Unexpected Side Effects of Your Gaming Habits

[durin]

I was just wondering if anyone else has seen unexpected (preferably positive) side-effects occur, in your real lives, based on your RPG habits.

For example, I started running a City of the Spider Queen campaign a few months ago. Normally, I play at other peoples' houses (even if it is a game I am running). However, since my wife was playing in this campaign, we had to play at our house so that we can put our toddler to bed. Previous to this campaign, I shunned housework like the plague. Now I find myself doing the lions' share; not because I have to, but because I want to. I like taking pride in a clean house when my friends come over. Weird, huh?

Please share your weird life changes with me so that I know I am not alone.

 

[Galethorn]

About two years ago, I started work on a campaign setting, and I put so much effort into it that it got good enough to use as a setting for a book, and I've been writing the book ever since. Now, having written gobs and gobs of history, I've ended up with about 15-20 time periods in my setting that would be different and exciting in terms of adventure--either in book or game terms.

But, that doesn't really count, does it?

Let's see...about a year and a half ago, I didn't know many other nerds/geeks/gamers my age, and my gaming group was very small (4 people including me). One of them had some connections, however, and now I've got a lot more friends with similar interests that were only aquaintances before.

That's about it.

 

[Turanil]

I learned to speak, read, and write English because of D&D. Had it not been for the game (i.e.: for understanding those 1e books that were not translated in French during those days), I would have been to lazy to learn. The same thing for using a computer, especially using MSword. Now, what would I do of my life without Internet, that requires using a computer, and more often than not, to speak English? (Plus will I ever become rich if I am not able to write the next sci-fi besteller directly in English? )

 

[ASH]

I have much of the same situations with having to get the house clean. I also would like to point out that its really nice having a husband that stays home and hangs with the guys in stead of going to a bar and hanging with the guys, but drunk...

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

I was just wondering if anyone else has seen unexpected (preferably positive) side-effects occur, in your real lives, based on your RPG habits.

For example, I started running a City of the Spider Queen campaign a few months ago. Normally, I play at other peoples' houses (even if it is a game I am running). However, since my wife was playing in this campaign, we had to play at our house so that we can put our toddler to bed. Previous to this campaign, I shunned housework like the plague. Now I find myself doing the lions' share; not because I have to, but because I want to. I like taking pride in a clean house when my friends come over. Weird, huh?

Please share your weird life changes with me so that I know I am not alone.

Simliar situation, but we're just gonna hire a maid so the place looks clean when people come over to game.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I was just wondering if anyone else has seen unexpected (preferably positive) side-effects occur, in your real lives, based on your RPG habits.

Well, like I mentioned elsewhere, I taught myself to use Excel as a result of playing D&D. It was useful for domain maintenance in Birthright, and also for plotting out character advancement.

Brad

 

[Xythlord]

I would like to think that gaming has had several significant positive effects on my life. Firstly, due to my dming most campaigns for the last 13 years, I have researched enough different topics to be almost scary in trivial pursuit (except for sports which I don't really like watching, but I know lots about hunting, horseback riding, etc.). I have learned quite a bit about survival and primitive hunting/gathering techinques so that I could more accurately model druids and rangers (this is almost a full blown obsession with me as I have aout 10 books on the subject). I have developed a fairly profficient set of computer skills (word, excel, adobe, photoshop, and I type at about 45 wpm) even though I work in the construction field. And finally I have developed a great love for history in all its fields (western, midieval, History of warfare in the 20th century, etc), as well as being addicted to the history channel.

My friends have called me a fount of useless information.