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<blockquote data-quote="Mark Hope" data-source="post: 2436358" data-attributes="member: 27051">Like quite a few other posters on this thread, I am somewhat bemused by the idea of a social stigma attached to gaming.&nbsp; In over 23 years of gaming across the globe, I have never encountered such a thing, nor have I ever encountered the &quot;overweight, goatee-wearing, 30-year-old virgin who works at a comic book store, wears a t-shirt that says &quot;Han shot first!&quot;, reads erotic Sailor Moon fan fiction, and still lives in his parent's basement&quot;.&nbsp; Or any cat-piss men, either (well, not any who were gamers, heh heh).&nbsp; A few peculiar characters, for sure, but no more than in any other walk of life.&nbsp; For example, my high school gaming group consisted of a mix of jocks, stoners, academics and reprobates; my college group included maths, engineering, history, languages and computing students; my adult groups have included police, military, self-made businessmen, shop-assistants, war-crimes investigators, philosophers, techies and a baron.&nbsp; In other words, just folks.&nbsp; Just a regular cross-section of society in all its shapes and sizes.&nbsp; Reactions to being a gamer run the gamut from &quot;D&amp;D?&nbsp; You mean, like that cartoon?&quot; to &quot;What?&quot; to &quot;Cool!&nbsp; Can I play?&quot;There are certainly socially maladjusted oddballs who game, but I am beginning to think that the idea that they are more prevalent in gaming is something of a myth.&nbsp; Or maybe I have just been damn lucky.&nbsp; I do agree with sniffles, in that I think that the idea is self-perpetuating.&nbsp; If we allow ourselves to believe that there is some horrible stigma attached to our hobby, we are only going to reinforce the idea.&nbsp; Personally, I don't give the matter much thought - being a gamer has never been anything but a positive thing for me, socially or professionally, and it's not something am I bothered about hiding.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mark Hope, post: 2436358, member: 27051"] Like quite a few other posters on this thread, I am somewhat bemused by the idea of a social stigma attached to gaming. In over 23 years of gaming across the globe, I have never encountered such a thing, nor have I ever encountered the "overweight, goatee-wearing, 30-year-old virgin who works at a comic book store, wears a t-shirt that says "Han shot first!", reads erotic Sailor Moon fan fiction, and still lives in his parent's basement". Or any cat-piss men, either (well, not any who were gamers, heh heh). A few peculiar characters, for sure, but no more than in any other walk of life. For example, my high school gaming group consisted of a mix of jocks, stoners, academics and reprobates; my college group included maths, engineering, history, languages and computing students; my adult groups have included police, military, self-made businessmen, shop-assistants, war-crimes investigators, philosophers, techies and a baron. In other words, just folks. Just a regular cross-section of society in all its shapes and sizes. Reactions to being a gamer run the gamut from "D&D? You mean, like that cartoon?" to "What?" to "Cool! Can I play?" There are certainly socially maladjusted oddballs who game, but I am beginning to think that the idea that they are more prevalent in gaming is something of a myth. Or maybe I have just been damn lucky. I do agree with sniffles, in that I think that the idea is self-perpetuating. If we allow ourselves to believe that there is some horrible stigma attached to our hobby, we are only going to reinforce the idea. Personally, I don't give the matter much thought - being a gamer has never been anything but a positive thing for me, socially or professionally, and it's not something am I bothered about hiding. [/QUOTE]

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