Ashamed of being a Gamer?

[KJSEvans]

I'm a teacher and it's actually one of my goals in life to start a "gaming club" at school, as I feel it will help improve math, reading and writing scores. So I guess you could say that I'm not quiet about it.

All of my friends know of my hobby. Most of my friends play board games at the very least. If a work colleague asked, I'd have no trouble talking about it - point of fact, it's a source of pride that I've had a fair amount of work published for a company, and have been nominated forENnies.

Basically, as with anything in life, our friends and loved ones do NOT need to appreciate everything WE appreciate, but if they can't accept us for who we are then they probably should NOT be seen as our friends and loved ones. It doesn't matter if your hobby is gaming, extreme sports or NASCAR.

 

[Ahnehnois]

So, I'm curious about the rest of you. Do you advertise you're a gamer? Talk about it the way you would a football game to strangers?

Or, do you hide the fact that you game and hope that no one finds out that you do play?

I don't go to great efforts to conceal it, but I don't bring it up much either. I wouldn't classify it as "secret" so much as "private".

That said, there are enough things stacked against me in my professional pursuits that I do not feel the need to make it worse by advertising a hobby which is frowned upon by the average person. I don't judge myself for playing, but I expect judgment from others and I see no reason to put myself out there on this issue.

 

[Water Bob]

I'm a teacher and it's actually one of my goals in life to start a "gaming club" at school, as I feel it will help improve math, reading and writing scores.

Man, I was exposed to a lot of concepts in D&D first that I would later study in school. I learned a lot.

For example, I learned what a bell curve was because of the 1E AD&D DMG (remember it showing up on one of the early pages). I learned a lot about probability trying to figure things like Surprise and what not (If he's a got a 1 in 6 chance...).

And, early in my roleplaying career, I fell in love with Traveller. I was never a major science or math guy in school, but, really, it was through that game I learned all sorts of stuff: What a lightyear was; What a parsec measured; Orbital distances; What an Astronomical Unit was; the differnt star classes....all sorts of stuff.

You start building planets with some of the rules in that game, first figuring out the planet's core, then graduating to tectonic plates, continents, oceans, ground and atmosphere composition, the world's gravitational strength based on the planet's composition, escape velocity, and so on.

Yes, I agree. Gaming is an excellent way to teach a lot of concepts kids would otherwise disdain.

Basically, as with anything in life, our friends and loved ones do NOT need to appreciate everything WE appreciate, but if they can't accept us for who we are then they probably should NOT be seen as our friends and loved ones.

You mean, if my mom can't accept that I'm a gamer and doesn't want to talk to her Sunday noon tea friends about her nerdy kid when all the moms are bragging on their children's accomplishments, that she shouldn't be seen as one of my loved ones?

You're telling me that I shouldn't love my mom anymore?!

 

[billd91]

You mean, if my mom can't accept that I'm a gamer and doesn't want to talk to her Sunday noon tea friends about her nerdy kid when all the moms are bragging on their children's accomplishments, that she shouldn't be seen as one of my loved ones?

You're telling me that I shouldn't love my mom anymore?!

I think it's reasonable to assume that any relationship with a mom who won't accept that you're a game hobbyist has problems that should be worked on. But parental relationships are a bit different from friend or lover relationships anyway. They're less voluntary. You can't change your parents. But I have little respect for parents who can't accept their kids for who they are just because they're different from the mainstream in non-harmful ways (like affectations and hobbies, sexual orientation, etc).

But if I were in a relationship with a woman who didn't respect that I'm a gamer and she can't change that... I simply wouldn't be in that relationship. It means she doesn't respect me for who and what I am and that's a complete deal-breaker.

 

[Water Bob]

It means she doesn't respect me for who and what I am and that's a complete deal-breaker.

Or, maybe she thinks you're a geek!

(Take that totally in good natured jest.)

 

[was]

Not ashamed of it, but I don't go out of my way to advertise it.

 

[DMKastmaria]

I'm very recently divorced. Once I'm ready to start dating again, there's no way I would enter into a relationship with someone who wouldn't accept this aspect of my life.

I've been gaming for almost 30 years. This hobby has enriched my life in numerous ways and been a constant source of enjoyment, a meaningful creative outlet, mentally stimulating and a fantastic shared experience, with friends as well as strangers. It's something I love and if you won't respect that, then I don't want a personal relationship with you, anyway. Period.

Besides, I have way too much gaming crap, to try and hide it all!

 

[gamerprinter]

We can all agree that RPGs is a dying hobby with minimal growth.

After reading the entire thread, I'm starting to wonder, with all the people's (and I'd say majority of posters) lack of talking about the game with outsiders to game might be at the heart of why RPGs is a dying activity.

I'm sure there's other reasons, but it seems at the grass roots level is where gamers can do the most good of spreading the word and getting more people, at least knowledgeable of the existence of the hobby, if not actually playing it. This thread seems to be proving that the majority of games might not be spreading the word at all...

That can't be good for the hobby.

 

[Ahnehnois]

We can all agree that RPGs is a dying hobby with minimal growth.

Really? All of us? I don't know about that.

After reading the entire thread, I'm starting to wonder, with all the people's (and I'd say majority of posters) lack of talking about the game with outsiders to game might be at the heart of why RPGs is a dying activity.

I'm sure there's other reasons, but it seems at the grass roots level is where gamers can do the most good of spreading the word and getting more people, at least knowledgeable of the existence of the hobby, if not actually playing it. This thread seems to be proving that the majority of games might not be spreading the word at all...

That can't be good for the hobby

Grass roots have been and will be the main means of spreading this time of hobby, particularly as long is it remains socially unacceptable.

But I don't know that there's a big recent shift for the worse here. D&D has catered to introverts for its entire existence, and has still grown. I think the hobby is on the rocks to some extent, but I think that's more a consequence of WoW and the MMO craze, 4e and the edition wars, and a general failure of the company that owns D&D in market leadership and advertising. I don't think the players of the game can do a whole lot about any of those things.

I think the grassroots aspect has been and will remain constant and will keep the hobby alive, though at the moment it seems to have largely abandonded the titular D&D.

 

[Yora]

Ever seen this chart?

The important part is, that it usually never gets back down to zero. This curve is the same for virtually all products, except that you can never really tell in which phase you are currently in. RPGs in a saturation phase? Possible, and seems quite likely to me. But there's still a market for horse drawn carriages and wood fuled stoves. Not nearly as large as it was before cars and oil heating, but if it interests you, it's still very easy to get. Very few product ever disappear and if they do, it's usually because it got replaced by new technology that performs the same task more efficient. Yes, there are almost no VHS casettes anymore, but what we cared for was the movie on it, which we now get on DVD.
Lack of growth or gradual decline is no indication for something to disappear, contrary to what the business world keeps saying.