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This is very true. Our FLGS has a bunch of people who are quite athletic. Several regulars at the store play on a club rugby team.
Please tell me where you live, so that I may make pilgrimage to this holy site!!! (I'm probably the only hooker on this site, or at least the only one to admit to such ) I know rugby is big in my area (well, as bit as rugby in the US can really be, we did just have the US National Club 7s Championships up here), but I've yet to see a gaming store that houses multiple athletic types.
Giga Bites Café in Atlanta Georgia.
Heck, even one of my regular Pathfinder players is getting freaking ripped. About a year ago, he got crazy into weight lifting, and now he's 6'5", under 200 lbs, and cut.
Aww that sucks... there's no fething way I'll ever visit Atlanta (having lived near Nashville, that was a bit too much South for this guy :(
Talizvar wrote:Biggest mistake with the wife:
She came down to the man-cave to talk to me.
I was doing some fine detail work painting so decided to use the jeweler visor.
To her, it looked like this:
She then said something around the line of the impact it had on her libido.
Thereafter they were called "The sex goggles." if she sees them again, it is not happening.
Aside from that, the hobby is fine with her.
For your anniversary, as a joke, you should totally get some of them elephant trunk, male g-strings and wear that with the "sex goggles"
But then, maybe my type of sarcasm/joking with the wife doesn't work for everyone
In the Chaos Wastes, Killing the Chaos scum of the north
Back on topic, I think most peoples opinions on wargaming comes from ignorance, they see painted models and terrain and people rolling dice saying stuff like "I hit on 6's" and they only see that, they dont see the unpainted and unassembled models, they dont see all the different rules, all the modifiers and all the stats, they just see grown men playing with action men making random dice rolls.
Like some of my friends dont get warhammer, but I showed one of my friends one of my painted models and a pic of how it originally came and she was really impressed, she realized there is more to this hobby then you see when walking past a GW for example.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/22 22:24:00
I would like to start by saying I am no socio annalist or some other fancy titled doctor, I jsut consider myself somewhat intelligent with the seemingly rare ability to have an open mind and think for my damn self
Think for ones self. I think if I could only ever give one bit of advice to anyone ever it would be that. Investigate something for yourself before you make some pre conceived assumption or join everyone else with their opinion.
Something I have noticed though, through my years growing up at an all boys school, dropping college and going straight to work with adults. Actual "MEN" and "WOMEN" compared to what is available to you at 16 years of age. Intelligent adults couldnt give a feth what you do. An intelligent human will always be intrigued by the unknown. Currently I'm stuck in a very menial office job and let me tell you there are some very VERY average people who are the epitome of "get up, goto work, go home, watch tv, sleep. Go out drinking at weekends"
The few people who aren't like that are genuinely interesting people who are a pleasure to talk to. One of the guys genuinley plays d&d and loves comics and I can honestly say that I enjoy talking to him on a monday morning. When I ask him how his weekend went, its not just a formality, I genuinely want to know. As opposed to the bimbos from customer contact who are always getting really drunk and doing stupid things. Theyre nice enough, sure, but they will look down on you if you do anything other than go out drinking at the weekend because that is the social "norm"
I have 3 hobbies. 2 of which are extremely expensive, 1 which is free.
Most expensive is obviously 40k. With its myriad of models and lore I just cant spend enough on it.
Next is engine building. I fething love engines (i dont love cars...although im fond of them) I realy like engines and have built many a turbocharged monster. Last night i finished welding up a manifold for the waste of money thats sitting on my drive.
