Why are people not interested in RPG?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Actually you DO... In places where football is king, there have been disciplinary actions against employees who have worn the memorabilia of teams other than the home team.

http://lastangryfan.com/2011/01/chi...now-unemployed-thanks-to-his-packers-necktie/

http://m.lubbockonline.com/filed-on...e-football-coach-mike-gundy-says-he-was-fired

And while we're at it, I know of Pepsi employees fired for drinking Coca Cola products in public.

 

[Elf Witch]

Yes, well, you don't see people have issues in their workplace of being a football fan, either.

We have had this discussion before and I am going to say it will never change as long as people keep hiding their hobby.

I am not saying to go full out at work but people hide the hobby from their girl friends and wives. I read how one guy used to pack up his gaming things when his parents visited.

Aslong as players in our hobby think it is something to be hid then why shouldn't outsiders think it is a weird hobby and anyone who plays it is weird.

 

[Elf Witch]

Actually you DO... In places where football is king, there have been disciplinary actions against employees who have worn the memorabilia of teams other than the home team.

Chicago Area Car Salesman Now Unemployed Thanks to His Packers Necktie (UPDATED) ? Last Angry Fan

Worker suing OSU football coach Mike Gundy, says he was fired for wearing OU colors | Lubbock Online Mobile Edition

And while we're at it, I know of Pepsi employees fired for drinking Coca Cola products in public.

The first guy was fired for being insubordinate he was told by his boss to take the tie off. If he had I think that would have been the end of it.

The second case sounds like the guy was being a dick and the other guy was clueless. I wouldn't wear a shirt of a rival team to work on the couch's house.

I was working at the airport during one of Eastern strikes. I had a bag that had the Eastern logo on it. It had been a gift and I used it to carry all my work stuff. I was told that because of the strike I couldn't carry it anymore because it looked like I was supporting Eastern. I thought it was kind of stupid I had been using the bag for a year but when your boss tells you something like that you do it.

If you think letting your bosses to be will effect your job then you keep quiet about your hobby at work.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The first guy was fired for being insubordinate he was told by his boss to take the tie off. If he had I think that would have been the end of it.

Yes, technically he was fired for insubordination, but the honest fact is his firing was triggered by attire that violated no dress code or any other formal company policy, and was only an issue because it was a Packers tie in Chicago.* And I guarantee you his case is not unique.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/80690

The second guy was clueless, but Coach was definitely violating the Wheaton Rule.









* I'm an attorney in Texas, and I know I can get fined and tossed in jail for contempt of court for having an offensive tie, but it has to actually be offensive (I've seen the case). I get tossed in the klink for a Steelers tie in Dallas, and the judge will be answering questions before the judicial conduct committee.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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[Janx]

More like, there's more going on in the sentence you wrote than the word "Luddite". You expanded upon the term, opening us to somewhat broader interpretation than a specific strict definition.

ah. Well, I meant the narrower usage (what Wikipedia said was the modern usage of being anti-technology) when I first used it.

Wikipedia then showed me the historical reference to how it was a bunch of textile workers destroying looms, etc because the industrial revolution was destroying their manual labor jobs. I can smell an application of its historical origin to some modern politics, but that was farthest from my mind when I used the word as a rebuttal to something you said.

Which was why I was shocked that somebody was offended that I clarified my use of the word by saying what I thought it meant (and thus taking more risk of looking like an idiot). I figured it was better to be clear on my meaning.

Thanks for verifying my figuring out what caused the curfuffle.

 

[ggroy]

Of the "ex-gamers" I've come across in my local social circles, the number one reason they don't like to play rpg games these days, is their dislike of dealing with the "spoiled brat" type behavior of numerous dysfunctional gamers they encountered in past games.

As far as these ex-gamer friends are concerned, no game is a lot better than playing rpg games with a group of 40-year-olds with "spoiled brat" mentalities.

(Expanding on my previous post).


Even amongst people I know offline who are heavily into stuff like Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, etc ..., many of these individuals absolutely refuse to play any rpg games these days. (Many of them played D&D a lot back in the 1980's and early 1990's).

For stuff like Star Wars, Star Trek, etc ... one can largely pursue such interests in an almost solitary manner without ever having to encounter (or meet) any other Trekkies, Star Wars fanatics, etc ... Also fairly easy to avoid or bypass completely the "spoiled brat" types of such niches, if one does not attend conventions, does not shop at hobby stores, does not post on internet message boards, etc ...

With D&D and other rpg games, it's somewhat harder to completely avoid the "spoiled brat" types. This is especially the case if one moves around frequently to different locales.

 

[Umbran]

Actually you DO... In places where football is king, there have been disciplinary actions against employees who have worn the memorabilia of teams other than the home team.

That's not for being a football fan, in general, though. I think there's a difference in social dynamics there.

I mean, sometimes it is just not polite to wave a particular affiliation in someone's face. I'm in Boston, and was getting married in October 2004 - just prior to the World Series, in which the Red Sox were playing. And the girlfriend of one of my groomsmen showed up to the (casual dress) wedding rehearsal in Yankees gear.

I'm not even a baseball fan, and I thought it was gauche.

We have had this discussion before and I am going to say it will never change as long as people keep hiding their hobby.

I think whether we hide it is irrelevant. My understanding of the numbers is that (tabletop and larp) RPG players comprise less than 1% of the total US population. Even if every one of us was public and forward about it, we would *still* be lost in the noise of the throng.

It seems to me that how RPGs are viewed is not really a function of RPG players, but a function of how intellectual pursuits and play are viewed by the culture around us in general.

 

[Mallus]

It seems to me that how RPGs are viewed is not really a function of RPG players, but a function of how intellectual pursuits and play are viewed by the culture around us in general.

Right. The people who would look at you askance for playing role-playing games would do the same if you admitted to being involved in community theater or belonging to a chess club.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That's not for being a football fan, in general, though. I think there's a difference in social dynamics there.

Point.

However, we've already seen that getting fired for "liking" the wrong thing on Facebook will survive a challenge on the grounds of being a restriction of free speech in the state of Virginia- for one of the most protected kinds of speech, namely things political- so it is not unforseeable that someone getting fired for something as trivial as fandom of the wrong sport or hobby would likewise survive a court challenge.

The question is only whether there are bosses ogerish enough to violate The Wheaton Rule over sports fandom...and I wouldn't rule it out.