Nice photo Mad Doc. Apparently, and I'm just speculating mind you, there is visually only a fine line between a vampirish swordsman and some of the drag queens I know.
ah geek elitism...giving people who are looked down upon and ridiculed someone to look down upon and ridicule.
grow up guys. you spend many and evening pushing little figures around a table pretending theyre fighting battles on far off planets. these guys spend theyre time getting drunk and hitting each other with rubber swords.
scotts wrote:Nice photo Mad Doc. Apparently, and I'm just speculating mind you, there is visually only a fine line between a vampirish swordsman and some of the drag queens I know.
Thats Brady that is. His wife is gorgeous, he has fantastic bone structure, and he edits Spiderman for Marvel UK.
stonefox wrote:You mean you actually play warhams? lol.
I spend my evenings at the gym or fencing.
Well Bully for you. Generally, my eveings are spent slumped in front of the tellybox, sat at my table painting, in the boozer, or in the company of my friends. It's only a couple of weekends a year (notably the August Bank Holiday Weekend) when we venture out into the wilds to inflict cartoon violence on complete strangers.
But you enjoy your activities, and I'll enjoy mine.
Regwon wrote:ah geek elitism...giving people who are looked down upon and ridiculed someone to look down upon and ridicule.
grow up guys. you spend many and evening pushing little figures around a table pretending theyre fighting battles on far off planets. these guys spend theyre time getting drunk and hitting each other with rubber swords.
we're all in the same boat.
At least we have enough shame not to do it in public.
stonefox wrote:You mean you actually play warhams? lol.
I spend my evenings at the gym or fencing.
Well Bully for you. Generally, my eveings are spent slumped in front of the tellybox, sat at my table painting, in the boozer, or in the company of my friends. It's only a couple of weekends a year (notably the August Bank Holiday Weekend) when we venture out into the wilds to inflict cartoon violence on complete strangers.
But you enjoy your activities, and I'll enjoy mine.
I spend my weekends beating up people because I'm so buff, and picking tons of hot chicks all the time. Also, I drive my Porsche.
On an unrelated note, the guy dressed up like a dreadnought is my hero.
grow up guys. you spend many and evening pushing little figures around a table pretending theyre fighting battles on far off planets. these guys spend theyre time getting drunk and hitting each other with rubber swords.
we're all in the same boat.
It's a play on concept get it. We are all of us geeks. One geek calling the other geek a geek is supposed to be funny. Lighten up and laugh a little...at yourself, at me...etc.
My mate Kev that runs Hack and Slash is making fairly decent money making LARP weapons for a chain of Martial Art Schools. Is hard work, but it certainly seems to be working at the moment.
I never got the LARPer hate. In my experiences as both a Wargamer and a LARPer, LARPers generally are nicer, more sociable people. You do get the occasional jerk who's far too into it, but you get that in wargaming, too, and they're less common than TFG. Alot of them are wargamers as well, anyway.
Of course, the ironic thing is that there are still a bunch of Furry haters that LARP. Someone in one of the LARPs I played wanted to take the "Furry" races as his preferred enemies because he hated that the system allowed "Furries" into his LARP. Some people like to play Werewolves, Kitsune, and cat people, learn to get over it.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:My mate Kev that runs Hack and Slash is making fairly decent money making LARP weapons for a chain of Martial Art Schools. Is hard work, but it certainly seems to be working at the moment.
Boffers or Latex? And if Boffers, what materials is he using?
He uses some kind of foam (like Camping Mat Foam, but thicker, IIRC) and then latexes over the top to seal it all.
In fact, come June/July, my social group is a hive of activity as the guys start work on that years gear.
Boffers are generally Pipe Foam around a core(usually PVC Piping) sealed in some way(most home-made Boffers are wrapped in duct tape). They're big and chunky(except for Ultra-lights which use thinner, lighter versions of everything) and are the preferred weapon choice in American LARPs due to their being "safer"(no flat edges of thinner foam to reduce the cushioning not being sufficient) and softer than the Latex versions. Run a Google search on it if my description isn't clear enough(I'm horrid at descriptions).
I'm going to assume you know what Latex weapons are since every single one of you seems to be wielding one in the pictures. I wish American LARPs were as accepting of Latex weapons as you Europeans, they look so much better(I own a Latex, but it hasn't seen much use).
It's all in how you make them! They were using some adhesive gunk called Fix0fix or summat, and found out the company had gone bust. High jinx sourcing an alternative!
But Latex weapons are vast superior! Just have to pull your blows a bit. Mind you, if you get a suit of the Amagos armour, you won't feel owt anyways.
MDG- that was addressed more to regwon. But yes I don't even know why I post on this board I haven't played 40k in maybe 3 years.
Platuan - you can still make fun of people without hating them. In my case it's because these people embody the whole "I'm not cool so I'll try and make up for it in this fantasy manner" rationale that geeks are ridiculed for. Sure, some of these people can actually fight and look good. The rest? Oh I'm not a buff bodybuilder and can't put forth the effort so I'll just pretend to be one. Also I can't really fence or wield a sword so I'll pretend to do that too.
It's funny because there's a divide in my school between the actual fencing team/club and the larping historical club. We actually know how to fence. After taking Kendo, Kenjutsu, Aikido, and now Fencing for years...you can't help but laugh at the gits who pretend to do it right.
Also...furries. But I won't get into them.
<--- i am the geek. chek out dis nerd rage yo. eating cheetos while i do it
Thing is with LARP, Fencing and normal sword play won't help that much. Because there is no risk of being gashed, you block with your arms, pin wrists and have at them with a Dagger or somesuch.