Third Hobby is DOTA...awww man I love dota (for those who dont know, its a video game. Much like league of legends but better in every way and not baby safe like LOL *OHHHHH SNAP*)
The reaction most people at work have is normally something like
"Hey, johnson and your sexy ass juice crew, what do you do in your spare time"
Well, You know what warhammer is right? Little models with guns? I play it competitively (i dont but saying this seems to put people at ese somehow. If they think you actualy sit there and just paint little tiny dudes...the recoil, as if you were a child of nurgle himself!) the reply is normally something akin to "ohhh, I think my [insert distant acquaintance here] plays that"
or
"ME? I like cars....dont worry i wont bore you with details" with the reply almost exclusivley "oh you soup them up and stuff...why?"
or
"Me? I like video games" with the reply "oh xbox? yeh my husband has one of those I hate it" (the world has changed and a lot of males now play video games so its quite normal but women still mostly find it alienating)
All 3 will be feigned interest at most with no care of further explenation. Its the sign of true maturity and intelligence (in my opinion) if they ask further questions and seem interested. Since I left school at 16, 10 years ago I have noticed that true adults, beleive me there are some 40 year old childeren out there, are open minded, curious and will treat you as an equal regardless if you are of higher stature or lower. I have a manager who will speak to me like a human being and another one who cant go 5 minutes in a meeting without speaking to everyone like they are children. Which one do I have more respect for? Thats right, the one who is normal and should be allowed to breed.
On the subject of people outright hating wargaming. I try to look at it from their perspective. Personally, I hate soccer, its 90 minutes of pure boredom for me. I would rather drink ocean water next to a sewage outflow pipe than sit through 90 minutes of it. However there is cults dedicated to this. People will go out of their way to see a match with like minded individuals. I can only assume that these soccer fans see wargaming like I see soccer. With complete bemusement at the notion of spending time doing something that seems so boring.
HOWEVER! What both have in common (even between teenage groups and adult groups of each vice) its a social event for each group. Talking to friends, drinking booze! I will never understand why people waste time watching football but I can appreciate the comradery that can bring complete strangers together through a common hobby.
I have no idea what girls do in their spare time. If my girlfriend is anything to go by. They come home from work, watch gak, demand you spend time with them doing absolutley feth all then goto bed after demanding you go on a holiday cos they are bored. I almost hate spending time with the missus cos it takes me away from my hobbies and she has none!
I think there was a point to all this but I have been typing between games of dota and slowly inebriating my self with some local made cider0
I play historicals... got me a job once. I wasn't the most competent candidate, but knowing the lore saved me.
The job wasn't too bad. Geeking Working on beautiful beaches littoral sites of archeological interest around the Adriatic Sea. Remember Porco Rosso? Dalmatia just looks like that. I was the pig only male around, surrounded by hot babes fellow students.
They really, really liked me, and made me feel... special. Maybe because I was the only male. Maybe because these geeky skills sometimes looked like magic. Maybe because I could do delicate tasks with these hands. Maybe because I actually knew a few things and seemed to care about what they intended to do for a living.
They asked me how I knew these things I wasn't really supposed to know. Just told them I played reenactments and "what if" scenarios of historical battles, with minis you have to paint yourself. And since you're trying to field armies that look like historical armies, you have to do some research. About how the military worked, about the uniforms... how these people lived, who were their foes. How these foes fought, how they lived, how their societies were organized... It's just like 40k lore, but with real people that actually lived and made great deeds.
They found the idea awesome.
And one of these former collegues is my fiancee now.
I've been wargaming for over a decade, started around 14 and will be 28 next march. When I first started my dad of all people was the one to support me, Old Ir0njack senior is a workaholic, and ladies man the likes of which I have never met since. Now normal old pop my be worried that his boy is caring about plastic toys more than girls or sports, well if he did he was really good at hiding it. He drove me to every game, got me stuff I wanted for *insert present giving occasion* without me asking. All while dealing with a messy divorce and on a strict budget.
Mom was semi supportive but busy trying to rip pops a new one in the courts. I Always brought my hobby to school with me, during lunch or artclass I would bust it out work on them. Now had I been someone else that might have made me a prime target, but being over 6ft and a reputation of explosive bouts of khornate level rage ( I didnt handle the divorce well) made people leave me to my own devices. As time went on folks became curious and started to ask about what I was doing. At first I was suspicious but eventually open ed up and soon the table I claimed was at full capacity with us chatting about the lore or mechanics of the the game itself, we even played a few games after convincing the teacher a we weren't gambling with the dice. Sure we got some dirty looks and occasional snarks but as a group (After a few confrontations) we left alone and had a great time. That is infact my only really enjoyable memory from my highschool years.
