How open are you about playing DnD?

[randomling]

Hm. If somebody asks me what I'm doing on game night, I'll say I'm gaming, and I'll give an explanation of what it's about if asked. I don't necessarily shout about it, but simply due to me having to rave about campaign events occasionally (it happens!) even my non-gaming friends know about my hobby.

I probably wouldn't volunteer the information to strangers or casual acquaintances, and I don't tend to wear gaming shirts (I have a Dr Who and a Star Trek one, though, both of which tend to get slept in rather than worn out). Again though, if I was asked...

I'm not sure what I'd do if I was asked about hobbies in a job interview, though. It's such a big part of my life that it'd be strange to leave it out.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

If anyone asks me what my hobbies are, I list D&D as one of them. If they look at me funny, I kill them and take their stuff.

I'm real close to making a new level.

 

[SlamZanee]

I like to throw it in the face of anyone i think will judge me or the game. at the same time sometimes walking into a store holding my newly purchased D&D merchandise (just an example) at times can make me feel like highschool loser D&D nerd but i know its not true so i tend to try to shrug it off.

How do you all feel about gaming with new people? Like for me (also cause im new) it seems to be a quite emotionally vulnerble thing to roleplay and dont think i could do it with sum1 I just met a couple of times...even at times with my current group it can get uncomfortable.

 

[Elf Witch]

I am beginning to see something with the people who are kind of shy about gaming. The stigma of being weird in school.

I am in my 40's and DnD had not hit the radar while I was in school I didn't hear of it until the late 70's. So there is no remembered pain associated with gaming for me.

For me high school was a terrible time because I was so different from other girls. I didn't want to be a cheerleader. I wanted to see ERA get passed and women have the right choose. Being a feminist and being vocal about it marked me as a freak. That and being a Trekkie which was coming on the radar at the time with the first Trek cons.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

I am beginning to see something with the people who are kind of shy about gaming. The stigma of being weird in school.

I am in my 40's and DnD had not hit the radar while I was in school I didn't hear of it until the late 70's. So there is no remembered pain associated with gaming for me.

For me high school was a terrible time because I was so different from other girls. I didn't want to be a cheerleader. I wanted to see ERA get passed and women have the right choose. Being a feminist and being vocal about it marked me as a freak. That and being a Trekkie which was coming on the radar at the time with the first Trek cons.

I too had no desire to be a cheerleader. Ick. Too perky for me.

I didn't play in HS but I did a lot of other so called "odd things" (listened to weird music, was really into animation, science and dressed differently from the other girls in my class. I went to HS 1991-1994 and I can proudly say I NEVER had poofy bangs or wore makeup...)

MojoGM made a good point last night while we were discussing this thread. He doesn't always talk about it simply because he does not feel like explaining it to people. So if someone says "what are you doing this weekend?" He'd likely just say "hanging out with friends" as to not even get into a conversation.

I'm confused. Was this thread more like...if some random people asked you, would you explain, or do you try to hide gaming from even people who know you well.

I feel like , anyone I am going to have an ongoing relationship with, be it at work or friends or family, they will know (sometimes only if they bother asking). But , if someone I barely knew and rarely dealt with were to ask me what I was up to this weekend, I too would likely say "not much, or hanging with friends", to avoid having to explain it. But that's differnt, IMO, from being not open about gaming. Even if I had a different hobby, I wouldn't tell strangers what I do with my time.

Is that what the OP of the thread meant?

 

[Wonger]

Dorks!!! You are all dorks!!!

And so am I...in fact, I'm the Dungeon Master. I have three campaigns that have been running for 11, 8, and 6 years - but my non-gamer friends did not know about it until 3 years ago or so, when one of my gamers who also hung with the non-gamers spilled the beans and dragged us all out of the closet with him to make his geek crime seem less heinous.

It's an odd thing. I still often wish it was in the closet, not because my non-gamer friends think any less of me (they don't at all), but because of the constant geek jokes that I must contend with. Lets face it, ladies and gentlemen: no matter how social an activity we know it to be, no matter how much fun it is, there is something very geeky about several adults going into a basement and rolling dice and playing with miniatures talking in strange voices. Do your co-workers really need to know, too? If asked, I will typically say that I am hanging out with friends down south. Some of them know about my D&D and give me crap, but I just fire back about their Magic, Warhammer, and Dragon Dice they made the mistake of admitting.

Playing D&D IS geeky. Period. Accept it, and be happy, but don't make altruistic statements about people judging you as if they have no right - going in a basement and playing with mini's and drinking a gallon of Dew while getting excited about a 20, IS a strange thing for an adult to do! Don't get mad at someone for thinking so, because they are right. What they are not right about is the satanic BS that floats around - sitting in on one session would change one of their minds almost immediately from "this is evil" to "this is reeeeeal nerdy". So, I encourage all to set those "D&D is evil" people straight.

And regarding the post about embarassing in front of women - come on people, be realistic. If you are talking to an attractive person in a bar, meeting them for the first time, that last thing you need to ruin the mood is try to explain this very odd, wonderful hobby of ours. Most non gamers, even after sitting in on a session, just don't get it - they may have no problem with you playing, but they usually won't get it, just like some people don't get the appeal of baseball or other certain activities. Why ruin a perfectly good dating oppurtunity just to evangalize D&D?!?

Balance people. Some balance in your life...I recommend it. I limit my geek activities to D&D and being a Star Wars and LotR freak. Any more than three or four, and gaming defines you rather than you enjoy gaming. If you play D&D, Magic, LARP, computer games, and wargames while watching Frodo scale Mount Doom, you will not have time for a life outside your gaming click - and aren't most of these people ranting about judgements the ones that hate cliques and falling into a cookie cutter mold?

