breaking the gamer stereotype..I spell that right?

[incubus5075]

Growing up in the back woods of Florida I picked up playing RPGs with my brither and the only other kid my age within 15 miles. In high school I was a Jock-ish kind of guy, did weight lifting, swim team, and was also in a scremo band (no we weren't good, only played like a dozen venues total) and was overall a popular guy. Same with my brother. People would ask what are you doing this weekend and I'd reply without hesitation "playing some DnD" or "playing some Wod (actually vampire the masquerade at that time but w/e)"

They people would look at me and usually ask what is that or say isn't that a devil worshipping game?....I often got the you don't look like the DnD type....I guess that is true, I'm in the USAF, have a 6-pack, go to the gym 4-6 times a week, and love sports. But i love a good RPG, still play DnD and can talk 'nerd' with the best of them. SO how about everyone else? You break the DnD cliche? This isn't to start any kind of trouble just curious...

[AtwasAwamps]

I had to ask my girlfriend for permission to try it for the first time ever and her response was to collapse into laughter.

Then she pointed at me and laughed for another minute.

Then she stopped, got back on the chair, and fell over laughing again.

Then she said okay.

I'm not sure if I'm in trouble or not. But it did result in an amazing bit of conversation: "Okay, wait, explain to me how you do the whole dice-rolling thing?"
"::my explanation of how rolling dice works in DnD and what effects it::"
"...I will stick to Pokemon."

I would have laughed, except that was my gameboy she was using...

I don't think this counts. I just wanted to tell that story.

[Ozreth]

Ive been into "nerdy" stuff my entire life and a lot of people are surprised. I was friends with every single group of people in high school and still am now. I get out a lot, go to parties and social gatherings (although I dont drink or smoke) etc etc.

But with that being said I think that in this day and age the gamer stereotype is just that...a stereotype. Its becoming more and more acceptable for people to be into the things that we are into, thanks to harry potter and comic books movies.

Although to be honest I think your stereotypical gamer is way cooler than normal dudes like me haha.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

Why should breaking the stereotype matter? The willfully ignorant will continue to be so regardless of what is done, and those who care to understand can ask for clarity. My Cali gaming group consisted of all martial artists, most of which are outgoing black belts that function normally in society. The fact remains that there are a lot of anti-social weirdos within the tabletop ranks, and the rest of us get lumped in with them. C'est la vie, mon ami.

[gdiddy]

Similar position. I work out, always active in team sports and martial arts. Did some amateur boxing and MMA. I wear polos, was in a frat in college. I have made the mistake in the past of hiding my gaming, though.

Growing up, though, would always play computer RPGs with my brothers and thought it normal.

When I went to my first gaming store, I want to say that I realized why some people bash gamers. To me it's a small part of my free time, but to some people, it's a lifestyle. I think that's the difference. I play RPGs, some people live in them.

When a group of friends I'd been hanging out with for years found out (by me telling them), some honestly wanted nothing to do with me after this.

"You? Really? I just never thought you'd be the type..."

"Meh. It's a fun way to spend an afternoon."

"Hm." *shrug*

Honestly, the people who stopped hanging out with me might have been put off by the fact that I kept something from them. However, I honesty think at times people define themselves by their friends, and having a "DnD" friend is too much social weight.

[Tyndmyr]

Dude, being in the USAF and playing D&D *is* a steriotype. Deployment schedules are reputed to be a major factor in RPG sales.

USAF Reserve here, one of my current games consists solely of active and retired USAF folks. It's ludicrously common.

[AstralFire]

Growing up in a military family and having picked up a lot of military friends, I've learned this: Nerds are really common in the armed forces.

[KitsuneKionchi]

Our hobby is hardly nerdy anymore. Modern video games, as an extension of our games, have really made it quite mainstream. Things like Anime (which takes and gives heavily to modern card and electronic "RPGs"), action films and even fantasy books like the Harry Potter or Twilight series have really made it a more acceptable (or at least more easily relatable) hobby.

At least we aren't defending ourselves against a main-stream that thinks we are devil worshipers.

Besides, and this is probably because I go to an engineering school, most people I know who are my age have either played, want to play or thought about playing talbetop RPGs. Very rarily do I find anyone who outright goes "what the hell is that; it sounds creepy!" Occasionally I get "what is that?", but after a short bit of explanation, they get either interested or aloof; almost never belligerent.

Easiest way to explain what it is is "a social game where we make characters to overcome various challenges and puzzles thrown at us." If they ask about dice, just explain "we don't have the time to calculate everything from wind resistance to the weight of our swords, so we need dice for that random variable." If they ask if its a board game, just nod and go "yeah, but you get to create your own board almost anyway you want."

[Dr Bwaa]

I had to ask my girlfriend for permission to try it for the first time ever and her response was to collapse into laughter.

