Life and the Game

[Jack7]

Ten to twenty years ago, I might have. Right now, however, one life keeps me busy enough that I don't have the time or the energy to devote to a second. For the foreseeable future, gaming can be no more than a recreational diversion that doesn't require me to invest a lot of time or effort. My answer may change again after I've retired and my children have grown up.

I may have not made that clear FL. I didn't mean a secret or second life as in an all-consuming or necessarily heavily time consuming life (though it might consume a lot of personal or psychological energy, attention, and thought/interest). Rather in the case of a second life I meant a sort of life that gives one the opportunities to explore doing things you might not could do otherwise, as in your normal life, even if only virtually, or in your imagination, and in the case of a secret life conducting a second life in secret.

For instance in the case of undercover operations I have had a number of secret second lives, for obvious reasons. But also some people have entirely different second lives from their normal lives. For instance an accountant might Vad or LARP or go on archeological expeditions and no one much knows about these activities, but then again the person does nothing to hide these activities either.

I know there is at least to some degree a Second Life aspect to some gamers (depending upon how much time and energy they devote to their hobby - for instance if a person were to die mysteriously and the police begin investigating the death would they soon discover, wow, this guy has a whole nuther life to which he devoted a lot of time and energy) but I was just wondering who looks at it in that way.

I generally use gaming as an outlet for both creativity and problem-solving, so if RPGs and video games had never been invented, I guess I would be splitting my spare time between chess, logic puzzles and creative writing.

Me too. That's a slightly different thread I intend to take up later, but as far as gaming goes I use it (gaming) for training purposes, to help solve problems, it gives me ideas for fictional stories, for inventions, and for a wide range of re-analyzing real world problems. Yeah, I use it for entertainment too, being helpful in the real world and being entertaining are not conflicting or mutually exclusive ends (and i often find that by approaching or mimicking a real world problem in-game I can do so in a loose, relaxed, open-minded way which helps with developing new or unusual solutions to test out), but mainly I use it for practical purposes. When I was a kid I used it for different things or ends. So I think end-use reasons can vary over time.

As some may know already I'm a police officer. I have had many jobs in the past but this one is by far the coolest to me. It's weird to think that I have become the success that I have always wanted to be. I had doubts that I could make it but here I am!

Congratulations.

 

[avin]

Working for government as civilian.

I studied Eletric Engeneering and Journalism but could complete only Journalism. None of these professions has to do with what I do now

 

[Wik]

1. Suppose RPGs had never been invented. Suppose video and related games had never been invented. What would you be doing otherwise with the time you now devote to gaming and how would your life be different minus gaming?

Another good question. Knowing what I do about myself, I'd say I'd probably have just found another hobby, and really dived into it. Probably music - maybe I'd be a better guitarist and drummer than I am right now.

Either that, or I'd be a hardcore writer. Both music and writing are things I pursue now, of course, but not to the extent I would if I didn't have this hobby of mine.

But, I don't really know. It's one of those very hard questions to answer.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

I'm a registered nurse who holds a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and a Masters in Business Administration - Health Care Management. I'm currently pursuing my Masters in Nursing - Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.

Position wise, I've been a floor nurse on the Jail Floor of the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California hospital, an ICU nurse in the Trauma/Surgical ICU there, an ICU nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Medical Center and a Nurse Manager (thus the MBA/HCM).

I've given all that up and the VA is sending me to the Joint VA/DOD US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing program which'll take up the next 32 months of my life.

Before all that nursing stuff, I served 11 years in the US Army as an OR scrub tech and a Radio Interceptor (Russian) back when the cold war was in full force and the Berlin Wall was still standing (and for five years after).

More personally, I’m a divorced single father with custody of my beautiful (if irritating at times) 11 year old daughter. I grew up with three brothers. I have no sisters. The only woman I’ve ever lived with is my ex-wife (excluding my mom) and she was a nut-case. Sweet, but crazy. Girls/Women are an alien life form to me, but I’m doing my best to raise a well-adjusted, confident girl into a independent, well-adjusted, confident woman. Which is even weirder because, as a nurse, 90% of my fellow co-workers are women. But I’z do lovz ‘em.

I started gamin’ in 1981-ish. Prefer fantasy, but definitely will play a well-run sci-fi game as well. Tried superheroes, but there was a disconnect in me brain.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Yeah, I started gaming when I was in the Navy.

My most intense period of RPGin' was during my time in the Army. Portable, able to be used at a moments notice, no pieces to lose or scatter when a gas attack hits the tent and you're scrambling to put your protective gear on: RPGs fit the bill

 

[Doc_Klueless]

1. Suppose RPGs had never been invented. Suppose video and related games had never been invented. What would you be doing otherwise with the time you now devote to gaming and how would your life be different minus gaming?

Board games, dice games, card games.

I grew up in an upper-lower class family (code for just above the poverty level) so our forms of entertainment revolved around family games. That love has never vanished.

 

[Jack7]

portable, able to be used at a moments notice, no pieces to lose or scatter when a gas attack hits the tent and you're scrambling to put your protective gear on: RPGs fit the bill

The explosive kind or the gaming kind?

I'm a registered nurse who holds a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and a Masters in Business Administration - Health Care Management. I'm currently pursuing my Masters in Nursing - Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist.

Position wise, I've been a floor nurse on the Jail Floor of the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California hospital, an ICU nurse in the Trauma/Surgical ICU there, an ICU nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Medical Center and a Nurse Manager (thus the MBA/HCM).

I've given all that up and the VA is sending me to the Joint VA/DOD US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing program which'll take up the next 32 months of my life.

Before all that nursing stuff, I served 11 years in the US Army as an OR scrub tech and a Radio Interceptor (Russian) back when the cold war was in full force and the Berlin Wall was still standing (and for five years after).

Let me ask you a question Doc. Do you tend to play a Cleric or Healer in-game(s). Just wonderin.

Girls/Women are an alien life form to me

Well, at least in the way they think. Or don't.

but I’m doing my best to raise a well-adjusted, confident girl into a independent, well-adjusted, confident woman.

Good luck Doc. I know what you're up against.
God be with ya.

 

[Campbell]

I'm currently attending The Art Institute of Colorado for my BA in Interactive Media Design. The theory is to combine the design skills I'm currently learning with my programming background and get into user experience/interface design. I've also considered spending some time in the military - intel seems to speak to me.

Outside of playing RPGs and thinking about RPGs I spend a lot of time listening to music (mostly metal and indie rock) and hanging out around the music scene in Denver, working out, studying martial arts, playing rugby, playing video games, knocking down some local brews when I can afford it, reading fantasy, mythology, and history stuff and writing. Without RPGs I'd do more of this stuff, especially following the music scene here.

As for RPGS I generally prefer games that built around player initiated narratives with a slight nod towards interesting tactical combat. I'm not one for hard science fiction or historical gaming - I like a definite taste of the unreal in my games. My favorite genres are super hero and fantasy with a preference for a dark edge to the games. I'm also a fan of survival horror in the vein of Supernatural. Basically I prefer games with a high degree of metalness to them.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I'm a pre-med, putting me in the science category I suppose. People I've gamed with ran the gamut pretty well.

 

[Odhanan]

The options of this poll are incomplete at best, nonsensical at worse. I can't answer.