Im intrigued being in my late twenties married and employed full time (and having zero interest in my "forced" career choice) are you ridiculed by your Family,Friends,Spouses,and Workmates for playing Warhammer,Warhammer 40k and various other (viewed as geek) hobbies such as liking Sci-Fi,Anime,Computers,MMORPG'S and such.

I only ask because I and my Wife had my mother over for dinner tonight and I asked my Wife seeing as I have 8 days sickness weither or not she would indulge me in a game of Warhammer 40k if she agreed I would indulge her in one of her hobbies as exchange (such as scrapbooking or something else).I was intrigued as weither or not she would find it interesting and (even enjoy it) hey presto new player/painter/collector to the hobby.

I kindly offered to wash the dishes (seeing as I have been at home all day like a lazy bum) my mother followed me into the kitchen and said "What the hell is a 27 year old man like you doing asking your wife YOUR! wife! to play Warhammer god lad GROW UP!" I looked faberghasted of all the people I least expected her to be like she was someone who has supported %70ish or so of my decisions in life.

I have had this from the school bully the donkey-cave who doesnt know me but my own Mother it kind of saddens me.I remember reading a while back in White Dwarf of a miniature painter who quit University and took up painting he honed his skills and was ridiculed by his father funny Daddy was wrong and he is now a prolific painter for Eavy Metal.How about that for one in the eye of standard eh? He learned most of his skills from his brother.

so the floor is now yours fellow Dakkites....Discuss.

According to my parents, other family and old educational persons my painting/collecting/playing of warhammer is just an brain abberation for procrastinating and an excuse as to why I do not work hard enough or 'put things off' (not that I'm hugely guilty of either). Its depressing because warhammer is a hobby I really enjoy and have stuck with for 11 years now, and yet the older people within my life tell me I am wasting my time/life trying to better my painting skills. Not that this will put me off playing warhammer in the future.

On the flip side, my brother ridicules me for playing, yet secretly collects space marines. My girlfriend is also supportive of my hobby, calling it 'nerdy, but cute' and really enjoying the background elements, not that I'll ever get her to play a game. My closer friends from work and Uni at first insulted me for collecting warhammer, but after seeing the results of my work, and realising its not just a phase they are happy to just let it continue, so long as I dont try and get them involved, which is fine I guess. So warhammer to some earns me ridicule, and others accept it as a hobby I really enjoy.

yeah i get from my girlfriend for playing.
i think its a natural down side of playing, everyone who dosn't play or have some vague interest in it finds it easier to complain than bother to have a look at the hobby
ooh well, as long as there are more "nerds" for me to play with im happy

I agree I have a knack of really p***ing people off though cause for every one of their "Warhammer is crap" quotes they have I come back with "And drinking and p***ing your money away on endless boozy nights out and watching football plus a string of sexual health threatening one night stands isnt??" Makes me kind of sick that the accepted norm is puking your guts up in a gutter and making a t**t out of yourself.

I drink i like a party I dont make a serial habit of it not like %100 of the brainless bozo's that ridicule our hobby.

The hobby doesnt generate enough income yet its not seen as a "serious" avenue of income for families and the staffers at GW have horrendous wages but what fuels some of them is their love of the hobby (If im wrong im wrong).

I also hate people who sell out the hobby i.e hardcore one moment the next not weither it be for a Girlfriend or to impress a Boss or something equally worthless.

But do continue discussing.

BOSS_PIMPALOTZ wrote: "And drinking and p***ing your money away on endless boozy nights out and watching football plus a string of sexual health threatening one night stands isnt??"

Gorechild likes this

very true, its kind of reasonable people saying its "a waste of money" purely because GW charge such insane prices. but when you compair it to alot of other hobbies its not all that different...someone playing guitar for example...youve got to spend atleast £150 to get a half reasonable electric then there's an amp and stuff, plus lessons on top if you bother...when you look at it like that its no more expensive than most hobbies

BOSS_PIMPALOTZ wrote:
I kindly offered to wash the dishes (seeing as I have been at home all day like a lazy bum) my mother followed me into the kitchen and said "What the hell is a 27 year old man like you doing asking your wife YOUR! wife! to play Warhammer god lad GROW UP!" I looked faberghasted of all the people I least expected her to be like she was someone who has supported %70ish or so of my decisions in life.

I recommend severing contact with her. You don't need that kind of negativity in your personal space, man.