Take your PHB and Psionics handbook to Spring Break. I did. But when you are out partying and bringing some new friends home for the night, there is nothing wrong with stuffing those books under your bag, they'll be waiting for you in the morning like the good friends they are, even if your guests are not!

Cheers!

 

[NateDog]

I don't go out of my way to volunteer the fact that I play RPGs, but I'll usually say "gaming" or "hanging out with friends" at work depending on whether or not it is likely to cause a ruckus.

An amusing story btw - I was playing in a Spycraft campaign, and we had to storm an airplane at 35k feet. I'm sitting in the break room at my old job and casually chatting about the best way to get what we needed and then blow the plane up. My boss pulled me aside later in the day and asked me about it as one of my coworkers apparently said something to him! (See why I'm a bit careful now?)

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

Lets face it, ladies and gentlemen: no matter how social an activity we know it to be, no matter how much fun it is, there is something very geeky about several adults going into a basement and rolling dice and playing with miniatures talking in strange voices. Do your co-workers really need to know, too? Playing D&D IS geeky. Period. Accept it, and be happy, but don't make altruistic statements about people judging you as if they have no right - going in a basement and playing with mini's and drinking a gallon of Dew while getting excited about a 20, IS a strange thing for an adult to do! Don't get mad at someone for thinking so, because they are right.

Hmmm. Yes. I guess it is geeky. But I also think that the hobbies of a lot of the people I know are "geeky". I have a friend who frequently plays rollerhockey in his front yard with his friends (they are all about 28 years old). It makes them happy but it is kind of odd. I work with this obnoxious, pretentious woman (whom I can't stand) who seriously talks all the time about her pretentious art films and her pretentious performance art (involing her painting herself with paint and making zoo animal sounds on stage to drumming music). I think that is the epitome of GEEK. Yet she thinks I'm "weird" because I like fantasy. I don't get particulalry mad at her (she's not worth it) but really, everyone has something in their life that is "geeky" in it's own right. If they don't , they must be pretty dull people.

And regarding the post about embarassing in front of women - come on people, be realistic. If you are talking to an attractive person in a bar, meeting them for the first time, that last thing you need to ruin the mood is try to explain this very odd, wonderful hobby of ours. Most non gamers, even after sitting in on a session, just don't get it - they may have no problem with you playing, but they usually won't get it, just like some people don't get the appeal of baseball or other certain activities. Why ruin a perfectly good dating oppurtunity just to evangalize D&D?!?

Well, it's been a while since I have been single, but lets just say I was. I would not ditch my gaming group on a friday or saturday night to go out with some guy, first of all. My friends come first. Sorry. Ain't gonna happen.

And no, I don't think you should be evangelical about it withing 30 minutes of meeting someone, but why hide a major hobby of yours from someone you are potentially going to pursue an intimate relationship with? Do you want someone who would judge you?

I sure wouldn't.

If I should ever become single again, and I meet someone and he asks what I do for fun, D&D will be on that list and if he feels he does not want to spend time with me because of it...so be it. In fact, if I were looking at online dating sites, I'd probably use RPG as a search when looking up someone's hobbies.

I don't want to be with a judgemental person who can't accept me for who I am. I would not go off on a long tangent upon first meeting someone about what D&D is if they didn't know. But if they ask me what my hobbies are, I'm not going to lie or leave something off that is a big part of my spare time.

I don't get the appeal of baseball, but if I met someone who told me he was a diehard baseball fan, and I thought we had other things in common, I certainly would not be judgemental of him. Trust me, if some girl (or guy, ladies) is going to react negatively to you or turn you away for a date because you listed D&D as a hobby, they are probably (now I know there are exceptions) not someone you will have a very good relationship with.

Balance people. Some balance in your life...I recommend it. I limit my geek activities to D&D and being a Star Wars and LotR freak. Any more than three or four, and gaming defines you rather than you enjoy gaming. If you play D&D, Magic, LARP, computer games, and wargames while watching Frodo scale Mount Doom, you will not have time for a life outside your gaming click - and aren't most of these people ranting about judgements the ones that hate cliques and falling into a cookie cutter mold?

Hmmmm. I limit my "geek activities" to whatever I feel like. Gaming does not define me, just as my other hobbies and interests and music I like and things I own do not define me. I WISH I had time to do all things you listed there , but I don't. I have quite a nice life outside of gaming and "geek" stuff. As do most of the people who post here and who I know who game IRL. I have gaming friends (whom I wish I had more time to spend with outside of gaming) and non gaming friends, and a great family (all of whom think gaming is kinda nifty). People should do what makes them happy.

I don't mind cliques. Cliques are just a natural part of society. People who have stuff in common tend to stick together. I eat lunch every day with the same two people. Some might say we're a clique.

I appreciate the levity in your post but I had to comment on these few things.

 

[ergeheilalt]

For the most part, I'm pretty open. My family knows I'm a gamer, mostly because I used to run a game at my house on Monday nights. My friends for the most part are aware and my extended family (uncles, aunts, cousins, etc) know that I'm a gamer.

Here in the dorms of CPP, I have my D&D books over my desk - next to my calculus and engineering books. For the most part, I don't sit there and go on and on about gaming. It would more than likely just annoy the hell out of the people around me, who for the most part don't care. If they ask, I attempt to answer to the best of my ability, but I don't try and thrust my hobbies on others.

Erge

 

[Wonger]

I appreciate the levity in your post but I had to comment on these few things.

I put out bait for the flamers and all I get is intelligent commentary?!?! You should be ashamed!