[experiment 626]

here's the thing Elzanith; i personally Doc, having met him back in 99 on the tournament circut. he's been around since they begining quite litterally!
he's also a brit from about as far south as you can get without ending up in the channel itself! alot of his hummor doesn't go over well here because few people really get it... (that and he's got a rather twisted sense of hummor such as inventing the 'stitch kabertoss' at the '04 'couver GT!)
one thing i've found having known and become friends with more than a few brits, they don't 'sugercoat' much. they like to speak their mind! you just have to accept that different attitude. try asking him about why/how you can improve! i know from experience that it's immensely fustrating having to play against the same poeple who don't care much about their army and how it looks and/or the backstory of 40k. that kind of attitude smacks of 'this is just a fad and i don't care', which is about the worst impression you can give to any oldgit! (honestly, there's a number of younger players at our store i outright refse to play against because of this - and i'm staff!)

get to know doc before you judge him honestly. this was the great thing about the old tournaments; the pub time! you got to sit down and just hang out. someone who you thought was a real jerk turned out to be once of the nicest guys/girls...
sure doc may seem full of himself to you because you;
a) don't know him
b) are alot newer to the hobby than he is
c) doc is erm, 'doc'. we can't really explain him, but really, give him a chance!
try striking up some general conversation with him, then try and stear the topic to maybe ask 'how can i improve my painting'...

also, try and look at the situation from the oldgit's point of view; if say you've played them about a dozen times and they've won handily & easily each and every time, yes they're going to start getting fustrated too! it's no fun for us if the same opponent makes the same mistakes each and every time. (and doc will point out to you those mistakes - trust me!) also, oldgits like doc HATE! people who throw the background out the window becaue they don't care and/or are simply ignorant of it... for example, he'll likely tear you a new one if you bring say a chaos army lead by 2 lashing princes that's also chalk-full of 'zerkers! (i mean come one, since when do hardcore, blood-mad nutters let some foppish milksop slaanesh daemon tell them what to do?!?) being an oldergit myself, i'll tell you off too for sure! the background is what makes 40k so great, and i expect new players to read up on it and respect it!
as for the painting thing, well, keep in mind doc's won a fare few golden daemons. if there actually were enough of that skill out in vancouver, he'd likely head-up 'team vancouver' for games day. but reality sucks and it's just not possible for enough of those highly skilled guys to make it across the country to games day each year! (so toronto & montreal have their way.) and as annoying as it may seem to see the same person always win every painting competition, imgaine how disheartening it must be for that painter to seemingly never be challenged in any way unless they spend about $500 on a plane ticket! (again, i've been in that situation at my local store - over 8 months i won every contest and it got to the point i only entered because others expected it of me!) it's not fun... everyone wants to have to push their skills to their limits and then some!

so honestly, as much a doc and some of the other real hardcore vets may seem to be the problem, it's really everyone's fault...
the vets sure sometimes need a bit of a swift kick to come down off their 'high horses'. however, the younger/newer gamers need to show their 'elders' so to speak that they're serious and want to improve, learn & grow in all aspects of this hobby!
there's nothing more hatefull out there than the spoiled pup who buys up everything and treats their stuff like **** because they don't give a crap. (yes, i've seen a 12-year old with forgeworld stuff they've cobbled & badly painted - i cry every time i see such abuses.)

cheers!