Taking away the shame...of Roleplaying!
- Thread starter Holy Bovine
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Pbartender
First Post
bolen said:
Of course they do.
But that's beside the point. If you take the equation for the volume of the Gamer sphere, and equate it to the volume of the Physiscist sphere, (the volumes are, of course, directly related to the Nerdiness Quotient), you'll find that the volumes are within an order of magnitude. Considering the assumptions made, and the considerable volume of both spheres to begin, an order of magnitude is near enough to be considered equal.
The two volumes only differ by the variables g/p. Where g is equal to the amount of time spent rambling pedantically on the minutiae of Roleplaying Games, and p is equal to the amount of time spent pedantically rambling on the minutiae of the Laws of Physics.
Personally, as a gaming physiscist, I have a g/p ratio of ~1.00 ±0.14.
Last edited:
Buttercup
Princess of Florin
I'm a slightly closeted gamer. What I mean by that is that my staff at work don't know, but most of my friends do. If the people at work ask me what my plans are for the weekend, I just say we're having friends over. Since most of the people I play with work for the same organization, just in different buildings, my staff probably knows, but no one has mentioned it.
However, one of my players, also a close friend, is new to gaming and oh, so happy about it that she tells everyone. She is always looking for new people to talk to about D&D, and you know what? She finds players and ex-players all over the place. She had a Pampered Chef party last week, and the presenter used to play. So did several of the party-goers. And of the ones that didn't play, not a single one sneered or raised an eyebrow.
On the other hand, I told another friend about it over dinner one night, and she became concerned that I would lose my ability to distinguish between fantasy & reality. I swear she was quoting Jack Chick. I tried to explain that it wasn't what she thought, but she insisted we drop the subject, because she found it frightening and distasteful. This was about 6 months ago, and it still saddens me to think about it, because I feel like her ill-informed opinions about D&D have come between us, and we have been friends for about 10 years. I came away from that evening figuring that I would not initiate further contact, and since she hasn't called me either, I guess that's the end of that friendship.
I don't have any family left, but my husband does. They don't know about our hobby, but since they live in another state and we only see them about twice a year, we end up having other things to talk about. Not that they would care. They're good people, through and through.
However, one of my players, also a close friend, is new to gaming and oh, so happy about it that she tells everyone. She is always looking for new people to talk to about D&D, and you know what? She finds players and ex-players all over the place. She had a Pampered Chef party last week, and the presenter used to play. So did several of the party-goers. And of the ones that didn't play, not a single one sneered or raised an eyebrow.
On the other hand, I told another friend about it over dinner one night, and she became concerned that I would lose my ability to distinguish between fantasy & reality. I swear she was quoting Jack Chick. I tried to explain that it wasn't what she thought, but she insisted we drop the subject, because she found it frightening and distasteful. This was about 6 months ago, and it still saddens me to think about it, because I feel like her ill-informed opinions about D&D have come between us, and we have been friends for about 10 years. I came away from that evening figuring that I would not initiate further contact, and since she hasn't called me either, I guess that's the end of that friendship.
I don't have any family left, but my husband does. They don't know about our hobby, but since they live in another state and we only see them about twice a year, we end up having other things to talk about. Not that they would care. They're good people, through and through.
lalato said:
My gaming g/f claims that she started out with an all girl group, most of which didn't game before. In fact, she started the group so she could be a newbie GM with newbie players. About 5 years later, she still runs games, but she if very picky about what she plays and who she plays with. I am a little more laid back about my gaming, but I do find that as my standards slide so does the players I game with slide into the stereotypes, which is what I think a lot of closet gamers have a problem with.
(Funny enough, I never hear anyone say, "So you like NFL football, isn't that the sport where guys paint themselves in team colors in sub freezing weather just to look like idiots on national television. -- Hence my theory, if DnD made billions of dollars, no one would question our hobby.)
Actualy a lot of Catholic people have no problem with DnD (It sort of goes hand in hand with the idea of taking your religious text as parables, not literal truth.) Though there are some. It has been mostly Proestant people that have given me hellfire for rolling dice.
I generally call the '80s the "Second Red Scare" because a lot of religions were calling everything they didn't understand or like as Satanic such as television, metal rock, DnD, MTV, etc.
I agree. Remember me talking about those games were my standards are lower than my g/f? I wouldn't introduce to those game, her reaction would be like "You play in games like that?! How could you when your GM style is so different." My answer is to that would be "I can't say no to my gaming friends even if they are running a lame game."
See above parethtical comment on NFL.
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Angcuru
First Post
In general, being a gamer is no more reason to be ashamed being an avid sports fan. Those guys worry over which group of over-paid jocks can hit a ball and run around in a circle the most times. WE, however, involve ourselves in situations that can help us out in reality, posing to ourselves the question of "How would I react.", therefore allowing us to better know ourselves.
Raving lunatic or philosoph: you decide!
Raving lunatic or philosoph: you decide!
Droogie
Explorer
Henry said:
Hmmm. The guys I play with do seem extremely geeky, but I think its because being at the game table allows you to let it "all hang out" so to speak. But they are normal adults otherwise, with wives, children, mortgages. etc.
When you sit at a table covered with polyhedrons, your guard comes down and suddenly someone starts talking about how Spock's Brain was the worst Trek episode EVAR. I haven't heard someone discuss classic Trek in years. Its like stepping into a time machine.
Its a transformation that almost feels like a retrogression to me-- like a relapsed drug addict.
Henry said:
......The next time you ever get down on yourself for liking D&D, do a web search for various hobby sites: Needlepoint, Doll-making, wood crafts, basketball, baseball - FREAKING NASCAR! (Which is quite popular where I live.) Take time to realize you aren't alone - everybody in a modern country is taking time to enjoy sports, hobbies, and crafts - and can rattle off statistics the way you rattle off saving throws for fighters. We're ALL out there - we're just hiding from other people our pesky insecurities, hoping someone else will trip up so people can laugh at them instead of us.
Very nicely said. It puts things in perspective.
My gamer buddies are a secret right now. Its almost like leading a double life. However, if I were out with one of them having a cheeseburger and someone from work ran into us, I'm confident that I would do the right thing and introduce the fellow and explain how we met.
For the record, one player is in the closet just like me. Nobody he works with knows either.
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