Then she pointed at me and laughed for another minute.

Then she stopped, got back on the chair, and fell over laughing again.

Then she said okay.

Take this out of context for a minute. Then see who's laughing

[stenver]

wow. No problems like that in my country. Just explain everyone what D&D is, tell them its funny, and sometimes when a great hangover is on us, try it out with those guys. Boom! new D&D players. Looks and position doesnt mean **** in my country. Everyone who wants, plays D&D its a fun thing to do while getting drunk or h***

And noone says a bad thing about it

[AstralFire]

lordhenry has won the topic.

[Tyndmyr]

Take this out of context for a minute. Then see who's laughing

Well now, I am. =)

[Zaydos]

I've always kind of been the stereotype; homeschooled fantasy nerd; 130 lbs (now less college food ). The only difference was possibly that I could take a hit (older brother) and had the endurance to run 20 miles through the mountains on a weekly basis. Even so of the people I'd ever played with we were mostly homeschooled, dorks.

Then I got to college and found out half the anime club plays D&D... which doesn't help the stereotype much since a large number of them are 28-30 some year olds that still come to a college anime club and associated board game club (which was called a Role-Playing Society).

On the other hand everyone joining last year played in my D&D campaign except one person who wanted WoD.

[KitsuneKionchi]

wow. No problems like that in my country. Just explain everyone what D&D is, tell them its funny, and sometimes when a great hangover is on us, try it out with those guys. Boom! new D&D players. Looks and position doesnt mean **** in my country. Everyone who wants, plays D&D its a fun thing to do while getting drunk or h***

And noone says a bad thing about it

We had a scare in the 80s when some kids with non-gamer issues who also happened to be rather casual RPG gamers killed themselves in two or three separate accidents. People started accusing the game of promoting anti-social behavior (I know, its ridiculous) and as being some sort of satanic recruitment tool (since it used 'evil' words like demon or wizard and since the rules had options for playing evil characters). They were dismissed by the news quickly, who moved onto the next big thing. But a good portion of the radical religious population in the country never dropped the stereotypes.

Furthermore, our education system's middle-high school set-up is such that those who play sports bring more money into a school than those who get good grades and go on to make something of themselves. As a result, the sports 'clique' were given special treatments that caused them to feel superior to and justify isolating and mistreating the 'nerd clique(s)'.

And so words like "Dungeon Master" became synonymous with "forever-virgin-life-hating-sissy-pansy-cult-leader-suicidal-wimp."

To quote my driving instructor 7 years ago (yes, I'm about 23):

"Dungeons and Dragons!? Isn't that the game where you kill yourself!"

To which I replied:

"Yeah, but I'm really bad at it." (I don't think he got the joke; he was very old.)

It became a bad thing to be a nerd up until the late 80s and 90s when people like Bill Gates had enough money to have you shipped off to the arctic circle and shot by the president of a country you've actually heard of just as a favor.

Plus Dungeons and Dragons gets a bad rep for Wizard's (and others) poor attempts at making it mainstream. The TV show was stupid. The movies were utter crap. Most of the video games failed. The only things that really succeeded were neverwinter nights and magic the gathering (which has long since moved away from its roots for better or worse).

Finally, its hard to market Dungeons and Dragons and make a really good profit off of it. You can chrun out a random RPG or JRPG in half a year or so and make $20-$50 a unit. Once they complete the unit, they can only wait to get the next unit unless they want to replay the same thing again and again. Dungeons and Dragons has unlimited customability thanks to both its great fan community and the simple fact you aren't bound to the limitations of software. Books are much more expensive to produce (however cheaper to develop/write) than a video game. Each individual book costs more than a video game to print and ship. They even take more shelf space. Once you get into digital delivery, its even harder to compete. A digitally delivered video game is great--you don't lose anything except the ability to own a physical disk that can get scratched, destroyed, etc... Plus a computer is already necessary to play the game in the first place. A digital book lacks a lot of functionality of a paper-back book, especially the requirement of having a plug.

And thus its not mainstream and thus people are scared of it. And thus people who aren't scared of it are 'creepy'.

[Eldan]

And so words like "Dungeon Master" became synonymous with "forever-virgin-life-hating-sissy-pansy-cult-leader-suicidal-wimp."

Hey! I'm not suicidal!
And my cult still isn't working.
Which is to say I totally fulfill that cliché.

[Zaydos]

I actually had a friend whose mom made him stop playing for a year or two for this reason. Seeing as how he didn't have much (any?) social interaction outside of it this wasn't a good thing.

[Indon]

Dude, being in the USAF and playing D&D *is* a steriotype. Deployment schedules are reputed to be a major factor in RPG sales.

USAF Reserve here, one of my current games consists solely of active and retired USAF folks. It's ludicrously common.

