TalonComics
First Post
Ycore Rixle, that is a great story! I wish a lot of kids had a chance like that to play in a coed environment. Heck, I wish a lot of adults had a chance to play in a coed environment. 
~D
~D
Taking away the shame...of Roleplaying!
- Thread starter Holy Bovine
- Start date
It is not a hype that Vin Diesel plays D&D. I do not remember where I read it, but in an interview he mentioned recently having purchased D&D books for 80$, and that he has played D&D since his early teens.
Anyway, I want to mention something that happened here in Norway 7-8 years ago. There was a killing, and evidently the police found some D&D books at the murderers house. This led to the Christian political party and many other conservatives condemning the game. In a debate show on tv, opponents and supporters for the hobby met to discuss the bad effects of D&D. One of the conservatives had actually brought the old 2ed monsters manual with her, and guess what monster she showed to prove for everyone that D&D was a satan's game? Yes, indeed. The satyr.
Most of my friends are either gamers or have been gamers, and all know of what I do. I have even introduced my girlfriend to the hobby, even though I don't think she liked it very much. One of my closest friend who has scorned the hobby for many years actually wanted to play after watching LoTR. He is a huge Gandalf fan, so he wants to play a wizard. I think LoTR has done a lot for the recruiting.
Anyway, I want to mention something that happened here in Norway 7-8 years ago. There was a killing, and evidently the police found some D&D books at the murderers house. This led to the Christian political party and many other conservatives condemning the game. In a debate show on tv, opponents and supporters for the hobby met to discuss the bad effects of D&D. One of the conservatives had actually brought the old 2ed monsters manual with her, and guess what monster she showed to prove for everyone that D&D was a satan's game? Yes, indeed. The satyr.
Most of my friends are either gamers or have been gamers, and all know of what I do. I have even introduced my girlfriend to the hobby, even though I don't think she liked it very much. One of my closest friend who has scorned the hobby for many years actually wanted to play after watching LoTR. He is a huge Gandalf fan, so he wants to play a wizard. I think LoTR has done a lot for the recruiting.
mistergone
First Post
I don't advertise it, and I don't hide it. For most of the 90's, ALL the friends I had were gamers, and I had met them through gaming in one way or the other. I started out feeling that it was a taboo hobby, mostly due to the early 80's "D&D is Evil" hype that was going on. But that didn't stop me.
I think gaming is a great way to meet people, and yeah, like in all other aspects of life, some of those people are horrible freaks that you would never ever want to spend any time around. At least I used to think that. Lately I've been in a gaming dark age. So I guess you could say I'm advertising I game a little by putting up cards on the bulletin boards of game stores. Although, it's not like anyone from there is gonna think me weird for gaming.
Really, I just don't talk about gaming to people that aren't into it. I'm not out to convert anyone. In fact, I think there are people who maybe shouldn't game. It's just not their thing.
My best friend, on the ever present other hand, loves gaming and thinks everyone should game and it is perhaps his sole duty to espouse the virtues of it to all he meets. He's like a gaming pimp, or evangelist. I do get embarassed when he does that, because sometimes he kind of "freaks out the squares" when he describes aspects of gaming, and I can tell it bothers some people.
I can see how some people just get confused by gaming and no amount of explaining can really make it "okay" in their minds. And that's fine. I'm not out to convert anyone. I've met people (mostly girls) that I HAVE wanted to get into gaming, but again, it's just not for everyone.
I think gaming is a great way to meet people, and yeah, like in all other aspects of life, some of those people are horrible freaks that you would never ever want to spend any time around. At least I used to think that. Lately I've been in a gaming dark age. So I guess you could say I'm advertising I game a little by putting up cards on the bulletin boards of game stores. Although, it's not like anyone from there is gonna think me weird for gaming.
Really, I just don't talk about gaming to people that aren't into it. I'm not out to convert anyone. In fact, I think there are people who maybe shouldn't game. It's just not their thing.
My best friend, on the ever present other hand, loves gaming and thinks everyone should game and it is perhaps his sole duty to espouse the virtues of it to all he meets. He's like a gaming pimp, or evangelist. I do get embarassed when he does that, because sometimes he kind of "freaks out the squares" when he describes aspects of gaming, and I can tell it bothers some people.
I can see how some people just get confused by gaming and no amount of explaining can really make it "okay" in their minds. And that's fine. I'm not out to convert anyone. I've met people (mostly girls) that I HAVE wanted to get into gaming, but again, it's just not for everyone.
Buttercup
Princess of Florin
TalonComics said:
Listen to Talon here. I know I've told this story before, but we have new folks around all the time, and it bears repeating, I think. I harbored a secret desire to play D&D all through my college years. But the only people I ever encountered who played were terrifying to me. (To give you an example of how freakish they were, one of them ran off to join the Moonies.) If some normal guy had ever invited me to play, I would have jumped at the chance! I didn't know where to buy the books, and I didn't have the confidence to hunt up other players. So I wasted 20 years of my life not gaming. Yeah, 20 years. Sucks, doesn't it?
The moral of this story is that there are probably many other girls out there just like I was. Offer them the opportunity to play, and you'll do both of yourselves a big favor.
Lalato
Adventurer
Ycore Rixle... that was a great story.
I started playing D&D with my best friend the summer before 6th grade (1981). I don't remember how it came up, but my 6th grade homeroom teacher started running a game for us once a week after hours. Boys and girls. We all lived within walking distance of the school so it was not a problem. It was great.
