Are you in the RPG closet?

[Hungry Like The Wolf]

I currently study/work part time in advertising. It's very important I seem as cool as possible while at work, we call it the work face, because nobody wants a "nerd" working on their products.

I can't wait to chuck the whole fake office persona in.

 

[OnlineDM]

Original poster here. The replies to this thread have been illuminating - thank you all for your input! I like the idea of a poll, although I feel like we have a pretty good idea of the results just from following this thread.

It looks like nearly everyone is open about their gaming to close friends and family, and the question of being open to co-workers is pretty well split between those who game with their colleagues/discuss gaming openly and those who make no effort to bring it up, mixed with a little bit of "I actively hide my gaming from my colleagues." I feel better - I'm not the only one who feels like bringing up my gaming to my colleagues could be a bad idea for my career.

That said, I'm happy to report that I've taken the first tentative step out of the RPG closet today. In an email exchange with a co-worker I mentioned being a nerd (in a non-gaming context) and she commented that she's a bigger nerd than I am. I told her that she didn't know who she was messing with, and that the players in my Dungeons and Dragons campaign would have a thing or two to say about that (clarifying that this was not a joke).

Ah, it feels liberating to show a little bit of my true colors!

 

[AntiStateQuixote]

I tell everyone I'm a gamer if it's reasonable for it to come up.

I commonly discuss my vacation time as including my trip to GenCon.

I work for a geographically dispersed company, and we often have online meetings of various sorts. Anytime I introduce myself if part of the intro includes outside of work talk I mention Dungeons and Dragons as my main hobby.

I was in a class for work called "Conducting online meetings" which was figuring out how to use various online tools to run a meeting and keep people engaged. For my final exam I presented D&D 4e with quick characters, some d20 rolls and such. It was very well received.

 

[WizarDru]

It's well-known at work for those who ask. I don't go out of my way to tell folks, but I don't hide it. Several of my coworkers as me about it and I'm fairly certain all of my senior partners are aware of it. And they rate it at the same level as the guy who plays in Bridge tournaments, the guy who joins in Iron Man Marathons, the girl who quilts and so on. It's a hobby.

It does lead to me being the company expert on video games, SF books and movies and what's appropriate for their kids and families. And a quarter of the office are the kind of folks who read Harry Potter. It's a good place to work

 

[MarkB]

I've mentioned it a few times at work, but my co-workers have tended to be utterly mystified at the whole concept, moreso on the occasions I've tried to explain it. Even now, if I mention I've spent my time off at a tabletop games convention, the most common response is "Did you win?", to which I can never quite formulate a simple answer.

Incidentally, the term "stealth-geek" was mentioned recently as one of several words that haven't, as yet, quite made the cut for the Oxford English Dictionary, due to not being in quite sufficiently common usage.

Of the others mentioned in the article, my favourite is "Asphinxiation", defined as being sick to death of unanswerable puzzles or riddles. I wonder how many puzzle-overburdened D&D campaigns have succumbed to that demise.

 

[Spinachcat]

I tell people that I play D&D...and then I tell them my name!

For me, work is work, home is home, friends is friends, gaming is good. It's easier on my sanity.

How "okay" it is to mention gaming at work is going to completely depend on your industry, your company culture and your status.

 

[pogre]

I'm a high school teacher and football coach. I don't fit the stereotype in a lot of ways - I love opera, I don't watch ESPN, and I game. My students and players know I'm into different games thanks to google, but usually they are just fascinated or amused by it. A few students have asked me to run a campaign for them, but I just do not have time. Their parents probably don't know or don't care as long as we keep winning football games

Most of my work colleagues have never brought it up, although my history department is fascinated that I spend a lot of my free time painting "little men." They have seen my painting desk at home when they come over for a cookout.

 

[WizarDru]

I'm a high school teacher and football coach. I don't fit the stereotype in a lot of ways - I love opera, I don't watch ESPN, and I game. My students and players know I'm into different games thanks to google, but usually they are just fascinated or amused by it.

Sir, you continue to astound. I salute you!

Note to self: get painting!

 

[Flatus Maximus]

Once folks find out that I'm a mathematician, I seem to pretty much get a free pass with D&D.

 

[karlindel]

Friends and family all know that I play RPGs. I am not averse to telling others that I play them, although I don't generally go out of my way to mention it in a typical casual conversation with coworkers.