It's nothing about the realism, and all about the release!
stonefox wrote:It's funny because there's a divide in my school between the actual fencing team/club and the larping historical club. We actually know how to fence. After taking Kendo, Kenjutsu, Aikido, and now Fencing for years...you can't help but laugh at the gits who pretend to do it right.
It's funny you mention this because so many at the LARP I attended were trained swordsmen. It doesn't really help(except for your speed), because the safety rules for LARPS restrict what you can do so much: 45 - 90 degree swing arc restriction, no overhead swings, no charging(!), no shield bashes, no jabs with swords longer than short swords(most times just no jabs, period), no pommel hits, no cross arm swings(right handed weapons can't be swung from your left side if used one-handed, etc.). Also most LARP weapons are too bulky and heavy for fencing to be of much use(at least according to my friend who knows how to fence).
Yep. I remember making a thread on dakka about a year ago about the whole SCA thing. The no-jabbing part might be the reason fencing isn't as helpful. Same with kendo and shomenuchi (straight overhead) swings. And yes, the weight is too much. Apart from the fact that fencing is all about more "civilized" renaissance duels with sleeker swords, the pvc+foam contraptions are often heavier than real swords. I guess it's no surprise that people think swords weighed 6-10 pounds when they really only weighed 3-4 - besides cavalry monstrosities of course.
Overall, it certainly doesn't help with the fantasy-embodiment image. "Oh I can't fight well so I'll make rules so those football playin' jocks who can wrestle and fence can't really do much with their skills." :-P
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Thing is with LARP, Fencing and normal sword play won't help that much. Because there is no risk of being gashed, you block with your arms, pin wrists and have at them with a Dagger or somesuch.
It's nothing about the realism, and all about the release!
And I just can't help but laugh at that. Even though the same can be said for sterile practice environments in kenjutsu and fencing, epees and wooden swords hurt.
P.S. Just to be perfectly clear, my original post was meant as a stab at all of geekdom in reference to the 'downward-trickle' nature of persecution itself. Lest we forget, lots of my friends dress up like women every weekend...all right some do it every day...
I'M NOT FAT. I'M BIG BONED. THAT'S EXTRA ARMOR. NO FAT AT ALL AND BMI IS HORRIBLY UNFAIR BECAUSE (and i'm going to ignore my crippling obesity) I COULD HAVE LOTS OF MUSCLE. LIKE BODYBUILDERS AND WRESTLERS.
Platuan4th wrote:I never got the LARPer hate. In my experiences as both a Wargamer and a LARPer, LARPers generally are nicer, more sociable people. You do get the occasional jerk who's far too into it, but you get that in wargaming, too, and they're less common than TFG. Alot of them are wargamers as well, anyway.
I think that's what did it for me. Friend of mine would NOT SHUT UP about Vampire. I've never owned a book, never played a game, but I'll bet I could be one of the top storytellers w/o even trying. BLAH!!! Where is the mental clorox!
scotts wrote:...we are definitely NOT the bottom of the geek food chain.
stonefox wrote:You mean you actually play warhams? lol.
I spend my evenings at the gym or fencing.
Glad to see you are keeping the homoerotic lines open.. fencing = men poking other men with their pokers. and men at the gym, yep, more homerotic overtones.. lol..
don't play warhammer anymore, but keeping the spzmarineshuur alive.. wooooot!!
stonefox wrote:You mean you actually play warhams? lol.
I spend my evenings at the gym or fencing.
Glad to see you are keeping the homoerotic lines open.. fencing = men poking other men with their pokers. and men at the gym, yep, more homerotic overtones.. lol..
don't play warhammer anymore, but keeping the spzmarineshuur alive.. wooooot!!
I also have a framed poster-size photograph of a wet, nearly-naked, absolutely ripped bodybuilder on my wall. For inspiration.
I feel that role playing is like masterbation, It's fine in the privacy of your own home, but when you do it wearing a costume and in public where children might see it is just creepy.
cat people.....check
fighting with swords and magic.....check
costumes a plenty..... check
uber hot women dressed in almost nothing(AND STORM TROOPERS!)......check
making sure i go to the next convention or LARP meeting........DOUBLE CHECK
scotts wrote:P.S. Just to be perfectly clear, my original post was meant as a stab at all of geekdom in reference to the 'downward-trickle' nature of persecution itself. Lest we forget, lots of my friends dress up like women every weekend...all right some do it every day...
Scott, I happen to see some of them around Orlando mostly at Parliament House down nearby OBT. Great place to pickup chicks who like to go there and dance (just make sure you check downstairs with the girl your talking to) and for some of you guys who cant find a lady date ... try a dude (Bears can get cubs).
There's a joke in here somewhere about Gambit with food or something to do with his ability to create energy and storing an excess of Calories or something.
lol that fear of girls video was pure genius "the only female that is involved in my life is my sister in law and i don't care if she caught fire!"
i also used to have a friend who's parents wouldn't let him play DnD with as they thought it would lead to him getting into a satanic cult, its strange how some people think
dr vompire wrote:I feel that role playing is like masterbation, It's fine in the privacy of your own home, but when you do it wearing a costume and in public where children might see it is just creepy.
dr vompire wrote:I feel that role playing is like masterbation, It's fine in the privacy of your own home, but when you do it wearing a costume and in public where children might see it is just creepy.
dr vompire wrote:I feel that role playing is like masterbation, It's fine in the privacy of your own home, but when you do it wearing a costume and in public where children might see it is just creepy.
LARPing, sounds like some penicillin will clear that right up!
Seriously some of my best friends are renfair junkies, and I never miss an opportunity to go there and play 'drench the wench.' Just not into the whole dressing up thing myself, and I love to poke fun at this whole aspect of society.
stonefox wrote:You mean you actually play warhams? lol.
I spend my evenings at the gym or fencing.
