Today, I realized that I never talk about my gaming life in public, be it Dungeons & Dragons, computer games, whatever. The gaming world has been mainstream for some time. Everybody knows that guys play games and everybody knows that geeks and nerds are smart and end up rich! So shouldn’t it be a good thing to talk about your latest D&D game to strangers? Of course, I don’t expect anyone to actually start rambling about the latest fight their monk character got in, but still.
How about you?
I want to know how everyone deals with their own geekiness? Do you ever mention your hobby to parents and non-gamer friends. If you meet a girl, how much time passes before you tell her you play D&D? I usually push back that moment until I have to go to a game.
4 Comments
6:50 am on August 20th, 2007
I talk about it a bit, only to good friends. They watch me go out every Tuesday night and have a good time. They see me come to work every Wednesday with bags under my eyes and a big grin under that. They here me suddenly laugh to myself, and since they have some vague idea of what D&D is I relate how the dwarf ran to leap atop the sarcophagus but failed his Jump check and just smacked into it.
I reckon they’re starting to think that they are starting to miss out on something.
8:38 am on August 27th, 2007
Actually I am pretty free about who I talk to about my nerd-like behavior. And actually I am in the process of setting up a ‘n00b’ campaign for my girlfriend and a few others that have never played but are interested due to all my stories among other things.
4:39 pm on August 27th, 2007
It’s good to see nerds comfortable with their nerdiness.
I could learn from you guys!
1:23 pm on August 24th, 2008
I don’t deny it, but I don’t bring it up either. I was playing D&D long before MMO’s or even MUD’s were around. It was even harder to explain what I was doing without being able to compare it to WoW. I still managed to find a wife, and no, she doesn’t play.
On the other hand, the stigma is still around. I even used that to my advantage. I had co-worker who was an obnoxious flirt. She did it to everyone so I knew it didn’t mean anything. Still, it made me uncomfortable. I didn’t think it was worth an HR complaint, so I tried something. Miss Flirt started her thing with me again.
I told her,”You know, I’m a geek don’t you?”
“Oh no you’re not. Don’t talk like that!”
“No, I really am. I read comic books! I watch Star Trek! I Play Dungeons & Dragons!”
“Oh”
She was much more professional around me after that.
She was much more professional