How does your family view your hobby?
- Thread starter Theron
- Start date
Ravellion
serves Gnome Master
My grandparents see it as a hobby like any other. Of course my uncle (their son) was one of the first computer game geeks, and a huge sci fi nut (he still is).
As for my parents... me actually getting together with 5 people and playing a game, and going to the pub afterwards, was a godsend to them. They thought I'd never get out of the house because I was playing so many computer games up to my 16th.
Rav
As for my parents... me actually getting together with 5 people and playing a game, and going to the pub afterwards, was a godsend to them. They thought I'd never get out of the house because I was playing so many computer games up to my 16th.
Rav
Bragg Battleaxe
First Post
I didn't start gaming until I was in college, so even though my parents didn't really approve, they couldn't tell me to stop. My parents are fairly open-minded people so it is strange to me that they have such odd views of D&D. I think they have grown slightly more accepting since I have been playing for 8 years or so now and haven't had my life fall apart and haven't killed any goats yet.
Moe Ronalds
First Post
Mom: Big Sci Fi and Fantasy reader. Has no problem with it. Actually printed and bound my copy of Deeds Not Words for me.
Grandma: Like my mom, she has no problem with it. Never played but did get my uncle interested in it when he was a kid.
Uncle And Aunt: Got me interested in D&D, bought me the PHB and Hero Builder's Guidebook as well as a set of dice for my birthday. They met eachother at a game as well.
Other Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, Etc: Only see them around the holidays. It's never really come up.
Dad's Side of the Family: Last time I saw them I wasn't even playing D&D yet (None of them live in America (the lucky
)).
Dad: Thinks it's a waste of time and money. THinks all fantasy/science fiction is a waste of time. Since it's my time, he doesn't really care though. DID show some interest when flipping through my copy of Deeds Not Words!
Sister
11) Is in my current D&D group.
Friends: Two of my friends think it's evil and Satanic (I asked them if they ever read the books. They said no. I asked why it was Satanic. They said they didn't know, it "just was".). One of my friends just thinks it's boring. Another thinks D&D is "innacurate" and whoever wrote it must be stupid and evil
. My other friends are all in my gaming group (or don't even know/care that I game).
Grandma: Like my mom, she has no problem with it. Never played but did get my uncle interested in it when he was a kid.
Uncle And Aunt: Got me interested in D&D, bought me the PHB and Hero Builder's Guidebook as well as a set of dice for my birthday. They met eachother at a game as well.
Other Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, Etc: Only see them around the holidays. It's never really come up.
Dad's Side of the Family: Last time I saw them I wasn't even playing D&D yet (None of them live in America (the lucky
)). Dad: Thinks it's a waste of time and money. THinks all fantasy/science fiction is a waste of time. Since it's my time, he doesn't really care though. DID show some interest when flipping through my copy of Deeds Not Words!
Sister
11) Is in my current D&D group. Friends: Two of my friends think it's evil and Satanic (I asked them if they ever read the books. They said no. I asked why it was Satanic. They said they didn't know, it "just was".). One of my friends just thinks it's boring. Another thinks D&D is "innacurate" and whoever wrote it must be stupid and evil
. My other friends are all in my gaming group (or don't even know/care that I game).
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Teflon Billy
Explorer
My whole family has always been pretty supportive.
Parents: In my teens they weren't too wild about gaming as they felt that I wasn't spendning enough time on my schoolwork (they were correct).
They were impressed at my growing collection of novels, my growing interest in reading, and my newfound ability to do fairly complex math in my head. My improved vocabulary sealed the deal. Gift giving occasions became socks, underwear and gaming gear.
Grandparents: Had a better grasp of the benefits of me enjoying something that involved reading, math and imagination. My Grandparents were responsible for me beng able to read at a very early age (3), and were always right there buying me any reading material they thought I would read. W
hen I was all frothy about Star Wars in 1977-78 (I was 7 years old), my Grandfather came over one day with a few Magazines about Star wars and an entire set of Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars paperbacks.
It was no break in pattern for them to show up at my birthday party with a copy of Deities and Demigods (much to the chagrin of the bible-belt parents who were in attendance as well...you have not lived til you've seen a 60-ish year old woman trying to pronounce Cthulu Mythos names to a gleefully sugared-up crowd of 12-year olds).
Everyone else: I couldn't care less and never checked
Parents: In my teens they weren't too wild about gaming as they felt that I wasn't spendning enough time on my schoolwork (they were correct).
They were impressed at my growing collection of novels, my growing interest in reading, and my newfound ability to do fairly complex math in my head. My improved vocabulary sealed the deal. Gift giving occasions became socks, underwear and gaming gear.
Grandparents: Had a better grasp of the benefits of me enjoying something that involved reading, math and imagination. My Grandparents were responsible for me beng able to read at a very early age (3), and were always right there buying me any reading material they thought I would read. W
hen I was all frothy about Star Wars in 1977-78 (I was 7 years old), my Grandfather came over one day with a few Magazines about Star wars and an entire set of Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars paperbacks.
It was no break in pattern for them to show up at my birthday party with a copy of Deities and Demigods (much to the chagrin of the bible-belt parents who were in attendance as well...you have not lived til you've seen a 60-ish year old woman trying to pronounce Cthulu Mythos names to a gleefully sugared-up crowd of 12-year olds).
Everyone else: I couldn't care less and never checked
Thorntangle
First Post
My family and I don't really talk about it. They've seen all my books and my dad asked if I still played. I told him "yes" and he's never spoken of it again. I'm sure he's intrigued by it, but he's more of a Star Trek fan. I'm the black sheep in the family. My mother, father, brother and sister are as mundane as they come. They don't have any real hobbies, passions or things they get excited about. I guess I was blessed/cursed by genetics in this regard.
My wife tolerates gaming but has never shown any real curiosity. She is more irked about the amount of money I spend on miniatures, or my "little men" as she calls them. I conviced her to read several science fiction books and she has enjoyed them, but that's about the extent of her involvement.
My wife tolerates gaming but has never shown any real curiosity. She is more irked about the amount of money I spend on miniatures, or my "little men" as she calls them. I conviced her to read several science fiction books and she has enjoyed them, but that's about the extent of her involvement.
Dareoon Dalandrove
First Post
my family is basically the same way as the majority. They all see it as a kids game and wonder when I'm going to grow up. I've tried to explian how it works to my mom and dad a couple of times when they asked but they just don't get it. my dad thinks that it should have improved my math scores.
Tiefling
First Post
My older brother and his friends introduced me to gaming a long time ago through WEG Star Wars. I was 8 or 9, I think. Sometimes I watched them play, then eventually I got one of them (who was their GM) to GM for me and a friend of mine, who was his brother. We played for a while and eventually stopped, as did my brother's group. I didn't game for a while longer until one of my friends in 6th grade turned out to play D&D, which I was unfamiliar with. And it's gone from there.
My family generally regards it as another hobby, really. I don't talk about it all that much anyway. I asked my mother how she felt about it, and her response was that she feels that it's a great intellectual exercise, and a good hobby as long as you don't start playing it to the exclusion of other things in life.
My family generally regards it as another hobby, really. I don't talk about it all that much anyway. I asked my mother how she felt about it, and her response was that she feels that it's a great intellectual exercise, and a good hobby as long as you don't start playing it to the exclusion of other things in life.