Glad to see you are keeping the homoerotic lines open.. fencing = men poking other men with their pokers. and men at the gym, yep, more homerotic overtones.. lol..
don't play warhammer anymore, but keeping the spzmarineshuur alive.. wooooot!!
I also have a framed poster-size photograph of a wet, nearly-naked, absolutely ripped bodybuilder on my wall. For inspiration.
they aren't the quarterbacks of the hocky team.. they chose to be unique.. lol oh and 2 person roleplaying is about as gay as it gets.. you've gotta get 6 or 7 poeple to gether to make it worth while.
I used to LARP. It was good fun, involved a LOT more girls than wargaming, and helped keep my now-starting-to-be-noticable little belly from growing for a while.
Mannahnin wrote:I used to LARP. It was good fun, involved a LOT more girls than wargaming, and helped keep my now-starting-to-be-noticable little belly from growing for a while.
QFT. Most people would be surprised at the, erm, "quality" and single-ness of girls that LARP, too. Guys, girls love to play dress up, and if they get to beat on you with fake swords, they love it even more.
Umm, I guess. Personally, I never saw the appeal of competing in the tiny pool of gamer chicks (you can't tell me the LARP pool is truly deep or wide). Considering the ratios involved there (and the overall quality of female), that seems like a losing strategy to me.
Why not just clean yourself up a little and get a nice, normal girl? Seriously, put in a little effort and you'll do better in the bigger pool. Although don't talk about LARPing for a while. Maybe ever. My wife doesn't have anything against my wargaming hobby, but I suspect divorce papers would served to me if I started LARPing.
The marketing professional in me also feels compelled to tell you that "LARP" just sounds dorky. Perhaps you'd find more social acceptance with a better acronym?
gorgon wrote:Umm, I guess. Personally, I never saw the appeal of competing in the tiny pool of gamer chicks (you can't tell me the LARP pool is truly deep or wide). Considering the ratios involved there (and the overall quality of female), that seems like a losing strategy to me.
Why not just clean yourself up a little and get a nice, normal girl? Seriously, put in a little effort and you'll do better in the bigger pool. Although don't talk about LARPing for a while. Maybe ever. My wife doesn't have anything against my wargaming hobby, but I suspect divorce papers would served to me if I started LARPing.
QFT. I've had two friends get seriously interested in a couple of women that they met while LARPing. One marriage ended very very badly, I suspect the other isn't going to be much better.
Honestly, I'm not impressed with the quality of the women who LARP, and if women are the reason you're getting into it, you've going to come across like 100 tons of wet cement. Heavy, awkward, and sticky in a very unpleasant way.....
gorgon wrote:Umm, I guess. Personally, I never saw the appeal of competing in the tiny pool of gamer chicks (you can't tell me the LARP pool is truly deep or wide). Considering the ratios involved there (and the overall quality of female), that seems like a losing strategy to me.
Why not just clean yourself up a little and get a nice, normal girl? Seriously, put in a little effort and you'll do better in the bigger pool. Although don't talk about LARPing for a while. Maybe ever. My wife doesn't have anything against my wargaming hobby, but I suspect divorce papers would served to me if I started LARPing.
The marketing professional in me also feels compelled to tell you that "LARP" just sounds dorky. Perhaps you'd find more social acceptance with a better acronym?
Because they're HOT (being careful to take into account the geek level of "hot") and they're GIRLS and they're probably the only people who will ever understand them.
Don't you see man? All those "normal" girls are just fake and shallow! They won't understand the grand imagination and genius minds that those of the LARPing kingdom have. Shoes? Nice clothes? Those are no match for infinitely more thoughtful things such as rubber swords or dragon-wolf shirts.
gorgon wrote:Umm, I guess. Personally, I never saw the appeal of competing in the tiny pool of gamer chicks (you can't tell me the LARP pool is truly deep or wide). Considering the ratios involved there (and the overall quality of female), that seems like a losing strategy to me.
There are more than you think. The crossover with girls who have historical and costuming interests is a major factor.
gorgon wrote:Why not just clean yourself up a little and get a nice, normal girl? Seriously, put in a little effort and you'll do better in the bigger pool. Although don't talk about LARPing for a while. Maybe ever.
Do you remember in High Fidelity when Rob muses that it’s not what you’re like, but what you like that’s important? Shared interests are a big deal in a lot of people’s relationships. You don’t have to hide your hobbies from a girl who participates in them. And a gaming geek couple doesn’t generally have arguments about how much space your armies take up, or about whether a gaming room in your house is a necessity or whether the guy has to make due with part of the dank basement. You don’t have to spend as much time justifying or defending the time you spend on the things you enjoy.
That said, certainly not all the women involved in LARP are prizes, and they’re not so numerous as to outnumber the men (unlike the world as a whole), so they can get an exaggerated sense of their own appeal. Of course, if you do “clean yourself up”, have a good job and some self-confidence, it’s pretty easy to offset that factor. I wound up settling down with and marrying a non-gamer, but there are certainly some good gamer girls to be found.
gorgon wrote: My wife doesn't have anything against my wargaming hobby, but I suspect divorce papers would served to me if I started LARPing.
It's probably a little young of a crowd for you. I kid!
Mannahnin wrote:
Do you remember in High Fidelity when Rob muses that it’s not what you’re like, but what you like that’s important? Shared interests are a big deal in a lot of people’s relationships. You don’t have to hide your hobbies from a girl who participates in them. And a gaming geek couple doesn’t generally have arguments about how much space your armies take up, or about whether a gaming room in your house is a necessity or whether the guy has to make due with part of the dank basement. You don’t have to spend as much time justifying or defending the time you spend on the things you enjoy.