My wife knew I was a geek when we met (hell, we met at an SF convention - can't get much geekier than that).
She not only doesn't give me grief about my hobby, but actually supports me and even pays for my stuff (I'm the home-hubby. It's easier to keep a job you already have up here than find a new one. Local unemployment rates are hideous).

There are some non-geeks that I do hang with, but I don't talk about the hobby around them unless I know they at least understand what it is.

Well, I just don't bother making fun of other people's hobbies. It's strange though. Their response seems to be to not make fun of mine. It's not perfect, but it works most of the time.

I moved from a small rural town to a medium-sized rural city... took a break from the hobby for a couple of years. I started getting involved in my new local store and club after starting my most recent job, as it turned out the other technician I worked with was a 40K player. Now a significant number of my friends up here are regulars at that store. My girlfriend only complains when I leave knives, sprues and glue around the place, and my parents are far too far away to have any comment.

I've never been ridiculed by anyone for playing 40k,honestly,I'm more freak than geek(started wearing a liberty spike mohawk at 15,covered in tattoos,bass player for a dozen or so punk bands,wild slam dancing,beer swilling,girl chasing nights...you get the picture)
40k is a part of an already bizzare life (even though I don't sport a mohawk anymore,and I've settled down a bit),so for the most part every one who knows me sees me painting little soilders and go "well that figures".
My girlfriend (hell,no girl I've ever been serious with) has no problem with it,she thinks the minis are cool,and my family,well there just happy I've settled down.

I've never gotten more than a good natured ribbing from my boss - who is mildly interested in the hobby himself. My co-workers find painting/modelling to be another interesting, quirky habit and many of them check up on my progress while I'm painting or converting.

The parents never supported my painting, but never poo-poo'ed it either. I don't have many friends, but their opinions are along the lines of my co-worker's. The wife is mildly supportive and resigned to the fact I've staked out the kitchen table as my work space.

I got a lot of grief from my brother when he was in the army. He would endlessly make snide little comments about how unrealistic it is. I've tried to explain to people what Warhammer 40,000 is, and most of them seem unable to get past that it's not a video game. I got all the drinking and partying out of my system before I got into gaming, so I guess it's just another phase. I say that twenty-plus years later. I have noticed that if I'm out at a restaurant with a few of my gamer friends and we start exchanging stories about our most recent games we get a little loud, and we get some nervous looks from the people at other tables. I don't worry too much about it.

From Gf's. They call it Dungeons and Dragons. Not all but some.

One friend said, if girls find out about this hobby its over. Frankly I dont want to be with someone that will use a wargaming hobby as criteria as to wether or not they wish to be with someone.

My wife doesn't really 'get' it, and is periodically irritated by the piles of grey plastic bits on the coffee table (at which point I whisk them away). But she tolerates it because it means I'm at home and not up to no good. Unfortunately, few of the people I meet in connection with my job have any interest in it.

I find that the best way to win over people who don't understand this hobby is to show them something really well painted. Most people will appreciate that, even if the rest of it doesn't mean anything.

They don't dare ridicule that which they fear...

My co-workers find it odd, but thought it was cool once I showed them the difference between a model in the blister and what I could do with it with posing and painting.

Not me. I could come to work in a pink spandex tutu and wouldn't get much crap for it though. I'm nowhere near that bad (believe me), but a large frame in a shop full of short people combined with a semi-constant glower and strings of profanity that would make Ralphie's dad from "A Christmas Story" blush seem to convince people that I am not the one with whom to feth.

But actually I'm a shy person.

Most of my family is impressed with my work (the whole OMG HOW DID YOU PAINT SOMETHING THAT SMALL!? thing). My girlfriend is the only one that actually makes fun of me for playing Warhammer.

then you need to wronghole her. lol

Most people I know don't really care. We all have fun cracking a few nerdhammer jokes, but most people at least appreciate the work that goes into actually painting them(although if I have to tell someone to pick that god-damn Eldar Ranger up by the base one more time...).

My girlfriend supports the hobby, my dad supports the hobby, and my mom's used to it since my dad's been wargaming for years. Most of my friends think it's cool or at least the painting/modeling side is cool. It's not the first thing I bring up when I meet new people, but I seldom get a negative reaction from it. Then again, people are a little more understanding in college than in highschool.

smart_alex wrote:From Gf's. They call it Dungeons and Dragons. Not all but some.

