Gaming and Your Significant Other

[MonkeyDragon]

Matchmaker, matchmaker . . .

Hey, I can't be the only one who thinks we could use a second Gamers Seeking Gamers portion of the site...

 

[freyar]

My wife and I game together, though I think she's a bit less enthusiastic about the concept than I am. She's probably less shy about having me DM for other people, though.

I also have her to thank for my hobby. I had gamed in high school for a while and really fallen out of it. She'd been curious about gaming, so she thought it would be nice to get me one of those 3e starter boxes. Little did she know what she was in for.

 

[JackSmithIV]

What?! How can you make this claim when you guys are all DPS with no heals or tanking?

She can use frost bolt to pull for a couple of seconds and get some firepower in. I sneak up and do a quick little stunlock to take all of the aggro off of him. Our DPS output is so ridiculous that whatever we're fighting is usually dead before he gets a hit off.

 

[Tewligan]

My girlfriend has no interest in gaming at all, and that is 100% fine with me - I like having our separate things. She does find it charming, though, and has no problem doing her own thing on my Thursday nerd nights.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I introduced my wife to gaming when we first dated. It didn't work out between us back then, but after we split up she ended up gaming with her older brother and his friends. We've gamed together quite a bit since we got back together and got married; she played in my Third Edition D&D game, and we play together in an on-hold Fourth Edition game.

I also play in games she isn't part of, like a Fourth Edition GURPS game that just finished because the GM is moving to another city.

We also play World of Warcraft together a lot - she actually introduced me to the game, after the DM from her and her brother's old group invited her to play during the beta.

 

[CleverNickName]

I thought that there would be a lot more "closet gamers" than there were. Only one person out of 200 voted for the "My sig-o doesn't even know I am a gamer" option.

I thought that was strange, since one of the guys in my gaming group fits that category. It's not that he isn't justified: he's been burned by at least two girlfriends that I know of, who thought they could "cure" him of his nerdy ways. So he tells her that he is "playing dice with the rest of the guys," and she assumes he is referring to craps or somesuch.

Oh well. All the more reason to never assume that my own gaming group is an accurate sample of the overall gaming population.

 

[Daniel D. Fox]

Oe of the player's wives and my fiance are medievalist art historians in the Master's program, and have illustrated interest in gaming in the past. However, both are far too busy to play.

Coincidentally, when we play weekly on Mondays, our significant others sit in the living room grading papers while we play D&D in the basement of our home with the guys. It works out pretty well!

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I thought that there would be a lot more "closet gamers" than there were. Only one person out of 200 voted for the "My sig-o doesn't even know I am a gamer" option.

I thought that was strange, since one of the guys in my gaming group fits that category. It's not that he isn't justified: he's been burned by at least two girlfriends that I know of, who thought they could "cure" him of his nerdy ways. So he tells her that he is "playing dice with the rest of the guys," and she assumes he is referring to craps or somesuch.

Wow, that's awful. I can understand why he feels the need to lie, then.

Still, I'm not all that surprised almost no one chose that option. For many, "significant other" means spouse, fiancee, or long-term relationship. If the person you're dating can't accept you for who you are and what you enjoy (or you think (s)he won't and thus hide it), how could you ever consider spending the rest of your life with someone like that? Even if you're not yet in "long-term" status in the relationship, if you have any desire at all to have a long-term relationship / marriage, that's the sort of thing that should be a deal breaker, IMHO. My fiancee won't play with me *cries*, but I'll still marry her. If she disapproved of ME gaming, no way I'd want that "ball and chain" stuck to me the rest of my life!

I hope those in your group find girlfriends more understanding.

 

[Mallus]

My wife has no interest in gaming --or any other of my nerdier pursuits, for that matter, with the exception of nBSG and Season 1 of Heroes-- and that's perfectly fine with me. Had it been important to me to marry someone who shared in all my interests I probably would have done that.

On game night my wife usually secludes herself in her home office while we make a joyous and dorky noise in the living room, emerging only to partake in the wonderful Indian takeout we always order.

 

[JDJblatherings]

My sig-o and I game together. Technically we play D&D, WoD, Earthdawn and CoC (D&D a-like weekly, others about one a month each).

I have no issues at all gaming with a sig-o, If I didn't like her and she was a jerk to my friends and acquaintances why would I want her to be my sig-o? I also don't treat her unfairly at the game table and give her advantages she shouldn't' be getting- I don't want to be a jerk to my friends and acquaintances .