That said, certainly not all the women involved in LARP are prizes, and they’re not so numerous as to outnumber the men (unlike the world as a whole), so they can get an exaggerated sense of their own appeal. Of course, if you do “clean yourself up”, have a good job and some self-confidence, it’s pretty easy to offset that factor. I wound up settling down with and marrying a non-gamer, but there are certainly some good gamer girls to be found.
I was going to say "not everyone wants a carbon copy of themselves with a vagina" but then there was your last sentence. But yeah, I don't get why some people are so set on finding a carbon copy of themselves. I'd find that ridiculously boring.
stonefox wrote: I'd find that ridiculously boring.
Marrying a self-cloned partner is not wrong! Why must you guys be so judgmental?! It's like
someone gave you a horse that just happened to be doing drugs and you fell on it to make
your mighty proclamations.
Mannahnin wrote:There are more than you think. The crossover with girls who have historical and costuming interests is a major factor.
But again, I'm looking at those being kind of a small group too. *shrug* I dunno.
Do you remember in High Fidelity when Rob muses that it’s not what you’re like, but what you like that’s important? Shared interests are a big deal in a lot of people’s relationships. You don’t have to hide your hobbies from a girl who participates in them. And a gaming geek couple doesn’t generally have arguments about how much space your armies take up, or about whether a gaming room in your house is a necessity or whether the guy has to make due with part of the dank basement. You don’t have to spend as much time justifying or defending the time you spend on the things you enjoy.
That said, certainly not all the women involved in LARP are prizes, and they’re not so numerous as to outnumber the men (unlike the world as a whole), so they can get an exaggerated sense of their own appeal. Of course, if you do “clean yourself up”, have a good job and some self-confidence, it’s pretty easy to offset that factor. I wound up settling down with and marrying a non-gamer, but there are certainly some good gamer girls to be found.
I guess that's why I find John Cusack to be full of $hit. (Edit: Although, his movies tend to be good first date-type material, so I guess he's a useful meatsack) Hobbies come and go...the person you are tends to stick around. If they're antagonistic to you about a decidedly unharmful hobby like wargaming (assuming you haven't taken it to harmful levels), that goes to their general personality makeup, IMO.
I was being tongue-in-cheek about cleaning up, although honestly ANY male needs to do some of that before entering the dating pool. Getting the crud out from under our fingernails and looking spiffy doesn't come naturally to most of us louts.
But I seriously do think it's a head-scratcher to see guys questing for their gaming Aphrodite when there are so many quality, available females. If you aren't finding what you're looking for, expand your horizons a little, that's all I'm saying.
It's probably a little young of a crowd for you. I kid!
Oh, and they're most *definitely* too young for me. Some people don't think I look my age, but I am almost 40, LOL.
My girlfriend describes wargames, RPGs, and similar as 'games that make her head hurt', probably because we sucka t explaining them. (Really, a lot of gamers tend to use gamer shorthand when explaining rules, and don't realize they need to take things slowly and not assume as much knowledge).
OTOH, she accepts that my bi-weekly game nights with the guys are fun, stress-relieving, and pretty 'safe' compared to what some guys do. I don't smoke, rarely drink, and come home to her. So I like to paint little plastic army men? It's something I can do when we're together but have run out of things to talk about.
stonefox wrote:MDG- that was addressed more to regwon. But yes I don't even know why I post on this board I haven't played 40k in maybe 3 years.
Platuan - you can still make fun of people without hating them. In my case it's because these people embody the whole "I'm not cool so I'll try and make up for it in this fantasy manner" rationale that geeks are ridiculed for. Sure, some of these people can actually fight and look good. The rest? Oh I'm not a buff bodybuilder and can't put forth the effort so I'll just pretend to be one. Also I can't really fence or wield a sword so I'll pretend to do that too.
It's funny because there's a divide in my school between the actual fencing team/club and the larping historical club. We actually know how to fence. After taking Kendo, Kenjutsu, Aikido, and now Fencing for years...you can't help but laugh at the gits who pretend to do it right.
Also...furries. But I won't get into them.
<--- i am the geek. chek out dis nerd rage yo. eating cheetos while i do it
At Cal Poly we have an Ampt Guard (spelling?) club as well. Every now and then, when I tell someone I'm involved with Cal Poly Fencing they say "Oh, are you the guys that I see dressed up in the park on Saturday mornings?" "NO NO NO, that is DEFINITELY NOT FENCING!"
Balance wrote:OTOH, she accepts that my bi-weekly game nights with the guys are fun, stress-relieving, and pretty 'safe' compared to what some guys do. I don't smoke, rarely drink, and come home to her. So I like to paint little plastic army men? It's something I can do when we're together but have run out of things to talk about.
BINGO! If your SO has a problem with wargaming and hasn't figured this out yet, point out your hobby is a better use of time and money than nudie bars. Wins 'em over every time.
stonefox wrote:MDG- that was addressed more to regwon. But yes I don't even know why I post on this board I haven't played 40k in maybe 3 years.
Platuan - you can still make fun of people without hating them. In my case it's because these people embody the whole "I'm not cool so I'll try and make up for it in this fantasy manner" rationale that geeks are ridiculed for. Sure, some of these people can actually fight and look good. The rest? Oh I'm not a buff bodybuilder and can't put forth the effort so I'll just pretend to be one. Also I can't really fence or wield a sword so I'll pretend to do that too.
It's funny because there's a divide in my school between the actual fencing team/club and the larping historical club. We actually know how to fence. After taking Kendo, Kenjutsu, Aikido, and now Fencing for years...you can't help but laugh at the gits who pretend to do it right.
Also...furries. But I won't get into them.
