Hypothesis of the Role-playing Gamer Floater

Dwimmerlied said:

I'm not sure whether the following traits fit into your working definition of the stereotype, but I've frequently read WOTC published materials which offer that many gamers have a natural shyness and confidence issues which they might need to overcome for more successful gaming, pointing out that wish-fulfilment in people feeling robbed of power in the real world is a major driver for gaming. Such sources seemed to feel it important to offer advice on getting enough sleep, eating healthy and making sure to take care of basic heigene... It would seem that they have an opinion about the makeup of the average gamer. It costs money to produce that stuff, and I'm left wondering whether that is a confident investment WOtC makes because they feel a large part of their market is dysfunctional/abnormal/adhering to the stereotype. Does this reinforce the stereotype, or was that type so apparent to them they felt the need to offer such embarassing advice in their books? DMGII (3.5) was a good example for some of that stuff, and I know there was more too. I can't remember those sources off the top of my head, but will post them if I come across them.

I have a small group of friends I game with which I met from non-game-related situations, and I guess we'd fit more or less into the proposed normal as defined in terms of your research question. There have been a couple of occasions where I've gamed with groups from gaming stores/societies etc. and certainly have found a number of really odd folk. Some were a bit out-there, but lovely. Others were just... something. Not all of them though. And many of these convention class? gamers, apparently well adjusted or not weren't gaming at the store because they were transient for whatever reason, but because there was no other way to play.

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goldomark said:

You'd be surprised how much gamer stereotypes are accurate. The hygene part, especially. But they aren't the majority, and you mostly see them at stores or cons, cause they probably do not have a group of friends to game with regularly in the first place.

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SorcerousMelnibone said:

Just want to say that I concur with the OP, public gaming is a shambles.

I only game privately with people I carefully vet for my games ahead of time. If just one person has a different (different not necessarily indicating 'bad') play style, it can really throw off the entire group's dynamic. I give lots of people a shot, and I've narrowed it down to 5-10 people that I enjoy playing with regularly. I am lucky to have a wide social circle, thanks to my job, that puts me in touch with lots of local people who have similar geeky interests. I also live in New York City. I can't imagine how hard it must be for someone in a smaller community to recruit good players.

For 15 years, I have gone to cons and game stores with an open mind, seeking to run games or get a chance to take off the GM cap and join in as a player with some new folks. Every single time my experience has been that the gamers at these events are insufferably dysfunctional.

Now, nobody is perfect, and we all have our quirks. But I think the OP has a very good point that anyone at one of those tables is probably someone who couldn't hack it in a private group. This seems like a very logical explanation for the strange experiences I've had in public games.

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devlin1 said:

Convention gaming here on the West Coast is pretty rad, on the whole, so... this reductionist hypothesis does not match with my experiences.

And I say that as someone who games predominantly at conventions -- around six or seven a year -- and who used to be in a gaming group for a few years that had some pretty significant dysfunctions, very largely due to one member (who, as it happens, was more or less afraid to attend a convention, even with friends).

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rpgresearch said:

IF that is so, that is a significant difference from the 1980s and early 90s research. Why do you think it would have changed so dramatically?

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