One friend said, if girls find out about this hobby its over. Frankly I dont want to be with someone that will use a wargaming hobby as criteria as to wether or not they wish to be with someone.

<<<<<<<<<<< you people talk some crap sometimes!
Not all girl are so bloody stupid. Your own damn fault if you end up with a girl who would ridicule you for doing something you enjoy, Same as it's my fault for being with a guy who thinks 40k is "for guys who can't get laid" and looks at me like im speaking a diff language when i talk about upgradeing my PC.
either way...Stop making us sound liek where all bloody simple when In fact some of us are quite happy to just let you men do What ever the hell it is you like so long as we can do the same!!

oddly, i've never gotten crap from anyone about it, though plenty of "how the hell do you paint those tiny things"
i wonder at times if its cause i looked kinda like a metalhead for a few years

BOSS_PIMPALOTZ wrote:

I kindly offered to wash the dishes (seeing as I have been at home all day like a lazy bum) my mother followed me into the kitchen and said "What the hell is a 27 year old man like you doing asking your wife YOUR! wife! to play Warhammer god lad GROW UP!" I looked faberghasted of all the people I least expected her to be like she was someone who has supported %70ish or so of my decisions in life.

hmmmm. I'm going out on a limb her but maybe Mom knows her boy. Maybe she sees her son unhappy in a job and so widdles away time in some gaming or other fantasy hobbies. Maybe mom sees the gaming isn't in balance with other things in your life. Really...I don't know what I'd have to do the get my OWN MOTHER to attack and ridicule me and at the same time defend her daughter in law and her "wants".

I'm not trying to start a pissing match. I'm just seeing your posts and thinking that a Mom coming outta the blue at you about something this trivial must have a bigger back story.

Regarding my own interests... I paint when I can. I don't bring it up at work. I try and get a game with my friends (usually a Friday night 2 times a month). It is my outlet vs. Golf or as stated drinking watching the REAL AMERICAN FOOTBALL all day on Sunday. Do folks find it odd? Those that know sure (including the spouse). Do I defend it? Nope. Is it in healthy balance with the other items in my life... (wife, kids, work)... yep.

The wife tolerates the hobby and I've jokingly asked if she wanted to play now and then. One time she came into the basement and pretended she was interested in playing... Turns out she only wanted me for sex.... I caved.

Lets do a run down of family members and reactions

Mother - bought my 1st models as christmas present, so resigned to the fact its her fault
Father - did join and did some stuff with me when i was younger but he grew out of it!
Brother - brought him to the dark side
Missus - Knew about it, excepted it, even tried to get involved but not really interested! only light hearted joking
Friends - males - either tried when they were younger or knew someone who did most not bothered couple try but just laugh at them when they spend 3k a year following sports team for a year!
- Females - generally just amazed something that small can be painted!

Work lot - hell i use the hobby in my CV!! as rugby player who is 6ft and 17 stone it lends a certain contrast to what people expect

I have never been ridiculed for my hobby be either my partner or family. My partner just accepted the fact that I am a geek, and would rather I be home playing/painting than bar hopping. When I was in my teens (I'm 30 now), my father was really supportive of my hobby, because I was doing something creative with my mind/hands. My father was a carpenter, and thought the whole painting aspect was pretty cool

I have not escaped ridicule. While my brother has in fact joined me in my hobby, (crazy about eldar) my father regularily remarks on how I should stop playing these silly games and get off 'Dakdak' as he calls it, and should start saving up for a car.

I don't take kindly to this sort of talk and while I'm not dumb enough to say anything in the presence of my father (or indeed any of my spouse) I can't help feeling a little resentful that he thinks so little of my hobby. After all it was HE would buy Spitfires and Mishismitts when we were kids and we would both put them together and paint them.

My parents actively encouraged it whilst I was younger, I think they took the view its better then booze/drugs and knew I really enjoyed it with my mates.
Now that Im quite a bit older, I dont think they think twice about it, although my old one recently commented on how can I have the patience to paint so many models.

My closest mates, I play with regularly (with heavy amounts of drink involved mind you), those that are outside the core group know, but seem to have little interest in ribbing me over it.

Ex girlfirends (haha, yes I see the irony there), were mildly amused by it, called it either "Army" or "nerdhammer" but didnt seem to care either way.