<--- i am the geek. chek out dis nerd rage yo. eating cheetos while i do it
At Cal Poly we have an Ampt Guard (spelling?) club as well. Every now and then, when I tell someone I'm involved with Cal Poly Fencing they say "Oh, are you the guys that I see dressed up in the park on Saturday mornings?" "NO NO NO, that is DEFINITELY NOT FENCING!"
Then I punch them in the face.
Ozymandias, King of Kings
Awesome. High five. What do you fence? I'm a foilist.
Mannahnin wrote:There are more than you think. The crossover with girls who have historical and costuming interests is a major factor.
But again, I'm looking at those being kind of a small group too. *shrug* I dunno.
I’ve wargamed for about nine years now, I LARPed from around 1993 until 2000 or so. I’ve done tabletop roleplaying since I was ten. IME wargaming has almost no women, tabletop roleplaying has a fair number (lots of groups have none, but others are half or more; those are small groups though); the various flavors of LARPs often run from 25% to 40% female. No kidding.
gorgon wrote:
Mannahnin wrote:Do you remember in High Fidelity when Rob muses that it’s not what you’re like, but what you like that’s important? Shared interests are a big deal in a lot of people’s relationships. You don’t have to hide your hobbies from a girl who participates in them. And a gaming geek couple doesn’t generally have arguments about how much space your armies take up, or about whether a gaming room in your house is a necessity or whether the guy has to make due with part of the dank basement. You don’t have to spend as much time justifying or defending the time you spend on the things you enjoy.
That said, certainly not all the women involved in LARP are prizes, and they’re not so numerous as to outnumber the men (unlike the world as a whole), so they can get an exaggerated sense of their own appeal. Of course, if you do “clean yourself up”, have a good job and some self-confidence, it’s pretty easy to offset that factor. I wound up settling down with and marrying a non-gamer, but there are certainly some good gamer girls to be found.
I guess that's why I find John Cusack to be full of $hit. (Edit: Although, his movies tend to be good first date-type material, so I guess he's a useful meatsack) Hobbies come and go...the person you are tends to stick around. If they're antagonistic to you about a decidedly unharmful hobby like wargaming (assuming you haven't taken it to harmful levels), that goes to their general personality makeup, IMO.
It’s not John Cusack you’re accusing of being full of excrement (I like his movies too), it’s Nick Hornby.
This is really something you have to balance. If you have no shared interests/activities, it’s hard to keep a relationship going. On the other hand you also need to have some space and some independent activities, to keep each other interesting and not co-dependent.
I found my wife outside the gaming world, but it’s incredibly common on boards like this (and in real life) to hear stories from guys who take a lot of crap from the girlfriends or wives over their hobby. I agree with you that they shouldn’t be taking that kind of attitude, but not everyone is so sensible. In some sad cases non-gamer women act tolerant and supportive until some time into the relationship and then expect guys to abandon the activities they enjoy later. At least with a gamer chick you KNOW she actually doesn’t mind your hobby.
gorgon wrote:I was being tongue-in-cheek about cleaning up, although honestly ANY male needs to do some of that before entering the dating pool. Getting the crud out from under our fingernails and looking spiffy doesn't come naturally to most of us louts.
But I seriously do think it's a head-scratcher to see guys questing for their gaming Aphrodite when there are so many quality, available females. If you aren't finding what you're looking for, expand your horizons a little, that's all I'm saying.
Oh sure. I guess to some extent I’m trying to make the same point in reverse. LARP is just another geeky hobby. For those of us tempted to sneer at it, the involvement of females and the presence of physical exercise do give it a couple of points over the hobby everyone on this board lavishes such time on.
But everyone could probably stand to be more open-minded and expand their horizons. Geeks and norms alike.
Oh sure. I guess to some extent I’m trying to make the same point in reverse. LARP is just another geeky hobby. For those of us tempted to sneer at it, the involvement of females and the presence of physical exercise do give it a couple of points over the hobby everyone on this board lavishes such time on.
But everyone could probably stand to be more open-minded and expand their horizons. Geeks and norms alike.
The basic premise is sound. Take foam weapons, get your friends, beat the sh*t out of each other. Good times
But when the roleplaying starts ("Lightning bolt, lightning bolt!") I just have to laugh.
gorgon wrote:BINGO! If your SO has a problem with wargaming and hasn't figured this out yet, point out your hobby is a better use of time and money than nudie bars. Wins 'em over every time.
My wife keeps complaining that I won't go with her to nudie bars! People are strange, I guess.
Hmmm, one of my Magic Buddies ended up getting dumped by his girlfriend because he wouldn't stop playing magic with me. (She called it "the nerdy stuff") Wich is a darn shame cause she was really good looking and pretty nice most of the time.
gorgon wrote:BINGO! If your SO has a problem with wargaming and hasn't figured this out yet, point out your hobby is a better use of time and money than nudie bars. Wins 'em over every time.
My wife keeps complaining that I won't go with her to nudie bars! People are strange, I guess.
gorgon wrote:BINGO! If your SO has a problem with wargaming and hasn't figured this out yet, point out your hobby is a better use of time and money than nudie bars. Wins 'em over every time.
My wife keeps complaining that I won't go with her to nudie bars! People are strange, I guess.
My wife much prefers my geekdom to nudie bars.
My wife likes both Never been to a nudie bar though.
Ratbarf wrote:Hmmm, one of my Magic Buddies ended up getting dumped by his girlfriend because he wouldn't stop playing magic with me. (She called it "the nerdy stuff") Wich is a darn shame cause she was really good looking and pretty nice most of the time.
Sounds like he had a lucky escape. Don't care how hot the girl is, if she won't accept you as you are, they are not worth it.
Actually i had not heard about this, but a quick google search and i am slightly worried about people so obsessed with that kind of thing they would pay $8 a download... i mean not as if the internet is not full of free porn in the first place... the links off the page to such things as 'FPS operation sex, cock and load' is raising a few eyebrows here at work.
