Are gamers really that pathetic?

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I think living at home with your parents is looked down upon b/c it's seen as someone being unable (or unwilling) to support themselves. However, I also think people in university or pursuing other post-secondary education are largely exempt from this, at least until they finish school.

There are a lot of valid reasons for living at home and, in Canada at least, there is a statistically significant trend for young adults to live at home longer. Some of it may be economics, some of it may be influenced by new immigrants and their cultural norms, and some of it may be growing acceptance of it.

I don't consider someone a loser for living at home, so long as they have a plan to not be living at home. Maybe when school is finished, when they've saved enough money for a down payment on a house, etc. It's when someone lives at home with mom and pop, has a crappy job, and no intention of moving out that my loser-sense begins to tingle...

 

[Lichtenhart]

RPG gaming in North America is probably slightly bigger than Furry fandom, and much smaller than Trek fandom, which has in one way given it the worst of both worlds.. popular culture doesn't even have furries on its radar.. but it sure does have "·D&D geeks". It knows just enough about roleplaying to portray the roleplayers as the geeks and losers on sitcoms, to present the peopel who play it as either nerd-kids or total loser-adults. For anyone who seriously tries to tell me that RPG fans aren't seen negatively by popular culture please show me a TV or movie reference in recent years where being a roleplayer was seen as a cool or at least "normal" thing to do? Where RPGs weren't referenced in an insulting way?

(emphasis mine)
North American popular culture is pervasive, it reaches everywhere. But it's far from being the global popular culture. Many things don't reach Europe, or if they do, they are just dismissed as 'americanate' (italian term).
E.g. Dark Dungeons and the 'D&D is the tool of the devil' crusade never reached Italy, I think. Had it done, it would have only been slightly frowned upon, i think.
Another example: in every movie I see about an american school there are bullies, jocks, and cheerleaders. Those categories do not exist in italian school, and most people I know have trouble relating to them.
So Nisarg, I'm seriously trying to tell yo that rpg fans aren't seen negatively by italian, and I think european in general too, popular culture.
I've put some example in a post above.
I remember that when 3.5e came out, there were some interviews in a gaming store on the national channel.
I can't really speak for japanese culture, and I invite someone more competent than me to speak about it, but I don't think that in Japan rpgfans are seen any worse than the common otaku.
So I wonder if it couldn't be the other way around. Couldn't it be that rpgs being depicted negatively attracts weirdos, rather than rpgs attracting weirdos makes them be depicted negatively?

 

[Incenjucar]

Sadly, here in the US, we just have a whole lot of people with a whole lot of issues, period. We're largely a self-seperating bunch that has to hyphenate every bloody thing (African-American, European-American, Asian-American, Italian-American, Canadian-American, rather than "American" or, better, "a person."). Harmony isn't the American way by a long shot. Us vs. Them is the eternal struggle here. And the Media thrives on it.

Heck, I've seen the folks on Fox News try, repeatedly, to tell a woman who felt that women and men in the military should be in seperate barracks that she was saying women shouldn't be in the military. She couldn't get the dipstick to stop trying to change her words, because said stick knows that seperate barracks aren't going to make him nearly as much money as screwing with equality.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I've heard from a european friend that D&D isn't as big in europe as it is in North America. Or at least there are other rpgs that are more popular. Over here, it seems to be D&D that gets the big bullseye painted on it.

 

[Desdichado]

Sadly, here in the US, we just have a whole lot of people with a whole lot of issues, period. We're largely a self-seperating bunch that has to hyphenate every bloody thing (African-American, European-American, Asian-American, Italian-American, Canadian-American, rather than "American" or, better, "a person."). Harmony isn't the American way by a long shot. Us vs. Them is the eternal struggle here. And the Media thrives on it.

Yeah, and y'know, it's so different everywhere else. It was absolutely amazing to see the solidarity when I was in Argentina. Or Prague. Or Krakow. Or Rostov.

 

[fanboy2000]

Yeah, and y'know, it's so different everywhere else. It was absolutely amazing to see the solidarity when I was in Argentina. Or Prague. Or Krakow. Or Rostov.

1. That's about the funniest thing I've read in this thread, and true too!

2. Instead of getting this thread closed due to the abundance of sarcasim I want to post, I'll instead be sending it out via inter-geek telepathy.

3. However, due to a bug in the system, only anti-social geeks will be able to recive the transmission.

 

[Incenjucar]

Yeah, and y'know, it's so different everywhere else. It was absolutely amazing to see the solidarity when I was in Argentina. Or Prague. Or Krakow. Or Rostov.

You'll have to pardon me, I suppose, as my information on the rest of the world tends to center around North America, Europe, Australia, and the major Asian countries. I'm well aware that most countries are full of bigoted nimrods, however, the US is especially diverse and retains it based on every bloody possible difference. Cripes, I mean, people here get angry at each other over whether the 'furry' genre can include reptiles.

But yes, every nation ultimately proves my rules of thumb (which of course have the rare exception:

1) People are stupid.

2) People suck.

So do people ask D&Ders in Prague, Argentina, Krakow, and Rostov if their books are satanic on a regular basis? Are gamers in those countries as often 'cat piss men'? Do a number of them all but 'cat in their pants' if they see a woman look directly at them?

 

[vulcan_idic]

Where RPGs weren't referenced in an insulting way?

Um... FoxTrot? One of my favorite cartoons... Jason (also a Trekkie, as I am) is occassionally show playing D&D with his friend Marcus. Of course he's usually about to fight a Paige monster (his sister), but I wouldn't consider that a negative or insulting reference in any way.

 

[Nisarg]

Um... FoxTrot? One of my favorite cartoons... Jason (also a Trekkie, as I am) is occassionally show playing D&D with his friend Marcus. Of course he's usually about to fight a Paige monster (his sister), but I wouldn't consider that a negative or insulting reference in any way.

Would that be Jason the Ubernerd, the one who enjoys doing homework and taking tests, and everyone else in his class despises?

Yes, he's clearly a great example of a positively-presented roleplayer.

Nisarg

 

[Kalanyr]

Originally Posted by Nisarg
Where RPGs weren't referenced in an insulting way?

Originally Posted by Nisarg
Yes, he's clearly a great example of a positively-presented roleplayer.

These are not the same thing. In order for an RPG to not be presented in a negative light does not require a gamer to not be presented in a negative light.

Edit- And FoxTrot makes fun of everyone of its characters, so the poking of fun at the Ubergeek really isn't as negative a comment as you make out.