As for co-workers (and 85% of mine are women) I've actually showed them pics of it on the net, specifically forgeworld and they simply "just dont get it". I did however assign them all races based on their personalities, suffice to say assigning Orks/Chaos was a tricky one

For me nowadays (and yes I was one of those young guys that didnt talk about it/kept it on the QT), I simply dont care what people think and if I get to talking about it, I think my passion for it and the way I describe it gets people mildly interested/amused.
So happy days.

Friendly jibes, and Mum will occasionally go go "that was HOW much !?", but then I bring up the fact that she will go away to Stamp Camp and come back three or four hundred dollars poorer, and when she goes shopping, she can buy hundred dollar jeans.

That's about it really. Most of my friends are nerds anyway. Either Sci fi/Yugioh/MTG/Joss Whedon/Warhammer or combinations thereof.

Once your old it doesnt really matter.


Oh and I got my boss addicted to the game, and he now owns more armies than me..

I even got a shadowsword as a bonus one year =)

I ridicule people for playing with toy soldiers. It comes with the territory

"I even got a shadowsword as a bonus one year"

haha thats a result!

Just respond, " You rather I be LARPing it up or maybe playing World of Warcraft?"

Ahh not alone.

My wife (of two years - been together 10) hadn't seen my interest in "Shame" (Shame Workshop etc - Her words but intended in a light hearted way) until after we were married. This wasn't because I hid it, I had just fallen out of contact with one of my best friends (and favourite opponent - more fun in gaming than winning) for a number of years and so gaming wasn't a part of my life for a while. Little men started to creep into my life again after I got married as I had a house/wife/job and was comfortable and had recontacted my friend. Initially she looked at me as if I was crazy, then she saw the effort and care I put into it and the results I could produce. Yesterday she even shouted at me for calling it "shame" and pointed out that I was very different from 99% of the grots you see in your FLGS. On Monday she decided to bust into a game of Blood Bowl I was playing and do all my dice rolling for the last four turns.....we won....she did a victory dance, mocked my friend for being beaten by a girl and paraded back to Eastenders. She does get frustrated by my gaming related phone calls to my friend but I know she supports it.

Worryingly she knows the names of my forces and recently said "that's a different scale to RT (I'm dabbling in Epic), What's that about?" I don't know whether this was because she feared that she would lose more of her house to wargaming but i was impressed she noticed. She regularly accepts my friend and I taking over our house for three or four days at a time and monopolising the table. She does enjoy going into GW sometimes and simply scaring the staff/customers by being an extremely attractive female and knowing stuff about the hobby.

She is a jewellery designer and antiques dealer and recently realised that my skills with plastic, glue, sculpting and painting could be put to good use in restoration....now finding it harder to get back to modelling rather than repairing figurines etc.

My brother got me into gaming...he didn't have the patience or artistic skill and gave up; giving me his stuff..I nabbed his gaming friends and continued from there.

My mum has always supported me, she has always loved frazetta and fantasy art (and is the reason i love fantasy/sci-fi) but still spouts the classic " how can you paint such tiny things? OH god you've even done the eyes...." She just presumed my wife had always known.

As far as other friends are concerned I simply don't bring it up. I consider football as overpaid grown men chasing an inflated pig and a waste of time but fair enough if you like that thing. I'm 6'1 work as a Tree surgeon, have two degrees, have studied Martial Arts for the majority of my life and am a passionate surfer, so its hard for people to instantly label me as a geek, but if it happened I have to console myself with the thought that wargaming is one of the oldest past-times for gentleman the British empire has known (apart from turning up in foreign climes, planting a flag and claiming it as our own ), OK i don't play historic games (don't like playing at scenarios in which real people bravely gave up their lives) but its a skill to paint and model and good gaming takes thought and tactical planning. If someone can't appreciate this then their opinion probably isn't worthwhile anyway.

R3con is right though..as you get older peer pressure bothers you less, and after all it's just a game....

I get grief from my teenage daughter.. my 8 year old thinks the figs are the neatest things.. and there HAVE been days when the Nids she helped paint go all nuts on the Littlest Pet Shop animals.. gotta love that.

The Teen thinks that Dad should not be spending the funds on models & games when there is stuff like IPODs, ITunes, and why oh why don't we have a video game system?

R3con wrote:Once your old it doesnt really matter.


Oh and I got my boss addicted to the game, and he now owns more armies than me..

I even got a shadowsword as a bonus one year =)

That is cool my boss (My new one) is a corporate whore who "Talks Shop" 24/7 my old boss however got my Fallout 3 for my B day this year so kudos and all that to him.

But that is just sooo cool.


