What etiquette rules do we assume is common in the community?

[R_J_K75]

With regards to drink, I let people have a beer or two in the game

There are some people I'd like to have told this to outside of the game. In those people's defense though we've usually had a tendency to drink while we play, not always, but more often than not. There was one Friday night we played, think there was about 6 of us, and everyone brought their own beer, and I'm not talking about a 6-pack, I woke up that Saturday with my fridge full of half empty (or as I saw it that morning) half full 18-packs. Though in all the years we did this I can't remember any fights because of it.

 

[SteveC]

There are some people I'd like to have told this to outside of the game. In those people's defense though we've usually had a tendency to drink while we play, not always, but more often than not.

It's funny that you say this because as I think about it, it's really on point: if you can handle drinking in your regular life, I think you can drink at the game. I was just at a weekend party where we had a ton of booze available, and high quality stuff since we're professional adults, and no one had an issue. It really is the person and not the booze.

Now at gaming cons (and the con I go to each year does sell booze at the location) I'd be more careful since I don't know people there.

 

[billd91]

Really interesting discussion! I have run a ton of games at cons and FLGS over the years and I have to agree with the hygiene comments.

I'm grateful that I can say that it has been years since I've encountered hygiene being a problem at a convention game. I don't entirely know why that is, but Gamehole Con has been a far cry from my earlier days at Gen Con in Kenosha and Milwaukee. And I don't think I can chalk it up to better ventilation systems...

 

[SteveC]

I'm grateful that I can say that it has been years since I've encountered hygiene being a problem at a convention game. I don't entirely know why that is, but Gamehole Con has been a far cry from my earlier days at Gen Con in Kenosha and Milwaukee. And I don't think I can chalk it up to better ventilation systems...

As a fellow Gamehole Con attendee (and anyone who reads this, you should come out to that con because it's amazing) I think that the fact that it's a little bit more expensive to go to the con prices some people out. I hope it's possible that the hobby in general is getting better in this regard but I know people talk about it at Gen Con every year as still an issue. I'm just happy to not have it be as big a problem as in the past.

 

[R_J_K75]

It's funny that you say this because as I think about it, it's really on point: if you can handle drinking in your regular life, I think you can drink at the game. I was just at a weekend party where we had a ton of booze available, and high quality stuff since we're professional adults, and no one had an issue. It really is the person and not the booze.

I'm sure everyone I played with has had one too many at times but it usually wasn't an issue. I was at a party this weekend as well and was drinking high quality Pabst Blue Ribbon . I threw my back out a few days before so I took some pain killers and muscle relaxers, so I didn't stay long, because I was getting a little tipsy. So, it's all comes down to knowing your tolerance and limitations.

Now at gaming cons (and the con I go to each year does sell booze at the location) I'd be more careful since I don't know people there.

I used to play in a game at a local store, and the area we played in was closed off from the rest of the store. One of the players had recently moved up from Florida and joined our group. He showed up one session with beer. We were all like the owners OK with this, and he was. So we started drinking during our games and going to the bar next door afterwards, which we never did. We were more gaming acquaintances than close friends, so the game started going downhill and I eventually stopped playing. I don't really like drinking with people I don't know any more. I don't go to bars, concerts or any other events much if ever these days.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I'm sure everyone I played with has had one too many at times but it usually wasn't an issue. I was at a party this weekend as well and was drinking high quality Pabst Blue Ribbon .

There is no such thing.

 

[R_J_K75]

There is no such thing.

Yes because the Blue Ribbon they claimed meant something meant nothing, they made it up to attract people to their stand at the 1890 world fair. Everyone knows its just the Budweiser that s[ills on the floor. So. Oh Yes. its highly qualified and coveted around here

 

[aramis erak]

This goes with "joke" names as well. I've found that parents can be exceedingly cruel with the names they give their children. Here are some REAL patient names: Peter Wart, Christmas Carol, Beneetha Sheets, and Mynex Child. So my character named Ta'ahd or Roach the Thief or Alfus Pinwillow is actually tamer than some poor bastard's real name.

Having seen several thousand students over the years...
I've seen F'Lar and Lessa (brother/sister - know the mom, she's a pern fan).
I've seen at least a dozen variations on Chewbacca ... it's apparently a common Hmong personal name.
I know one family who opted to intentionally mispronounce their surname - Phornsavant - because properly in thier native, that ph is a p sound... Yes, the sixth grader in my class did know why.
I've seen a Lee Liu and Li Lu... both again not jokes, but totally unaware of The Fifth Element...
I've encountered Jane, Jaine, Jain, Jayne, Jayn, Jaen..., Thom, Tom, Tahm, and Tam (all pronounced the same), Tam, Tamm, and Tamn (all the first syllable of Tammy). Many names usually ending in -y substituting -i, -ie, -eye, -ei, -ey, -eiy, or -iey. Initial F- being replaced by Ph-. mid-word g/j and g/h swaps. 4× King, 2× Duke (plus a coworker's husband), 2× Baron, 2× Queenie, 1× Duchess. And a couple of Phuc and its homonym in several spellings.
I've never seen intentional joke names save when I was working in a regional office of the National Archives... the clerks at Ellis Island were apparently total jerks.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

the clerks at Ellis Island were apparently total jerks.

My mother the genealogist got worked up when people said things like that. According to her you did not get on a boat bound for Ellis Island in the first place without the right paperwork, and the clerks followed that paperwork to the letter. If your name got changed, it was not by them.

I caught her being spectacularly wrong about a few things but never about anything she was passionate about.

 

[aramis erak]

My mother the genealogist got worked up when people said things like that. According to her you did not get on a boat bound for Ellis Island in the first place without the right paperwork, and the clerks followed that paperwork to the letter. If your name got changed, it was not by them.

I caught her being spectacularly wrong about a few things but never about anything she was passionate about.

My great-grandfather's surname was changed by the staff at Ellis Island, or so my grandfather said. The initial letter was dropped to render the written more pronouncable. (Further, I've seen photos from Poland with distant relatives using the dropped letter, so I know it was in use to be dropped..) Likewise, the ledgers have most of the names written in the same few hands, only the signatures being third party, at least on the pre WW-II rolls I used doing my own genealogical research, while working for NARA...

There are enough interviewed in the 70's and 80's persons who came through before 1935 who claimed their names were changed. Documentaries about Ellis Island. Documentaries about pandemics. Documentaries on immigrant experiences.

Also fun: The US didn't standardize spelling until Daniel Webster... and in the journals of Lewis & Clark, facsimile editions will show that the didn't consistently spell each other's names the same way all the time.