I'm a single (41yr old) programmer and board/card/computer/RPG game player. I live in a liberal city. I work at a small hi-tech company. Most the people I interact with are well educated and tech-savvy, many are nerds of one sort of another (music, computer, game, TV, etc).
I say all that cause the list of what people say to RPGrs from The Escapist Blog was so negative. I rarely have heard shit like that since high-school. Holy crap guys! Where do you live and who the hell do you hang out with? No wonder people "hide" the fact that they are gamers.
Mostly I get:
"How does it work?"
"Its like WoW?" Often people don't realize right away I'm not talking about MMORPG or other computer game.
"Can I join?"
"Can I have my own figure?"
"Wish I had still had time for that."
"Oh man, let me tell about the time my Paladin Centaur ...."The winning / what's the point thing comes up fairly often. But, more from curiosity / wanting to understand rather than derogatory angle.
Gaming is main stream now, there are more and more people admitting to being roleplayers so take heart!
ReplyDeleteI was a small college football player back in the day, not a claim to fame really and I don't mention it as a brag ... it was just extra high school football really ... sort of pathetic in a way that I couldn't let go of the glory ... lol. Anyway though on my little campus I was a popular guy, a jock, one of those guys who might have been kicking sand in the nerds faces ... only thing was ... I was am and always will be ... a nerd myself. These days I'm a typical "big guy" dad, all the mass that was once in my chest and arms seems to have settled in my mid section ... lol. Back then I was a buff linebacker and as big and bad ass as I was I was always sort of afraid to tell people I was also a hardcore tabletop gaming nerd at heart. I had two sets of friends, etc. Its funny to say that we had to be closeted back in those days about gaming. There was still that very strong stigma against gaming.
These days ... I'm totally open about being an RPG/miniature wargaming/board game nerd with anyone at work, at school, or to random strangers and like you I get the same thing you get, more interest and acceptance than not. The worst I hear is, "you are just a big kid aren't you" or something like that, not a put down but a good natured joke.
Anyway check out this link ... I think more and more we are seeing athletes, celebrities, etc. admit they are former/current RPG fans. Now bear in mind the article centers more on his video gaming but he in the article references D&D.
http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/17/baseballs-curt-schilling-the-dragon-slayer/?hpt=hp_c2
I grew up in rural Canadian town & have lived my adult life in an only slightly larger center. I've never heard a single negative word expressed about table-top gaming in the 30+ years I've been doing it, & I'm very open & enthusiastic about it!
Delete@RAINSWEPT - WHICH DC COMICS ALTURNIT EARTH YUO FROM? MINE IS 424, WERRE RICHARD NIXON TEH FIRST MAN ON TEH MOON IN 7 IN YUORS TOO?
Delete:P
-NUNYA
I've been playing D&D for over 30 years and don't remember ever personally hearing any negative comments about RPGs (aside from the stereotype seen on tv). I suspect that the list on The Escapist was actually generated by RPGers listing what they imagined might be said along the lines of the tv-inspired stereotype.
ReplyDeleteEveryone I've talked to about the game has been honestly curious and interested in hearing more.
Good to hear it.
ReplyDelete