What has gaming done for you?

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Through D&D, I have: made some wonderful friends that I hope to have for the rest of my life, become much more creative, and learned to add and subtract without the aid of a calculator pretty quickly...

Painting miniatures for the game has made me much better at painting my own fingernails.

What has gaming - or some other game-relatived activity - done for you?

 

[S. Baldrick]

Not only have I made a number of friends through gaming, it was through my gaming contacts that I got the last three jobs that I have had over the last five and a half years.

 

[Abdomens]

What I can thank RPG for

Well, in rpg there is a lot to read, especially if you're from a non-english speaking country. I'm better at English now than my fellow students here i Denmark because I read a lot more.

I think rpg also has helped my understand complex systems.

 

[Crothian]

Its formost help with friends. To a lesser degree it has helped me with a creative outlet and actually becoem a better typer.

 

[Veritas]

I think first and foremost, it's helped me not to go insane. LOL.

In truth, it's improved my vocabulary immensely, especially with learning Basic and 1st edition Advanced D&D when I was around 10-12. I was WAY above my fellow students in vocabulary. Helped with math and analytical as well as non-linear thinking. Planning and organization. Creativity. Penmanship.

And it helped me to find the woman that would become my wife. She didn't play at the time, but her older brother had. I told her this reeeeeaaally long story about an adventure one of my PCs had been on, all sparked from hearing a store magnetic alarm go off (the alarms by the door that go off when you pass through with tagged merchandise). Had to do with my group travelling to the future and my drow wizard turning invisible and stealing a bunch of stuff from a store, setting off the alarm and getting this guy in trouble... but of course, I had to go into the whole back story of why we were there too. I think if she wasn't The One, she would have bolted then, but she thought it was very cute.

So, now if you'll excuse me, I have to go, again, thank the powers that be.

 

[Sejs]

Problem solving skills, social skills, math and vocabulary, friendships, oh and there is that whole marriage thing.

So all in all not too much, really.

 

[caudor]

The game has given me great times, fond memories, great new friends, creative expression, and a niche/hobby in life that makes me feel comfortable.

I can't think of much more I could have asked from a hobby. I even hesitate to call it a hobby; it is more a way of enjoying life.

 

[Samothdm]

Lots of stuff... creativity, reading comprehension, memorization, vocabulary.

Mainly, though, the one specific incident that sticks out in my mind:

10th Grade English Class

Teacher: "We need to pick who's going to read from the play. Let's see...Eenie, Meenie, Minie, Moe. Does anyone know where that phrase comes from?"

Class: "No."

Teacher: "The druids. Extra credit to whoever can tell me what a druid is."

Me [raising hand]: "The druids were part of the celtic priesthood of ancient Ireland. They conducted their ceremonies in forest groves and held mistletoe and oak as sacred."

Class:

Teacher: "How did you know that?"

Me: "Uh...well, I read it somewhere..."

[Yeah, I didn't say. But, in my defense, my dad had been transferred and we were living in Utah at the time and the teacher was a little...fundamentalist.]

 

[RithTheAwakener]

Most definately with the vocabulary, people skills, and math. Friends also, but most of them i knew before i started gaming

 

[Balgus]

First and foremost, it has given me a reason to hang out with my friends on a regular absis. Otherwise, work slowly consumes us and we tend to fall apart. Like for the past year, our group stopped gaming and one member found a GF- do you believe the nerve of that guy? I hope to get it started up again so that i can be the cool one again- Verek- the half- orc human slayer!! JK

It gives me a imaginative outlet. I have been thinking of these things all the time- and having a place to discuss it makes me happy. Otherwise, I usually sit around the house and paint and draw all day long. Yeah it fun for a while- but after years of it, I have no more room to keep all my stuff.

Random facts and knowledges about mythology is always a plus.