to all new players, young and old. This, seems obvious, but it is not always the case. I have traveled to a number of different leagues over the past year and have witnessed numerous cases of new players being taken advantage of condescended upon. As leaders, it is our job to stop this. You may ask,"how can I keep a child from taking advantage of another", and my answer to you is this: Simply demand it. I believe we must EXPECT a certain level of behavior from ourselves and our community. A code of conduct if you will. True, some will not accept this, but others, the majority, will appreciate it. As leaders, we must be strong, we must be mature, and we must not allow bad attitudes and immaturity to be present becasue it spreads like a disease.
2) We must make sure that tournaments and premier events are scheduled, located, staffed, and promoted for the good of the community, not for the good or enjoyment of a single person or a single body of persons. If we are doing this for personal gratification, then I must ask ourselves if we really ought to be doing it at all.This, ties in to number 3.
3) We must work as community leaders to achieve exemplary communication between state PTO's, TO's, Judges, and players. Too many states which I have interviewed and visited (my own included) are fragmented and thus, have fragmented communication. We must open the networks of communication so that every leader and every community member in any given area knows every details of the events which are happening. An example of this, is that there were recently two somewhat high-profile events in my state, both within a reasonable driving distance. Out of the 10 players that I polled, 7 of them knew nothing about either of the events.
How can we expect to survive, let alone grow as a community, if we do not use the resources we have? We can't just say "oh, those players should have checked the pokegym". That does not cut it in the real world. If we cannot accept that we must work harder at keeping these communications open, than we are surely lost.
I would go so far as to say that I believe this, communication, to be the single most important thing we must improve upon.
4) We must change our attitude. We must be warm and open, strict, yes, but open. That goes for the way we treat people at leagues, at tournaments, at the pokegym, EVERYWHERE, ALL THE TIME. If we are forced to reprimand, we must explain the reasons why, or we cannot expect that person to change. We must change our attitude so that we do not seem burdened upon when new players come to us, but rather, so that we seem genuinely excited about their presence. And more so, we must actually learn to be genuinely exited about their presence. Every single person who comes to us is one more valuable community member.
Once again, it my utmost confidence that we are standing on the verge of something amazing. But we simply cannot allow ourselves to get caught up in any bit of negativity. We must purge ourselves of all negative thoughts, actions, and attitudes.
That is my opinion about the state of the game.
~ Jim