The larping thing and sites like this make me feel i have a long way to go before i might be considered a real geek, which is a good thing
Ozymandias wrote:The basic premise is sound. Take foam weapons, get your friends, beat the sh*t out of each other. Good times
Yeah, I get that part of it too. It's kind of like NASCAR. The part that involves a weekend at the track drinking cheap beer -- I get it. The part where people get *really* into the racing for the racing...well, they might as well be from Neptune.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Sounds like he had a lucky escape. Don't care how hot the girl is, if she won't accept you as you are, they are not worth it.
I'd counter that by saying any healthy relationship involves give and take. If the girl felt neglected, good for her for dumping the guy. He prioritized a card game over the hot chick. Again...Neptune.
IMO, that's at the heart of this whole discussion. Some guys want gamer chicks because they think that means they don't have to adapt or adjust their lifestyle. IMO, you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think that. Relationships are compromise.
If it was because on a particular night, you might have a point there. But I suspect from the way it was written, she just didn't want her boyfriend being a bit geeky, in which case good riddance.
gorgon wrote:
I'd counter that by saying any healthy relationship involves give and take. If the girl felt neglected, good for her for dumping the guy. He prioritized a card game over the hot chick. Again...Neptune.
IMO, that's at the heart of this whole discussion. Some guys want gamer chicks because they think that means they don't have to adapt or adjust their lifestyle. IMO, you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you think that. Relationships are compromise.
But Gorg! Can't you see that gamer chicks are perfect for geeky guys? Why expand your hobbies outside of the mancave and work out to look good? Can't you see that gamer chicks are above normal girls and can accept you for who you REALLY are? Besides, lifting weights, running through neighborhoods, learning basic clothing/color theory, and showering takes too much work.
The danger with sharing hobbies is that it can be quite expensive.
A buddy of mine (who used to frequent here) and his wife are both gamers, and pretty hardcore (wargames, not rpgs). Let's just say when they go to the store or con, neither of them remembers to play the sane one. Yeah, their lead mountain makes mine look like Iowa after a rainstorm. Ridiculous. It would be bigger but he's a really fast painter.
gorgon wrote:Umm, I guess. Personally, I never saw the appeal of competing in the tiny pool of gamer chicks (you can't tell me the LARP pool is truly deep or wide). Considering the ratios involved there (and the overall quality of female), that seems like a losing strategy to me.
Why not just clean yourself up a little and get a nice, normal girl? Seriously, put in a little effort and you'll do better in the bigger pool. Although don't talk about LARPing for a while. Maybe ever. My wife doesn't have anything against my wargaming hobby, but I suspect divorce papers would served to me if I started LARPing.
The marketing professional in me also feels compelled to tell you that "LARP" just sounds dorky. Perhaps you'd find more social acceptance with a better acronym?
Seriously, what is a normal girl? Each one of us has our own definition of normal. Girls, if you haven't bothered to notice are all normal. So are guys. Each with varied interests and freakiness. What is normal to one is odd and obscure to another. I'd say that while you don't find the appeal in LARPing, that there are plenty of others that do find the appeal. I don't LARP, and won't, as it doesn't appeal to me either, but to say it's a small pool is rediculous. The SCA is huge from what I remember and there are branches of "LARPs" all over the world.. That's hardly shallow and narrow now isn't it?
gorgon wrote:Umm, I guess. Personally, I never saw the appeal of competing in the tiny pool of gamer chicks (you can't tell me the LARP pool is truly deep or wide). Considering the ratios involved there (and the overall quality of female), that seems like a losing strategy to me.
Why not just clean yourself up a little and get a nice, normal girl? Seriously, put in a little effort and you'll do better in the bigger pool. Although don't talk about LARPing for a while. Maybe ever. My wife doesn't have anything against my wargaming hobby, but I suspect divorce papers would served to me if I started LARPing.
The marketing professional in me also feels compelled to tell you that "LARP" just sounds dorky. Perhaps you'd find more social acceptance with a better acronym?
Seriously, what is a normal girl? Each one of us has our own definition of normal. Girls, if you haven't bothered to notice are all normal. So are guys. Each with varied interests and freakiness. What is normal to one is odd and obscure to another. I'd say that while you don't find the appeal in LARPing, that there are plenty of others that do find the appeal. I don't LARP, and won't, as it doesn't appeal to me either, but to say it's a small pool is rediculous. The SCA is huge from what I remember and there are branches of "LARPs" all over the world.. That's hardly shallow and narrow now isn't it?
A person who likes going to places with a variety of people (malls, parties, clubs, etc.), socializing with a large group of different people, has many interests with maybe a few that are more important but does not obsess over is what I personally call normal. People who obsess over a few subjects/activities, does not take care of themselves, and only socializes with a narrow group with overwhelming shared interests is not who I'd call normal.
A normal girl then might larp on some weekends and enjoy it. She won't talk about it unless the subject comes up. An abnormal girl would do this obsessively and it would be annoying to converse with her because she'll bring up the topic all the time. This is why warhams players who can only talk about their army, and redirect the conversation back to warhams even after you've attempted to talk about sports/news/politics/other hobbies, are annoying. So I guess the test is to see how good of a conversationalist the person is.
A person who likes going to places with a variety of people (malls, parties, clubs, etc.), socializing with a large group of different people, has many interests with maybe a few that are more important but does not obsess over is what I personally call normal. People who obsess over a few subjects/activities, does not take care of themselves, and only socializes with a narrow group with overwhelming shared interests is not who I'd call normal.