And not just in the AF, I've seen it among other branches as well.

[Eldan]

I actually had a friend whose mom made him stop playing for a year or two for this reason. Seeing as how he didn't have much (any?) social interaction outside of it this wasn't a good thing.

The worst thing is I don't have much interaction outside either... I'm going to university, so are the rest of my old group. Just in different cities/countries.

[The Dark Fiddler]

SO how about everyone else? You break the DnD cliche?

Nope. Unhealthy, pale, lack social life, somewhat unliked, "nerdy", acne face, never had a girlfriend and unlikely to have one in the future.

You know what?


Damn proud of it.

[Eldan]

Really? I've tried to get healthier a few times in the past. It just never worked, due to my lazyness. And a girlfriend wouldn't be that unwelcome either, to be honest.

[Blackfang108]

I actually had a friend whose mom made him stop playing for a year or two for this reason. Seeing as how he didn't have much (any?) social interaction outside of it this wasn't a good thing.

Yeah, that's something willfully ill-informed people forget. It's just talking. With the occasional die-roll.

Kinda like Monopoly.

I think I just got my next campaign idea.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Really? I've tried to get healthier a few times in the past. It just never worked, due to my lazyness. And a girlfriend wouldn't be that unwelcome either, to be honest.

Eh, I'm not THAT unhealthy, and I'm only 15. It's not like the lack of a girlfriend'll kill me.

[Zaydos]

The worst thing is I don't have much interaction outside either... I'm going to university, so are the rest of my old group. Just in different cities/countries.

That's what happened with my old group; thankfully I found a new one (an anime club). Till college I didn't have social interaction outside of D&D except one friend so I'm glad I found a new group.

[KitsuneKionchi]

Lets not forget the stereotype that we'll talk about our characters endlessly. I hate that one. Seriously, If another person tells me gamers talk about their favorite stories too much I'll slap them in the throat. Heh. Reminds me of that time my vow of poverty pixie barbarian Suzume used her belt to strangle the king of this place that used dragons to terrorize the loc...

[Rattles on for about 20 more pages of text.]

[loopy]

I get a lot of surprised looks nowadays when I tell people I'm into RPG's, vidja games, and sci-fi. Apparently I just don't look the sort any more.

This is a source of endless amusement for me, as I am more than happy to get into a discussion on Warhammer 40k fluff/tactics in the middle of a rave, or while I'm sitting on the sidelines of a football game, or whatever.

[NeoVid]

Mostly fit the stereotype here, except for having a girlfriend, who I met while gaming, since that's the only place I meet anyone.

Also, she only goes out with gamers.

[Solaris]

And not just in the AF, I've seen it among other branches as well.

Damn straight. My group pre-deployment was composed entirely of artillerymen (mostly cannon crewmen, but including one very out-of-place FDC cat) 'cept for the one civilian guy. I'm the smallest of 'em, but most people look at me and think "This guy is mildly psychotic" or if I'm not smiling, they think "Sweet 'stache!" and not so much "Nerd!".
That said, I avoid the Comic Book Shop in Fairbanks on Friday nights/Saturdays for a very good reason. There are entirely too many teen nerds who don't believe in personal hygiene.

[AslanCross]

I have a great deal of social interaction as a teacher and as an actively practicing Christian. (So I go against the Chick stereotype at least).

I'm not a huge hulking guy but I do work out and run 3-5 kilometers at least twice a week. I'm not (no longer, at least) overweight and don't have excessive facial hair.

I rarely dress in black, get a fair deal of solar exposure (I live in a tropical country), and actually have more than a few female friends. I have a good relationship with my family and love them very much.

I talk about many other things apart from my characters/gaming, but I can if I wanted to.

EDIT: Finally, I endeavor to make sure I have good hygiene. When I go to gaming stores, conventions, and the like, I make sure that I smell better than everyone else. :P

All I need now is a girlfriend/wife and I'll probably have broken every single gamer stereotype.

[jmbrown]

Growing up in a military family and having picked up a lot of military friends, I've learned this: Nerds are really common in the armed forces.

Being in the Navy I can attest to this. During deployment all we do is play games. When we're not on deployment all we do is play games. The revenue military bases bring to the community are so great that whenever a ship pulls in every shop within 10 miles throws up a sign "*your ship here* we welcome you[r money]!"

[SoD]

Me? I'd say I break the 'stereotype'. I break all stereotyples. I wear Hawaiian shirts, fingerless gloves, thongs, any one of a range of hats including, but not limited to, Russian bearskin, a fez, a hat of the four winds, a 'sherlock holmes' style hat, and a lost fishermans hat. And sometimes a skarf. My friends spend a lot of time debating weather I'm actually God, the Devil, or the Doctor.