The one problem... I went to a Southern Baptist private school. About 2/3s into the school year the "D&D is evil" backlash started to really take hold. My teacher explained to us that even though he knew the game wasn't evil, he thought it best that we stop playing after school. Big bummer... and I never played with my private school friends again... Lucky for me, I switched to public school in 8th grade. Weird thing... I went back to the same private school the first half of 10th grade. It was a surreal experience after the freedom of public school life.
mistergone... I have found that the best way to find a game is through the various Yahoo Groups out there. Just search Yahoo Groups for the following...
Sacramento DnD
Sacramento rpg
Sacramento gamer
Sacramento gamers
Sacramento rpgs
Sacramento rpga
Sacramento Dungeon
Sacramento Dungeons
Well... I think you get the idea. You shoud also search for your region as well... I recently found a large group that was only a 1 hour drive from where I live.
Good Luck...
--sam
I started playing D&D with my best friend the summer before 6th grade (1981). I don't remember how it came up, but my 6th grade homeroom teacher started running a game for us once a week after hours. Boys and girls. We all lived within walking distance of the school so it was not a problem. It was great.
The one problem... I went to a Southern Baptist private school. About 2/3s into the school year the "D&D is evil" backlash started to really take hold. My teacher explained to us that even though he knew the game wasn't evil, he thought it best that we stop playing after school. Big bummer... and I never played with my private school friends again... Lucky for me, I switched to public school in 8th grade. Weird thing... I went back to the same private school the first half of 10th grade. It was a surreal experience after the freedom of public school life.
mistergone... I have found that the best way to find a game is through the various Yahoo Groups out there. Just search Yahoo Groups for the following...
Sacramento DnD
Sacramento rpg
Sacramento gamer
Sacramento gamers
Sacramento rpgs
Sacramento rpga
Sacramento Dungeon
Sacramento Dungeons
Well... I think you get the idea. You shoud also search for your region as well... I recently found a large group that was only a 1 hour drive from where I live.
Good Luck...
--sam
mistergone
First Post
Hey lalato, thanks. I hadn't thought of that, looking for Yahoo groups... Unfortunately, nothing really came up except one small group that hadn't had any messages in nearly a year, and a lot of sports groups, "alternative adult lifestyle" groups, and a smattering of Vampire LARP groups, all that were very inactive.
Liminal Syzygy
Community Supporter
Lalato
Adventurer
Sacramento must, indeed, be a dead zone for gaming. Hmmm... I'll check a couple of other resources and post to your Gamers Seeking Gamers thread... 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for something more germaine to this discussion...
I started playing D&D again a few short months ago after a 10 year hiatus. During my hiatus, I became the ultimate man about town. I was seen everywhere... from Raves to Art Galleries. I was in on several of the different music scenes around town. Basically, I took on the persona of the "cool" guy. The last few years saw me slowing down in that scene. I no longer had the desire to keep up appearances. It's a lot of work to be "cool". It can be rewarding in its own way, but in the end, it is a mostly shallow endeavor. There are a lot of fake kisses and fake hugs and fake smiles to go around.
Casting about the last few months... reading the 3rd Edition D&D stuff... searching for a gaming group... joining several discussions online... has been a great experience. I've returned full circle to my inner geekiness. Now that I'm back... I doubt I'll turn away again. Pen and Paper games offer so much more than being a "scenester".
Having said that... do I talk about gaming openly at work? Not very often. If someone asks me what I did over the weekend... I have no problem saying... "I played Dungeons and Dragons with some friends..." I've never had a bad reaction to it... and no one has ever pressed the issue.
Last month I was in a developmental meeting for some new training material my group is trying to create. There were six of us in the meeting. I made a point that included an example from D&D. Basically, I made the point that in some modules the challenges often have multiple levels of difficulty so that the DM (Trainer) can tailor the module for whatever level the Party (Students) might be. After mentioning D&D, two of the other people at the table said... "Wow, I used to play D&D... That's great that you still play." 50% of the table were gamers. I thought that was interesting.
--sam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for something more germaine to this discussion...
I started playing D&D again a few short months ago after a 10 year hiatus. During my hiatus, I became the ultimate man about town. I was seen everywhere... from Raves to Art Galleries. I was in on several of the different music scenes around town. Basically, I took on the persona of the "cool" guy. The last few years saw me slowing down in that scene. I no longer had the desire to keep up appearances. It's a lot of work to be "cool". It can be rewarding in its own way, but in the end, it is a mostly shallow endeavor. There are a lot of fake kisses and fake hugs and fake smiles to go around.
Casting about the last few months... reading the 3rd Edition D&D stuff... searching for a gaming group... joining several discussions online... has been a great experience. I've returned full circle to my inner geekiness. Now that I'm back... I doubt I'll turn away again. Pen and Paper games offer so much more than being a "scenester".
Having said that... do I talk about gaming openly at work? Not very often. If someone asks me what I did over the weekend... I have no problem saying... "I played Dungeons and Dragons with some friends..." I've never had a bad reaction to it... and no one has ever pressed the issue.
Last month I was in a developmental meeting for some new training material my group is trying to create. There were six of us in the meeting. I made a point that included an example from D&D. Basically, I made the point that in some modules the challenges often have multiple levels of difficulty so that the DM (Trainer) can tailor the module for whatever level the Party (Students) might be. After mentioning D&D, two of the other people at the table said... "Wow, I used to play D&D... That's great that you still play." 50% of the table were gamers. I thought that was interesting.
--sam
Lalato
Adventurer
Vin Diesel...
Here is text of the article...
http://www.profilingvin.fineststars.com/pages/Articles/magazinecovers/magazinecovers.html
Here is text of the article...
http://www.profilingvin.fineststars.com/pages/Articles/magazinecovers/magazinecovers.html
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