Plus I am loving the varying degrees of oppinion here appears that everyone on here has more positive support from their families then I do But i suppose thats because my Brothers are all die hard football fans and they think I came out wrong ;S but I made a stand when I was 15-16 to be different its a struggle but I believe I have maintained by individuality some say I have a "attitude" problem and that saddens me as I have as much attitude as Elmo.

But this afternoon I am going to crack on as usual I have 10/11 days to get a significant proportion of Modelling/painting done.

But carry on do discuss more or if this is attracting the attention of MODs (For being a annoying subject or just a rehashed one) you can shut it down .

Wow. I hate to say this but your mother was totally out of order. Regardless of you being her son she was still a guest in your home and to attack your host in such a manner is just plain unacceptable. Did your wife complain to her after about playing the game you left the room or was this just a rant she decided to have off her own back?

As for me, the family have never had anything negative to say about it. I’ve always taken a friendly ribbing from friends/gf’s but it was all in good humour. Much the same as the way I ribb them for their hobbies of choice, it’s all quid pro quo. Any woman who would not go out with you based or your hobby simply isn’t worth it.

I don't really have a problem. Most of my friends are in the music/fashion/art industry, and not the sort of people who'd play, but I've never got any stick for it. Most of my friends find it funny, and since I started posting links to my blog on facebook, a few former players have come out of the woodwork.

On the other hand, it's not something I generally mention at work. I'm freelance, have a rotating pool of new 'clients', and it's important that they see me as a professional adult. This doesn't mean i hide it, I just don't really mention it to people I work with...

I'm HEAVILY tattooed, and the girlfriend has a small army of both CM and Orks, she prefers to assemble and paint more than play, but I pay for them, so i get to use them as well

My wife likes to tell and show people my "nerd" room. That is the room with my game table and the majority of my models. When my friends and I are playing a game she'll bring people down to show them the nerds in the basement. I'm not sure if she's proud or showing me off like a carnival freak...

The rest of my family makes fun of me for playing with "toys" and for spending what they consider absurd amounts of money on them.

I get it all the time from my mates I go drinking with..

Aint that bothered really as even the gaming group we have call each other geeks too.

We go to Gamesday normally look around and say
" me, were not like that.. (pointing to the guys with rulebook in hand and questioning every move you make)"

Though I actually get recognition from my mum saying its the only thing i've actually it stuck out.

What I like doing the most is just looking at models in a GW store (only 5 mins I might add) and our lass moans "whats taking so long" straight after taking me on a 3hour shopping trip.

Sorry my French aint that good

Warhammer-especially 40k is quite a big thing in my area, and i often recognize people from my local GW. My parents gave me the starting funds for it, and my mum likes the painting aspect (though she didn't like my spawn ) I get ribbed by my brother, but nothing major. Out and about like all my friends know i play, and alot of them hold 40k tournies during holidays. This one guy ruins it by like, painting 24/7 and getting hyped if anyone comes within like, 2 yards of him or asks 2 take a look at his (badly) painted models. Heck, this guy called Anthony reckoned it would be considered cool if it wasn't for him

I haven't caught much flak about it - most of my buddies just smirk and call me a nerd. The girls I've dated either think it's very artistic and cool, or they just slot it into the same category as "fantasy football" and roll their eyes when it's mentioned.

gf says its a waste of money and extremely nerdy, yet she thinks its cute and appreciates the time and effort i put into my models (and plus i know she secretly loves the attention she gets off the cave men looking guys in my local GW, all staring at her and giving me that "how the hell did you pull that?" look). Mum likes it that i have something that keeps me busy, as long as im not a local chav, i dont think she cares :p

Closing to mocking I get from my family is when my sister asks if I'm painting their Silver Pants Blue (see 40 Year Old Virgin). I've exposed my hobbies to my co-workers at 4 different jobs. Only at one of these jobs did I actually receive crap about it and that was very minimal.

Of course people tend to not mock those they have to look up to.

The wife occasionally gives me grief about the cleanliness of my gaming area, but after five minutes of me throwing stuff in a closet she forgets about it.

BOSS_PIMPALOTZ wrote:Im intrigued being in my late twenties married and employed full time (and having zero interest in my "forced" career choice) are you ridiculed by your Family,Friends,Spouses,and Workmates for playing Warhammer,Warhammer 40k and various other (viewed as geek) hobbies such as liking Sci-Fi,Anime,Computers,MMORPG'S and such.