Cue the past five years. I hit a rough patch after school, worked abit, lost the job, wound up homeless, joined the military, travelled LITERALLY half way across the world, met a awesome girl, got married and STILL play 40k. folks ask me what I do in my spare time and to this day I answer "Warhammer 40,000". When they ask what it is I whip out my phone and show them a shot of one of my bitz boxes and a say "I take this." Then change to a picture of a finished guard squad "And turn it into this". Most are semi impressed and leave it at that, if they question further I just tell it how it is. 40k has seen me through the best and worst parts of my life I will never be ashamed of being a wargamer.
The best part of it all? Now the wife plays too! The worst part? She say I have enough IG at the moment and we need to work on her Dark Eldar before I can have more
Vorradis 75th "Crimson Cavaliers" 8.7k
The enemies of Mankind may employ dark sciences or alien weapons beyond Humanity's ken, but such deviance comes to naught in the face of honest human intolerance back by a sufficient number of guns.
I've been playing since I was 12 - got hooked with Space Crusade. Now 36 and still going strong.
I gave it up for a few years when I was involved with a fairly conservative evangelical Christian group; mainly because it took up so much time I "should" have been spending on Godly stuff. Then I relaxed, came to my senses, and got back into it. Still a Christian, just also a wargamer.
I think the hate/rage is common to anyone who has an unusual hobby/personality/music taste etc. We don't fit in a typical social box so people are suspicious. It could be a lot worse. And yes, it is a little bit odd to come into a room full of people painting toy solders, rolling dice and saying things like "your wizard needs to take a ward save or he'll be sucked into the warp". It's also objectively odd to spend 90 minutes watching people kick a small leather ball around a field, or to sit in a dark room playing games against a machine. But, we don't make the rules. (Which is a shame, as we'd probably be good at it.)
When asked by other people about hobbies, I usually say I play board games at first. It's true (wargaming is a small part of my hobby life) and the vast majority of people can spin a conversation off the back of it. If they ask more questions, I'll talk about tabletop gaming, whilst watching very very closely for the moment when their inner monologue switches from "oh, how interesting, a person with an unusual hobby" to "stop talking now, stop talking now."
Mrs Ludo thinks it's all rather amusing but, more importantly, that I enjoy it. I have a tendency to work hard, so she likes it when the models come out as it means I'm taking time out.
Finally, a quote from Peep Show's Mark Corrigan, after his flatmate laughs at his FDR action figure:
"Look, I'm sorry if in an infantilised world I've somehow ended up with the non-cool toys, but why exactly is arranging a model of the greatest liberal hero of the 20th century somehow less cool than pretending on a computer that you're a Russian pimp stealing imaginary cars?"
On topic, I think stereotypical nerds are actualy worse or at least the same as the old lady mentioned. I mean look at the idiots threatening critics who bashed Dark Knight Rises with death where majority didn't even see it. Or some chick that did a lukewarm review of Guardians of the Galaxy, go look up the comments like for example that she needs to get laid (!) oh irony. You liked comic books you were harrassed, now you don't like comic books you get harrassed - same crap different sides. I have loads of friends gamers and non gamers and I find for example footbal fans nicer than geeks, sure you can get punched but without the vicious edge of self important and mostly imagined intellectual superiority that you get from even the well adjusted fellow nerds.
As for me, I was doing all kinds of nerd stuff in my life but also all kinds of typical stuff and mixed it all the time, I was not aware that they were nerdy tbh just awesome. 40k I started around 30 and was open about it as usual but now tend to think it was a mistake as its never a good idea to give people an easy tool to ridicule you behind your back. People in general are rather crap tbh.