A normal girl then might larp on some weekends and enjoy it. She won't talk about it unless the subject comes up. An abnormal girl would do this obsessively and it would be annoying to converse with her because she'll bring up the topic all the time. This is why warhams players who can only talk about their army, and redirect the conversation back to warhams even after you've attempted to talk about sports/news/politics/other hobbies, are annoying. So I guess the test is to see how good of a conversationalist the person is.
That's the rub. your definition of normal, and my definition of normal might be completely the same, partially different, or diometrically opposed, the bottom line is whatever your definition of normal will suit your needs and you will gravitate to that group of normal and to the rest of us who don't have the same definition, you will not be normal. Then while all of us who claim we are normal, will look like distorted abnormals to you and your friends.. There is no right or wrong definition. But realize as normal as you think you are, you will still be abnormal to someone, somewhere.. That's my point..
With your story, someone who doesn't enjoy Larping would see that as abnormal, while a whole group of people who obsess about it would like to talk about it often. If you came up and started talking at max squat and bench press, they'd look at you as if you'd just stepped in dog crap and would run away.. both of you are realitively normal.. just not to each other. Like-minded people consider like-minded people to be normal. They see anyone outside their realm ass odd or not normal..
Walk into a Democratic political party and start talking about Republican ideas and see if they consider you normal.. It ain't gonna happen.
Kilkrazy wrote:If you count re-enaction as a kind of LARPing the pool is even higher.
What is re-enacting if it isn't Live Action role-play? It's live, it's action and you are replaying/roleplaying an event .. fictional or non-fictional really doesn't matter to me.. I see the civil war re-enactors as LARPers.. Now, I'm sure there is a hardcore grey coat that will challenge me to duel because I am lumping him in with those "goofy" renfair louts.. But the last civil-war re-enactment I was at (I Live in Virginia, so we have tons of historic re-enactments every year) had more people speaking the lingo and more officer to enlisted down speak than I've ever heard at any renfair..
with that in mind, if you aren't a parrothead, do you think all those margarita drinking, parrothead gear wearing, corral reef swimming, manatee preservationists are normal? does it really matter in the end? I think not. We are all odd in one way or another..
A person who likes going to places with a variety of people (malls, parties, clubs, etc.), socializing with a large group of different people, has many interests with maybe a few that are more important but does not obsess over is what I personally call normal. People who obsess over a few subjects/activities, does not take care of themselves, and only socializes with a narrow group with overwhelming shared interests is not who I'd call normal.
A normal girl then might larp on some weekends and enjoy it. She won't talk about it unless the subject comes up. An abnormal girl would do this obsessively and it would be annoying to converse with her because she'll bring up the topic all the time. This is why warhams players who can only talk about their army, and redirect the conversation back to warhams even after you've attempted to talk about sports/news/politics/other hobbies, are annoying. So I guess the test is to see how good of a conversationalist the person is.
That's the rub. your definition of normal, and my definition of normal might be completely the same, partially different, or diometrically opposed, the bottom line is whatever your definition of normal will suit your needs and you will gravitate to that group of normal and to the rest of us who don't have the same definition, you will not be normal. Then while all of us who claim we are normal, will look like distorted abnormals to you and your friends.. There is no right or wrong definition. But realize as normal as you think you are, you will still be abnormal to someone, somewhere.. That's my point..
With your story, someone who doesn't enjoy Larping would see that as abnormal, while a whole group of people who obsess about it would like to talk about it often. If you came up and started talking at max squat and bench press, they'd look at you as if you'd just stepped in dog crap and would run away.. both of you are realitively normal.. just not to each other. Like-minded people consider like-minded people to be normal. They see anyone outside their realm ass odd or not normal..
Walk into a Democratic political party and start talking about Republican ideas and see if they consider you normal.. It ain't gonna happen.
I know what you're trying to say. But consider that humans are meant to be social animals with certain needs, blah blah blah. Therefore I consider antisocial or asocial behavior abnormal. Being unable to talk about much about anything aside from a few narrow topics, therefore deliberately impeding social progress with new people, is why I'd classify that as abnormal.
I have enough tact to know not to talk about the gym to people who aren't interested. I know most people have enough tact to know when to talk about something interesting to both parties and not just OMG CHECK OUT MY LATEST PAINTED FIGURE AND MY FLUFF FOR THEM every single time you talked to them. It's been a while since I've seen you around and had a good conversation, but remember when I was sometimes the last one out of the GW shop? We would talk about politics or your old job or my then-nursing-major and the quirks in there or religion or some fun topic. We could hold a conversation that wasn't just about warhams. Some of the guys at the store have difficulty doing even that - nevermind girls. If they talked to you they would only talk about warhams. Every. Single. Time. They seemed like one-dimensional characters you only read about in literature or other media with stereotypes, like the soup nazi or newman from seinfeld, who seemed bland and uninteresting. You'd think there was more to them, but to be a flat, one-dimensional person doesn't seem "human" to me, much less normal.
Sure, could they be vastly interesting aside from something they're really into? Sure. But if they can only talk about that one thing and never hold a good conversation outside from it, would I ever know that? I can't read minds. I can only assume from what I know and that is: that person is abnormal. Sometimes I've been surprised and given a person a chance and find out they have some kickass hobbies outside of painting warhams figures. They ride dirtbikes or play rugby or have a mean volleyball serve. But if they don't talk about these other things and sometimes act like high-functioning autistics about one subject all the time, would I really be at fault for thinking that's all they're into and shun them for being uninteresting?
I don't think it's about like-mindedness. I think it's about being interesting enough to have good conversations instead of being a boring, one-sided sack you can classify as a stereotype. If you notice, I've never once talked about "normal people are into THIS while those nerds are into THOSE." It's about being interesting as a person.
Makes it harder for the carrier to interpret other people's thoughts and emotions in social situations.