I only ask because I and my Wife had my mother over for dinner tonight and I asked my Wife seeing as I have 8 days sickness weither or not she would indulge me in a game of Warhammer 40k if she agreed I would indulge her in one of her hobbies as exchange (such as scrapbooking or something else).I was intrigued as weither or not she would find it interesting and (even enjoy it) hey presto new player/painter/collector to the hobby.

I kindly offered to wash the dishes (seeing as I have been at home all day like a lazy bum) my mother followed me into the kitchen and said "What the hell is a 27 year old man like you doing asking your wife YOUR! wife! to play Warhammer god lad GROW UP!" I looked faberghasted of all the people I least expected her to be like she was someone who has supported %70ish or so of my decisions in life.

I have had this from the school bully the donkey-cave who doesnt know me but my own Mother it kind of saddens me.I remember reading a while back in White Dwarf of a miniature painter who quit University and took up painting he honed his skills and was ridiculed by his father funny Daddy was wrong and he is now a prolific painter for Eavy Metal.How about that for one in the eye of standard eh? He learned most of his skills from his brother.

so the floor is now yours fellow Dakkites....Discuss.

Dunno. You can bring up the point that you have a wife you're sleeping with, have a steady paying job, putting food on the table that SHE is eating, have a roof over you and your wifes head, and doing manly things like providing.

Could be worse, you could be homeless with a drug problem or in jail.

Personally I would not listen to anyone in regards to the hobby. There is worse going on in the world things that you should be doing. Rather than playing with toy soldiers

If you dont want to be ridiculed, don't tell anybody. Its as simple as that. Make sure the people you work with who play know you dont want people to know. Simple as that, people can't make fun of you if they dont know.


For wives and girlfriends, just tell them your watching porn/going to strip clubs/cheating on them during the late hours of the night, it'll be easier for them to understand.

I got into Historical with a bunch of my buddies to learn tactics and stuff, then since I liked Starship Troopers, I bought a box of Guard, then I realized Space Marines are the gak, and went with them.

Do not concern yourself with such comments - I find that as you become older and more successful, what was once "geeky" becomes "charmingly eccentric", "amazing" or just plain cool.

Also, the more power and wealth you accumulate, the less people dare make negative comments....(family included you'll find)

Gordy2000 wrote:Do not concern yourself with such comments - I find that as you become older and more successful, what was once "geeky" becomes "charmingly eccentric", "amazing" or just plain cool.

Also, the more power and wealth you accumulate, the less people dare make negative comments....(family included you'll find)

That's the best damn comment i've read on this topic so far, kudos to you

I was out with a buch of buds one night and one of them had a new girl friend he was showing off. He started trying to give me crap about painting miniatures by telling her I was an artist and should ask me about my work. He then stood back, smirking, thinking I was going to get all flustered talking to a really cute girl about playing with toy soldiers.
I went into total BS mode at this point, telling her that I was at the moment doing photography and went into an extended description of an exibit I was putting on at a local gallery. After I saw she was eating this line up, I went on to say I was looking for a new model. This got her excited, so I asked me to tell me about herself, what motivated her, what she valued, etc. I learned a lot about her and said that I was also a performance artist and the best way to know her potential was to have her work with me on a piece.
She agreed and before my bud knew what was happening, I was snogging his girlfriend in front of him.
Never again did he try to make fun of my gaming.

I'm like most of the guys I get the odd joke about it from some of my mates but all in good fun and as my family is all quite artistic they've never said much about it, i guess they just see it as another form of art.

My Gf doesn't really say much about it either as I don't paint/play while she is round simply for the reason that we live on the opposite sides of London and between my studies and her work any time we see each other is limited.

All in all I'm lucky to be surrounded by sensible people that see it makes me happy.

Relapse wrote:I was out with a buch of buds one night and one of them had a new girl friend he was showing off. He started trying to give me crap about painting miniatures by telling her I was an artist and should ask me about my work. He then stood back, smirking, thinking I was going to get all flustered talking to a really cute girl about playing with toy soldiers.
I went into total BS mode at this point, telling her that I was at the moment doing photography and went into an extended description of an exibit I was putting on at a local gallery. After I saw she was eating this line up, I went on to say I was looking for a new model. This got her excited, so I asked me to tell me about herself, what motivated her, what she valued, etc. I learned a lot about her and said that I was also a performance artist and the best way to know her potential was to have her work with me on a piece.
She agreed and before my bud knew what was happening, I was snogging his girlfriend in front of him.
Never again did he try to make fun of my gaming.