Then if someone tries to bash me for it, I'll bash his activities as its easy to reduce anything into absurd. So, you like cars because you drive them on the road, man all that turning so great. Climber, so you think its both art and philosophy to climb the pile of rocks, and the views, yeah, but don't the mountains block them? Music how exquisite I bet you also love to sing whatever crap the random musician wrote just because other people around sing it too.
As for girls I think its a good idea to tell the girl that all you do is play man dolls after the first intercourse, its not like they tell you all their crap right away or even within the first year. Then if in all her woman delicacy, subtlety and goodnes she decides to inform you that youre a loser or sth like that, hey youve just slept with one which makes you a losers bitch heh. I think nerd activities costed me a lot of fun with girls but thats rather because of how time consuming they are (thank you Total War series) than my social image, I always had lots of opportunities including girls proposing to pay for sex with me heh. I also was the kind of idiot who waits for the one girl so instead of having fun I was tormenting myself with living hell that are serious relationships and everlasting love. But then in the end I have a great wife and kids and dont have std or allimonies (is that a right word?) so maybe thank you nerd things and white knight mind indeed.
From the initial Age of Sigmar news thread, when its "feature" list was first confirmed:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:
It's like a train wreck. But one made from two circus trains colliding.
A collosal, terrible, flaming, hysterical train wreck with burning clowns running around spraying it with seltzer bottles while ring masters cry out how everything is fine and we should all come in while the dancing elephants lurch around leaving trails of blood behind them.
Plumbumbarum wrote: On topic, I think stereotypical nerds are actualy worse or at least the same as the old lady mentioned. [There is a] vicious edge of self important and mostly imagined intellectual superiority that you get from even the well adjusted fellow nerds.
Plumbumbarum wrote: [I]f someone tries to bash me for it, I'll bash his activities as its easy to reduce anything into absurd. So, you like cars because you drive them on the road, man all that turning so great. Climber, so you think its both art and philosophy to climb the pile of rocks, and the views, yeah, but don't the mountains block them? Music how exquisite I bet you also love to sing whatever crap the random musician wrote just because other people around sing it too.
^This. This is the perfect example of the stereotype. Even when someone is acutely aware of their own stigmas, they instantly fall back into them when it is pointed out by an outside source.
Fantasy: 4000 - WoC, 1500 - VC, 1500 - Beastmen
40k: 2000 - White Scars
Hordes: 5/100 - Circle of Orboros
KalashnikovMarine wrote: See my girlfriend's a welder, so jeweling goggles are something she's cool with.
As long as she gets to put her welding mask on.
Thanks for that!
Funny, a song I know springs to mind: see link:
Warning!!! lyrics have swear words... (you have been warned).
Spoiler:
I just love people with mad skills, even better when they are "non-traditional" pursuits. <edit> Gah! On-topic, people usually have one of two reactions to something they never saw before: think it is "weird" of think it is cool, not much reaction in-between.
It really appears to be situational and how say wargaming ties into the observer's life experience on how they react.
The story of archeologists reacting to historical wargaming is a good example and probably would look like a good way of engaging the public in history.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/08/25 13:54:54
A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.
Napoleon Bonaparte
My wife is definitely OK with it (on our second date we went to a pizza place in Oxford that overlooked GW Oxford. She saw the sign and said "Hey there's a Games Workshop, I used to love going in there when I was younger!". I was a lapsed hobbyist at that point though but mentioned that I had used to play WH when I was younger. She bought me a Warsphinx for my birthday a few months later and that got me back into the hobby).
My friends and I, when we were still at school (this was about 20 years ago), did a presentation on Warhammer in assembly. Not long afterwards we had a bit of a punch up with some other lads in the year who were taking the piss out of us for it, and once I did hear Warhammer called "the saddest thing you can possibly do" by a young lady at a bus stop, but those are really the only negative comments or reactions I've heard- not including the slightly incredulous "look at these weirdos" tone of the BBC article on wargaming a while ago.