I've wondered if there is a direct correlation with ASD's, Autism, ADD, ADHD, etc and the unhealthy diets that most of our children and youngun's are being bombarded with. Somewhere, I have a thesis I wrote up in my first year of college about how preservatives and additives are in direct relation with the amount of hyper activity and attention deficit syndromes. The numbers are astronomically increasing with the amount of fast food consumed and junk food consumed.
I'd rather not get on a rant about eating habits, when all we are discussing is the "normal" people.. lol
If you must know he only plays magic with the group on Fridays. (Friday night magic) and once or twice a week during lunch. He only spends about 80 dollars or less a month. Pretty much whenever he played with us she would say he was "Playin that geeky game again" and then usually pout. But he spent the rest of the time with her.
And I wouldrank her at an 8 out of ten if ten is Jessica Alba and a 1 one is passable. She was ridiculously hot for a geeks girlfriend lol.
stonefox wrote:Yep. I remember making a thread on dakka about a year ago about the whole SCA thing. The no-jabbing part might be the reason fencing isn't as helpful. Same with kendo and shomenuchi (straight overhead) swings. And yes, the weight is too much. Apart from the fact that fencing is all about more "civilized" renaissance duels with sleeker swords, the pvc+foam contraptions are often heavier than real swords. I guess it's no surprise that people think swords weighed 6-10 pounds when they really only weighed 3-4 - besides cavalry monstrosities of course.
Overall, it certainly doesn't help with the fantasy-embodiment image. "Oh I can't fight well so I'll make rules so those football playin' jocks who can wrestle and fence can't really do much with their skills." :-P
The SCA is not larp. I fight in the SCA and while they have rules about "dressing period" during events. Thet's as far as any "larping" goes. Its more about creating an atmosphere. We don't use PVC, our "swords" are made from rattan and are 2.5 to 6lbs. I don't know what No jabbing means. We can stab, thrust, punch block. SCA does allow over the head swings. Football players and Jocks do really well in the heavy lists. Football actually helps when the two forces crash into each other. Same ideas low center of gravity and lift.
While wrestling my not be allowed, there are groups that do play with the SCA that do allow it, and is a lot of fun when they let you play with them.
Fencing is well fencing.
Many larpers tag along at SCA events, but thet's not what the SCA is about, and they are not discouraged by most. So they may appear to be part of the culture.
Makes it harder for the carrier to interpret other people's thoughts and emotions in social situations.
I've wondered if there is a direct correlation with ASD's, Autism, ADD, ADHD, etc and the unhealthy diets that most of our children and youngun's are being bombarded with. Somewhere, I have a thesis I wrote up in my first year of college about how preservatives and additives are in direct relation with the amount of hyper activity and attention deficit syndromes. The numbers are astronomically increasing with the amount of fast food consumed and junk food consumed.
I'd rather not get on a rant about eating habits, when all we are discussing is the "normal" people.. lol
There is anecdotal evidence to support it, for example, when Jamie Oliver did his campaign to improve school food, the teachers reported better behaviour in the classroom after the diet in the canteen was upgraded. However, this may have been caused by placebo effect or even simply by the presence of the film crews in the schools. Apart from the problem of allowing for such effects, wide-spread experiments on childrens' diet are unethical.
Alternatively, improved medicine (to use a very broad term) may lead to higher rates of detection of such syndromes. For example, dyslexia was practically unknown in the 1950s and children who had difficulty reading and writing were simply thought to be stupid or lazy.
Methinks thou dost protest too much.. by any other name a rose is still a rose. That's like saying catsup and ketchup are different. Only someone completely immersed in said SCA would bother to try to sell a difference.
Only someone afraid that LARPers are more nerdy than SCA attendees.. Again, don't get upset about it, embrace it. It's yours, so enjoy it and who cares what anyone else thinks.. Just don't get upset if someone calls you a ninny.. Or repeats quotes from "The Holy Grail" ....
Black Knight: Okay, we'll call it a draw.
King Arthur: [Preparing to leave] Come, Patsy.
[King Arthur and Patsy ride off]
Black Knight: [calling after King Arthur] Oh! Had enough, eh? Come back and take what's coming to you, you yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you! I'll bite your legs off!
Methinks thou dost protest too much.. by any other name a rose is still a rose. That's like saying catsup and ketchup are different. Only someone completely immersed in said SCA would bother to try to sell a difference.
Only someone afraid that LARPers are more nerdy than SCA attendees.. Again, don't get upset about it, embrace it. It's yours, so enjoy it and who cares what anyone else thinks.. Just don't get upset if someone calls you a ninny.. Or repeats quotes from "The Holy Grail" ....
Black Knight: Okay, we'll call it a draw.
King Arthur: [Preparing to leave] Come, Patsy.
[King Arthur and Patsy ride off]
Black Knight: [calling after King Arthur] Oh! Had enough, eh? Come back and take what's coming to you, you yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you! I'll bite your legs off!
Makes it harder for the carrier to interpret other people's thoughts and emotions in social situations.
Yes I would not call anyone with such a condition "normal." Then again assburgers is quite common on the internets so I guess that's why many geeks have an inferiority complex when talking about why they can't carry on a sane conversation that isn't about their furry female space marines.
Yeah OK, Whatever.
He means: SCA, LARP, same difference. I guess it's like warhams and warhams40k to anyone who (rightly) doesn't care about the diff between the two. It's all toy soldiers and sweaty, balding men.
Rest of the world seriously needs to learn a bit from swedish Larpers.
Although don't talk about LARPing for a while. Maybe ever. My wife doesn't have anything against my wargaming hobby, but I suspect divorce papers would served to me if I started LARPing.
My wife keeps complaining that I won't go with her to nudie bars! People are strange, I guess.