[Chaotic Insane]

Oh, yes. I agree. The first step in approving how everyone views a group is changing how that group appears. Hence why daily showers should be mandatory at GenCon and other conventions.

There's a sign at my local gaming store stating that "if your body oder is offensive to others you will be asked to leave." Apparently they had such a problem with it a SIGN had to be posted. And that's just a little hobby store. Multiply that by gencon's population... whoahdamn. It's why when I came back from World Steam Expo (steampunk con), my first comment to dad was "and I could still BREATHE on the fourth day! In fact, I got a few whiffs of perfume and incense." I got conplague so god awful at Gencon.

Double posting. Bad Dad. Edit button. *smack*

[Jadehellbringer]

Oh, yes. I agree. The first step in approving how everyone views a group is changing how that group appears. Hence why daily showers should be mandatory at GenCon and other conventions.

I've been saying for years that a bar of Irish Spring soap should be put in every goodie bag at Gencon...

[FastJack]

Well, I have to say the new con center does have better ventilation, so it's not as noticeable as it once was. But I'm still amazed that some of the attendees are there from Wednesday through Monday and only pack three changes of clothing...

Con-crud is the bane of Con-goers everywhere. Fortunately, I have an accelerated immune system (not as fast as Wolverie's), and usually catch the crud by the morning of day two and, with the proper application of Green Tea and Tylenol, I'm better by the middle of the same afternoon.

But, to get back on target now, gamers' stereotypes are self-perpetuating and, unfortunately, some of use (like Usda's getting the girl) seem to be the exception to the rule. What I recommend to most of my gaming friends to break the stereotypes is to take that extra step and do stuff like Fantast Football leagues. It's almost like gaming, since you're building the team built on how a player performs. I recently saw a quote that Fantasy Football players are only a d20 and grid map away from being a gamer...

[John Schmidt]

I have a friend who loathes WoW, simply because of the damage it did to his gaming group by drawing players away. The examply given about the guy who shut out the world to play WoW...that is an individual that has a personality flaw that was going to be attracted to something to excess. The same thing happens in the world of jocks, save that they are juicing.

We have Ford owners who trask talk Dodge owners. Sports fans who get into brawls with other sports fans during playoffs. Even within our hobby, there are those guys who refuse to play anything but indie games because they are too cool for mass produced product. Back when White Wolf was actually a game company...Vampire players vs. AD&D players...larpers vs. us all. And so forth...my point is that there is a need within people to feel important, to belong to a 'special' group. I think that it is simply human nature.

[Hand Amputation]

Married 24 years to a non gamer wife. We can and do get the girl.

That brings up another question...

I am about to move in with my non gamer GF. She is cool and 'loves' my nerdy ways.. But I am afraid the Skype SR game I am about to start may cross over into another dimension.

I'm scared.

[FastJack]

Whenever someone I don't know asks me about my gaming hobby, I always try to compare it to being in a softball or bowling league. It's something I do for fun and, sometimes, I won't be available for other things because of the time I've committed to my hobby. This came up because I used to have in-laws that would schedule things when we had already let them know I had plans for a certain time and thought I could just skip it or postpone it "because it was just gaming".

Now, I'm not saying you put the game before everything else. Far from it. Enjoy your time with your girlfriend. Plan things with her and, if there's a conflict between the game and plans with her, see if the game can reschedule or go on without you. If not, see if you can reschedule your time with her. The difficulty occurs when neither can be rescheduled, and at those times, you're going to have to make a choice. But make sure that your gf understands that while you'll choose her, but to point out that the game is usually a regularly schedule even, much like a softball game or bowling night in your league.

Other than that, if she's willing to move in with ya, just try to keep the place cleaner than you normally would and have fun!

[Hand Amputation]

^^^ Good advice ^^^

She's super down to earth. I am sure it'll be fine.

 

[FastJack]

I was reading Tycho's post today on Penny Arcade and at the end he talks about how his mom & gaming never mixed before she attended this year's PAX.

It got me to thinking. One of the biggest reasons that PnP gaming gets stereotyped is because for years we've been playing in our basements, away from other people. This was due to two factors: 1) the games needed space to play and it wasn't easy to grab a table in a library or diner and play, especially if your might be loud and be there a while; and 2) some of the early 'stigma' associated with gaming from BADD and such drove some gamers 'underground' (quite literally in the case of basement dwellers...).