Generally if I do have to explain it I get blank looks. I don't think the majority of people really care much!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/25 15:07:10
Plumbumbarum wrote: On topic, I think stereotypical nerds are actualy worse or at least the same as the old lady mentioned. [There is a] vicious edge of self important and mostly imagined intellectual superiority that you get from even the well adjusted fellow nerds.
Plumbumbarum wrote: [I]f someone tries to bash me for it, I'll bash his activities as its easy to reduce anything into absurd. So, you like cars because you drive them on the road, man all that turning so great. Climber, so you think its both art and philosophy to climb the pile of rocks, and the views, yeah, but don't the mountains block them? Music how exquisite I bet you also love to sing whatever crap the random musician wrote just because other people around sing it too.
^This. This is the perfect example of the stereotype. Even when someone is acutely aware of their own stigmas, they instantly fall back into them when it is pointed out by an outside source.
I was aware that my post might be interpreted like that but Im not sure whether thats exactly it or rather what I think is a proper reaction. See in my example people were reacting to constructive critique with death threats and heavy insults in a way comparable to how stereotypical jock negates a whole person for their favourite activity or sth. I would be fine with constructive critique of TT wargaming and 40k but if it gets to mandolls and ridicule, I think that a bit of distance to yourself and joyful self ridicule is good but agression is even better. Why would you leave that supposed person feeling better about him/herself just because they are doing more socialy accepted things when you can make them think about how most hobbies have in fact as much value as you put in them and that its all relative.
From the initial Age of Sigmar news thread, when its "feature" list was first confirmed:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:
It's like a train wreck. But one made from two circus trains colliding.
A collosal, terrible, flaming, hysterical train wreck with burning clowns running around spraying it with seltzer bottles while ring masters cry out how everything is fine and we should all come in while the dancing elephants lurch around leaving trails of blood behind them.
Wargaming has both solitary and social elements so has some measure of balance.
It is judging what a person "needs" to recharge their batteries that seems inappropriate.
There is a stigma attached to playing with "toys" as an inability to grow-up. Most "action figures" are not far removed in look from the conflicts we simulate.
Until others are shown the work / art put into creation of the "toys" and the rules in playing with them is some measure of understanding (possible respect?) can be had.
Sizing up an army list's possibility of success vs. another is not much different from figuring out one football team vs. another, it is convincing the other person of the relevance.
The nerd-superiority-sneer is an easy thing to pull out when others dismiss your interests with barely a thought = disrespect tends to get paid back with interest.
A revolution is an idea which has found its bayonets.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Plumbumbarum wrote: On topic, I think stereotypical nerds are actualy worse or at least the same as the old lady mentioned. [There is a] vicious edge of self important and mostly imagined intellectual superiority that you get from even the well adjusted fellow nerds.
Plumbumbarum wrote: [I]f someone tries to bash me for it, I'll bash his activities as its easy to reduce anything into absurd. So, you like cars because you drive them on the road, man all that turning so great. Climber, so you think its both art and philosophy to climb the pile of rocks, and the views, yeah, but don't the mountains block them? Music how exquisite I bet you also love to sing whatever crap the random musician wrote just because other people around sing it too.
^This. This is the perfect example of the stereotype. Even when someone is acutely aware of their own stigmas, they instantly fall back into them when it is pointed out by an outside source.
And you're contending that that stereotype is unique to nerd culture?
I mean, I understand that you're pointing out a bit of potential hypocrisy, but isn't it better to be introspective and aware of one's own faults? You seem to think that the old lady the OP is describing is somehow correct in her assessment and should not change her perspective on things.
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
) I know rugby is big in my area (well, as bit as rugby in the US can really be, we did just have the US National Club 7s Championships up here), but I've yet to see a gaming store that houses multiple athletic types.
Heresy World Eaters/Emperors Children 
Vorradis 75th "Crimson Cavaliers" 8.7k
