I don’t disagree with your assessment, but I’m sad that the 40K universe can’t be interpreted for what it is. The whole point is that there are no good guys, only flavors of galaxy-scale horror. It makes sense from a game design standpoint because you’re supposed to give up the idea that you’re furthering a righteous cause or participating in an evolving narrative. You’re just controlling an army against another army in one of countless battles that have no real consequence because there’s always another army and another battle. They state it right up front: “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.” In that context, there can’t be any good guys, just different factions in an endless struggle.
But yeah, they don’t do a good enough job of reminding fans that the Imperium is only relatable because it has a human face, and is otherwise indistinguishable from any of the other factions in terms of being comically evil.
The whole point is that there are no good guys, only flavors of galaxy-scale horror.
The most common result of that presentation is consumers choosing the most "based" of bad guys with the most exciting aesthetics and slowly seeing those bad guys as the good guys after all.
Which I think is fine, honestly, so long as it doesn’t bleed into reality. It’s like having a favorite sports team. It’s all fun and games until it becomes a personality trait.
That's the part to me. Just being in an online chat room somewhere, like in an online game, and having the slightest LGBTQIA+ presence brought up (often in a baiting way, unfortunately) and getting shouted down with "suffer not the" and "exterminatus" references is Jokerfying to me.
As well it should be. That’s some bullshit. As I said, I don’t disagree that the Warhammer fanbase is full of trash people, I just wish it weren’t. The underlying source material isn’t inherently bad, but it’s often appropriated by the worst kind of people.
That’s the reason I stopped playing a long time ago. I’d like to enjoy the hobby for what it is, but I don’t want to interact with a lot of the people who I would end up playing with. Same with most gaming hobbies, save for things like TTRPGs or cooperative/PvE multiplayer games where I can still get the full experience even if I’m only playing with people I know.
I play 40k (DA ORKZ IS PROPPA GITZ) but it's a rare day where there isn't at least one "just kidding, unless" nazi around in the general community around me.
Love me some Orkz! But yeah, that’s the problem I ran into. I found that the boardgaming community was less reactionary so I ended up naturally moving away from 40k. It’s a shame, I liked the whole ‘paint then show off by playing’ loop.
As fun as minis could be, if you wanted a litmus test to really find the fash without actually inquiring about the fash, wait and see how the players react to someone using proxy tokens, unpainted minis, or otherwise substitutes to play that don't involve performative spending.
Ha, yeah, I love the look of a fully-painted army, but it’s absolutely not necessary to enjoy the game. It’s silly that you would need to spend a bunch of money and hours of time just to try out a new or reconfigured unit. I can understand it for tournament play, but if someone is making a deal out of it in a casual setting then you’re dealing with an asshole.
I don’t disagree with your assessment, but I’m sad that the 40K universe can’t be interpreted for what it is. The whole point is that there are no good guys, only flavors of galaxy-scale horror. It makes sense from a game design standpoint because you’re supposed to give up the idea that you’re furthering a righteous cause or participating in an evolving narrative. You’re just controlling an army against another army in one of countless battles that have no real consequence because there’s always another army and another battle. They state it right up front: “In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.” In that context, there can’t be any good guys, just different factions in an endless struggle.
But yeah, they don’t do a good enough job of reminding fans that the Imperium is only relatable because it has a human face, and is otherwise indistinguishable from any of the other factions in terms of being comically evil.
The most common result of that presentation is consumers choosing the most "based" of bad guys with the most exciting aesthetics and slowly seeing those bad guys as the good guys after all.
Which I think is fine, honestly, so long as it doesn’t bleed into reality. It’s like having a favorite sports team. It’s all fun and games until it becomes a personality trait.
That's the
part to me. Just being in an online chat room somewhere, like in an online game, and having the slightest LGBTQIA+ presence brought up (often in a baiting way, unfortunately) and getting shouted down with "suffer not the" and "exterminatus" references is Jokerfying to me. 
As well it should be. That’s some bullshit. As I said, I don’t disagree that the Warhammer fanbase is full of trash people, I just wish it weren’t. The underlying source material isn’t inherently bad, but it’s often appropriated by the worst kind of people.
That’s the reason I stopped playing a long time ago. I’d like to enjoy the hobby for what it is, but I don’t want to interact with a lot of the people who I would end up playing with. Same with most gaming hobbies, save for things like TTRPGs or cooperative/PvE multiplayer games where I can still get the full experience even if I’m only playing with people I know.
I play 40k (DA ORKZ IS PROPPA GITZ) but it's a rare day where there isn't at least one "just kidding, unless" nazi around in the general community around me.
Love me some Orkz! But yeah, that’s the problem I ran into. I found that the boardgaming community was less reactionary so I ended up naturally moving away from 40k. It’s a shame, I liked the whole ‘paint then show off by playing’ loop.
As fun as minis could be, if you wanted a litmus test to really find the fash without actually inquiring about the fash, wait and see how the players react to someone using proxy tokens, unpainted minis, or otherwise substitutes to play that don't involve performative spending.
Ha, yeah, I love the look of a fully-painted army, but it’s absolutely not necessary to enjoy the game. It’s silly that you would need to spend a bunch of money and hours of time just to try out a new or reconfigured unit. I can understand it for tournament play, but if someone is making a deal out of it in a casual setting then you’re dealing with an asshole.