Unfortunately this meant that people not in the game most often didn't see what was going on. If you play sports, people know what you're doing. They know that if you say your going to go out and hit a small ball with a wooden stick and run in a circle touching sandbags, you're playing baseball/softball. Likewise with video games. Since they have to be played on a TV, and most families only had the game hooked up to the main TV, when you played it, your family usually saw or heard what was going on. But gamers would gather together, usually at a house of a friend where they wouldn't be interrupted by outsiders. This is unfavorable to getting people to know the game. Most people can't seem to grasp why you would sit there, roll dice and tick off stuff on a sheet of paper.

So, how do we combat the ignorance of our hobby? If you're gaming, invite the people you know that don't game or understand it to come and just watch. They don't have to join in, just come by and watch for an hour or two to see what goes on and why you enjoy doing it. Now, not everyone will understand why you think it is fun, just like some people can't watch baseball. But, they will see what you are doing and begin to understand more about the hobby instead of just dismissing it outright.

Heck, you might even get a person to try a game or two...

[BlackMyron]

  It's a lot better nowadays.  A gamer historian once noted that the same hysteria was applied towards comic books and even pinball games in the past (it's hard to believe that city officials would be having publicity photos of themselves smashing pinball machines with a baseball bat, but there you go).  RPGs certainly fared better than the comic book industry, which was so neutered they still couldn't even use the  word "zombie" in comics in the 1970s if they wanted the CCA seal of approval.  I hate to say my own parents fell for it, but they were so embarassed later that they've never admitted to me that they threw away my original DnD stuff.  (I actually had a gifted school teacher run a campaign during school hours in the earliest days of RPGs, something that could never happened nowadays)

 WoW can be a killer - we lost one of our regular players to it.  The final weeks he played he was bringing his laptop and playing during the game.  His wife had joined recently, and it ended up that she's still with our group - we do house rotations for play, and when we play at their house he's on his Thursday Night Raid.

  My girlfriend doesn't play RPGs, but she does playing video games and gamer card games (like the Chez series), so she doesn't have any problems with it.
 
   The most amusing criticism of PnP Gaming I've ever had, from my friend Shawn's roommate at the time: "It looks like you're doing homework."

[FastJack]

<snip>(I actually had a gifted school teacher run a campaign during school hours in the earliest days of RPGs, something that could never happened nowadays)<snip>

Actually, I know of some teachers and heard of a few more that do this nowadays. There's even after-school clubs at some schools.

[BlackMyron]

 During school hours?  Times have changed... 

 By high school, both RPGs and computer games had their own after-school clubs.  (The latter almost folded when a proto-LARP game of "Assassin" ended with a failed break-in to the school's computer lab to steal the Master List)

[The_Gun_Nut]

I live in the Bible Belt.  When I was growing up and started playing D&D and other games, I saw a bit on the news about a church group standing in a pickett line in front of a local store that sold D&D.  My friend, who is a few years older than I, actually had the sack to walk through the line and buy the books he wanted.  When they confronted him about buying the book (imagine what they said), he just gave them a funny look and walked away.

Seriously.  Pickett line.

[Mystic]

Lots of good points, all around. It does suck to be seen as a freak, especially when the rest of the world is closer to us than they want to think. Case in point, I occasionally go with my friend to his favorite watering hole. We talk games at the bar, and more than once we have had to deflect unwanted questions. One time we couldn't, and one particularly obnoxious drunk kept razzing us all night. However, he had NO problems blabbing about his Fantisy Football League.

 

Seriously, I am a deputy sheriff in my county and it does get frusturating. Im not a freak...well not a BAD one, and RP has helped me in my work. RP does train the mind like a gym trains the body. First thing I do, now out of pure refex, werever I go I find the exits and wonder how I can escape in an emergency, and size up any potentia "threats". Part police training, part "not wanting to get eaten by the hobgoblin ambush".

 

[FastJack]

I like to bring this out whenever a Fantasy Footballer starts on me about D&D.

D&D vs. Fantasy Football

[Devil]

I've been playing these games for a long time. D&D has got itself a bit of a bad rep, and honestly at times I can see why.

However I have no problem telling women I play Shadowrun. "What's Shadowrun?" Typically I explain a little about it and they say "That actually sounds pretty cool." How awesome would it be to have a girlfriend who would play in your games? No, seriously. I'm asking how awesome. I've never had that.

Overall though I'd say it's just non-console gamers in general. Even I'm guilty of saying "Ewww. You play WoW? Barf."

Everyone just assumes that they are living life correctly and that anyone who does something else (they don't understand or don't care for) is wrong. Ignorance and intolerance are the main reason people give you shit for playing games. Making themselves feel better, like their effed up lives are better than yours. That or they are just making fun of you to try to look cool or be popular or make people laugh. An attempt to elevate themselves either way.

In my case I just like to gently make fun of people. I've always been a clown in order to make people like me.