Are you in the RPG closet?

[Jhaelen]

At work, I'm in the RPG closet. Are you? Is it wrong to hide your hobby if you think people will look down on you for it?

Nope. I tell it everyone who asks about my hobbies.

I've also mentioned it in job interviews(!).

Some of my fellow gamers are ex-colleagues. Some of my current colleagues also play rpgs.

There's zero reason to hide it. There are lots of reasons not to hide it.

 

[DragonLancer]

I don't hide it. Everyone I know knows that I'm into hobby gaming. It's done me good in job interviews as well. I don't see a reason to hide it at all.

 

[Gilladian]

At work, everyone knows I game. It has served me well as the Teen Librarian. Kids think I'm goofy for preferring pen and paper to MMORPGs, but they just take it as a style difference.

I play with one colleague, and have introduced gaming to others; it's a minorly popular hobby in the library world. I've had my boss drag me over to talk with patrons who want to know about DnD or other RPG's, just as I've talked with them about sci fi and fantasy literature, science books, and other things that are in my area of expertise.

I didn't talk about gaming so much when I was a hotel clerk - but then, the coworkers I had there thought I was WEIRD because I liked to READ!

 

[Hella_Tellah]

I work for a very traditional Japanese company, so there is a correct way to do everything, and a correct response to every question. The correct response to "What do you do in your free time?" is "I go drinking with my co-workers, play (golf/tennis), and spend time with my family." Being foreign, I get a certain amount of leeway, but not much. I generally tell people at work that I study Japanese and read comic books, which is true enough and socially acceptable.

Outside of work, I always have my ear to the ground looking for people who play "table-talk RPGs", as they say in Japanese. I've even been invited to a game, but my hours don't really permit face-to-face gaming these days.

 

[Dedekind]

I hide it for the most part. I don't really think anybody would think worse of me of it, but I really don't want to deal with people's misconceptions. My friends and I have seen two major misconceptions. D&D was cult-related and that D&D was LARPing. It's not worth the hassle to disabuse them of either idea.

 

[IronWolf]

I don't actively hide it, but I'm not constantly advertising I play all the time either. At work I might mention that I am headed to game night and need to leave on time, if someone asks what game night is I will tell them, otherwise I just leave it at game night. So a small handful of people who have inquired further know I play RPGs.

 

[EvilQAGuy]

I recently had a job interview. I already have a job and the position pays a bit less, but I’ve wanted to find out more about that company, so in I went. I brought up the fact that I write applications at home and they asked about the last application I had written. If I had actually needed the job I probably would have given a different answer out of reflex, but at this point I decided to continue with complete honesty.

“I wrote an initiative generation and battle tracking package that helps me while I DM D&D games and produces metrics like rounds, damage, deaths and time events on which I can perform statistical analysis. It also allows me to preload most encounters and dynamically link to stat cards and other game notes.”

There was dead silence for about five seconds, then one guy asked me how I liked 4E and another asked for the program. The one guy there that was horrified at it couldn’t really say anything because his boss was busy discussing the merits of at-will powers for wizards …

Short version: At a job interview I caused two people across the table to out themselves from the D&D closet. I start a new job on the 30th.

 

[Boregar]

I don't actively promote my interest in gaming at work, but I will read gamebooks at lunchtime, or indeed read and post on places like this.

I include role-playing on my CV, though, in the 'about me' section, pointing out how it demonstrates my creativity, problem solving abilities and team work skills.

 

[Maldin]

I don't hide it. Besides, couldn't if I wanted to since Googling my name has me pop up over most of the first 30 Google search pages. If someone poo-poo's it I tell them that I'm published, and the game company has actually paid me $$$ for it. It then suddenly becomes respectable even to those people who would make fun of the game when they find out its a multi-million dollar business with hundreds of thousands of people involved.
"And no, I don't know that guy who dresses up as Sailor Moon at GenCon."

Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk Maldin's Greyhawk
Loads of edition-independent Greyhawk goodness... maps, magic, mysteries, mechanics, and more!

 

[Jhaelen]

I really don't want to deal with people's misconceptions. My friends and I have seen two major misconceptions. D&D was cult-related and that D&D was LARPing. It's not worth the hassle to disabuse them of either idea.

See? And that's exactly what I disagree with: Of course, it's worth the hassle disabusing others of wrong ideas!

And I'm not only talking about roleplaying games, here. Combating misconceptions is always worth it!