Are gamers really that pathetic?

[Sir Elton]

Yes - though there are plenty of perfectly normal gamers, it is an escapist, intellectual hobby.

I don't agree. Roleplaying is about escapist as reading a Gothic Novel.

 

[Sir Elton]

Heh trust me, after four years at a private college filled with women so good looking that they could make a "normal" man freeze like a deer in headlights I don't expect a booth babe to provoke a similiar reaction. (I am not exageratting, there were so many beautiful women at my college that I went into withdrawl during the summer.)

Sure there will be that moment of thinking "Is she actually wearing that?" maybe a turned head, but that's it.

Out of curiosity, where did you go? Brigham Young University?

 

[Agamemnon]

Roleplaying is all about escaping your mundane day-to-day existence for something "greater". That's why it applies to the socially-inept, clueless-around-females mindset. Here's a place where they can be king for a day without fear, doubt or rejection. What's not to like?

Having poor personal hygiene or obnoxious habits is quite another bag of peanuts, on the other hand. I've found they exist in any hobby and are often the instigating cause of harmful elitism in their fellow hobbyists.

 

[Belen]

Roman,

Nothing wrong with not dating. It can be better to take your time. The real trick to being successful with women is to just get comfortable and be yourself. Try talking to girls in classes about homework, or get a job that allows you to have female co-workers or deal with women, or join a club.

You'd be surprised what a difference it makes to talk with women and get to know them. Also, you should not feel any need to rush into dating. Take your time and concentrate on school. When you are ready to start dating, then you will know.

Heck, when I first started dating, I just did not care whether I got a yes or no answer and I asked a large number of women out. I think I had nine different dates in a two month period. The learning curve is amazing. Trust me.

Dave

 

[Mark]

Are gamers really that pathetic?

Nope.

The socially unfit shouldn't be allowed to continue to be socially unfit in the gaming community, and thus become our "poster boys" to the world.

Interestingly, I've found down here in South America that this is not tolerated at all, and there are some interesting results:
1. You have no terminally antisocial or sociopathic people in gaming groups, which you do have in gaming in North America.

2. Most people down here live up to the social norms, in terms of standards for their age group (unlike in North America where in one gaming group I played in I was the ONLY one who had a job and was living independantly outside of his parent's house, when this was a group of 25 year old men.. I was also the only one who'd had a long-term relationship with a woman).

3. There are far more female gamers down here, I'd say about three or four times as many. This might be because they feel safe about coming to a gaming club knowing they won't be harassed by mouth-breathing social imbeciles that haven't bathed in a week, don't have a job, and live with their mom.

The gaming community needs to make a choice. Do we want more well-adjusted people, and more women, in our community; or do we want to hand over the entire hobby to the cat-piss men? Because we can't do both. And the longer we tolerate this sort of social retardation at our gaming tables the more socially functional people will associate that attitude with gaming and will leave the hobby. Its the industry equivalent of a death spiral, it happened to furry fandom and it could happen to us.

Nisarg

I stand corrected...

(...would you care for some binge with your purge...? IYKWIMAITYD...)

 

[Rel]

This whole subject is sort of like the weather. People talk about it frequently, especially when it's bad. But nobody ever does anything really productive about it, for the same reason as the weather, because they can't.

I've noted several people post about how they won't tolerate these "dirty gamers" at their tables. That's dandy. I support your right to choose who you play with. I'm fortunate enough to have had the same group of friends to game with since time immemorial and none fit the stereotype, so it isn't a big issue for me. But were I to find myself in need of recruiting new players, I'd exercise some sort of standards too.

But what do you think the consequences are of excluding a dirty gamer from your group? I'm going to guess that they are almost nil. I'm going to guess that such people are used to being rejected ten times a day. They are not going to quit the hobby. They are not going to stop going to conventions (indeed, if they cannot find any regular group that will accept them then I would posit that they are MORE likely to attend conventions where they have an outlet for their desire to game and be around other gamers). They are still going to be there for the news crews to film and to be a sore upon the eyes of those who disapprove of them.

If the argument is that you shouldn't have to put up with such people in your weekly gaming group, I couldn't agree more. You shouldn't have to put up with anybody who you find unacceptable for any reason. But I just don't see that habit really shaping the hobby in any meaningful way.

 

[wedgeski]

This place certainly generates some interesting threads. The fact is, I've met 'socially dysfunctional' people both in and out of the hobby; mostly out, as it happens, but probably because my gaming has been limited to a circle of close friends for twenty-odd years until very recently. These people exist. If they exist at your table, ask them to have a bath before coming next time, because their body odour is offensive, then ask them what they want to do about that girt big Rhinocerous Beetle charging towards them. What's the big deal? Some of my friends are a little weird. They probably think I'm a little weird. We rejoice in eachother's weirdness.

As for the idea that 'If we want to be treated seriously as a hobby, we have to filter these people out'... that's... I don't want to write down what that is because it will just end up being a bunch of happy smiley faces when it hits the boards.

 

[diaglo]

I stand corrected...

(...would you care for some binge with your purge...? IYKWIMAITYD...)

i wouldn't stand if i were you. i'd have someone help me up off the floor after reading that...

good coogley moogley.

 

[Mallus]

I'll make this simple.

All gamers are not that pathetic.

Some men that are that pathetic.

Moreover, most men are that pathetic at least once in their lives [and there's usually liquor involved].

Some women are that pathetic, but with them it usually involves ice cream and cats.

 

[Lichtenhart]

I don't game with those people anymore. I WON'T game with those types of people anymore. Call me an elitist if you want. I'm married with two kids, and a wonderful wife who, while not really a gamer, understands my obsession. Yeah, the people I game with have their eccentricities (myself included), but we're all socially functional people. Eccentricities are fine and even fun to a point, but some measure of "normal" is also important, especially since I don't want my daughters growing up to be pathetic social rejects (though if they wanna be gamers, that's fine..my oldest is very interested in gaming).

I don't get exactly how the people you game with can influence your daughters.
For a person to be a reject it takes someone to reject him.
Yeah, I too hope it won't happen to your daughters, and that they will learn soon how to reject people unlike them.

This place certainly generates some interesting threads. The fact is, I've met 'socially dysfunctional' people both in and out of the hobby; mostly out, as it happens, but probably because my gaming has been limited to a circle of close friends for twenty-odd years until very recently. These people exist. If they exist at your table, ask them to have a bath before coming next time, because their body odour is offensive, then ask them what they want to do about that girt big Rhinocerous Beetle charging towards them. What's the big deal? Some of my friends are a little weird. They probably think I'm a little weird. We rejoice in eachother's weirdness.

As for the idea that 'If we want to be treated seriously as a hobby, we have to filter these people out'... that's... I don't want to write down what that is because it will just end up being a bunch of happy smiley faces when it hits the boards.

Thanks. Thanks for pointing out that -oooh- talk is still an option, and for your efforts in keeping the thread civil.