When I grow up, I want to be you.

Relapse wrote:I was out with a buch of buds one night and one of them had a new girl friend he was showing off. He started trying to give me crap about painting miniatures by telling her I was an artist and should ask me about my work. He then stood back, smirking, thinking I was going to get all flustered talking to a really cute girl about playing with toy soldiers.
I went into total BS mode at this point, telling her that I was at the moment doing photography and went into an extended description of an exibit I was putting on at a local gallery. After I saw she was eating this line up, I went on to say I was looking for a new model. This got her excited, so I asked me to tell me about herself, what motivated her, what she valued, etc. I learned a lot about her and said that I was also a performance artist and the best way to know her potential was to have her work with me on a piece.
She agreed and before my bud knew what was happening, I was snogging his girlfriend in front of him.
Never again did he try to make fun of my gaming.

You are by far the coolest guy on this board. Tell us more stories about your sexual conquests!

BOSS_PIMPALOTZ wrote:
I kindly offered to wash the dishes (seeing as I have been at home all day like a lazy bum) my mother followed me into the kitchen and said "What the hell is a 27 year old man like you doing asking your wife YOUR! wife! to play Warhammer god lad GROW UP!" I looked faberghasted of all the people I least expected her to be like she was someone who has supported %70ish or so of my decisions in life.

You see the proper response to this would have been as follows... "Well Mom usually about this time of night we get out the sex swing, the adult toys and the video camera, invite a few swingers we met on Craigslist over and have at it but I figured you would rather watch me play Warhammer instead of getting my freak on, but hey the nights young I can still change my plans!"

Personally you enjoy what you like, there is nothing wrong with playing Warhammer. Many of the players I am friends with have very decent "adult" jobs like insurance agent, police officer, architect, graphic designer, and well paid IT professionals just to name a few. Its a hobby just like golf, etc you do what you like. Tell mom if she wasn't such a hag she would be out on a date instead of having to be entertained by her son. Better yet give me her number I will straighten her out.

My current girlfriend was introduced very early on to my hobby. I am who I am and make no illusions about myself. Most of the men she knew before me were redneck drunks whose claim to fame was watching NASCAR every weekend at the local bar while trying to balance their less then sober butts on the stool while Jeff, Ernie, BillyBob and Larry the Cable Guy made left turns. YeeHaa! Many of her friends met me and raised their eyebrows when they were told I play wargames. Then secretly some of them would corner me later and tell me how much fun it sounded! Dare to be yourself, its the only way to be!

karimabuseer wrote:

Gordy2000 wrote:Do not concern yourself with such comments - I find that as you become older and more successful, what was once "geeky" becomes "charmingly eccentric", "amazing" or just plain cool.

Also, the more power and wealth you accumulate, the less people dare make negative comments....(family included you'll find)

That's the best damn comment i've read on this topic so far, kudos to you

+1

(Of course there will ALWAYS be the occassional insensitive jackass or the understandig best mate regardless of posistion)

Hmm well no-one really ridicules me for playing with "toys" my friends tend to look blankly at them if there out drying or what not, and my family dosen't mind either way. my Boyfriend once Smashed to bits a 1500 point fantasy army i had because his friends thought it would be "FUN!" to see the look on my face. It was not fun...........not fun at all. I guess thats a form of greif right?

Marshal2Crusaders wrote:

Relapse wrote:I was out with a buch of buds one night and one of them had a new girl friend he was showing off. He started trying to give me crap about painting miniatures by telling her I was an artist and should ask me about my work. He then stood back, smirking, thinking I was going to get all flustered talking to a really cute girl about playing with toy soldiers.
I went into total BS mode at this point, telling her that I was at the moment doing photography and went into an extended description of an exibit I was putting on at a local gallery. After I saw she was eating this line up, I went on to say I was looking for a new model. This got her excited, so I asked me to tell me about herself, what motivated her, what she valued, etc. I learned a lot about her and said that I was also a performance artist and the best way to know her potential was to have her work with me on a piece.
She agreed and before my bud knew what was happening, I was snogging his girlfriend in front of him.
Never again did he try to make fun of my gaming.

You are by far the coolest guy on this board. Tell us more stories about your sexual conquests!

Just acting on the inspiration of the moment. Something anyone here can do if they have a reasonable amount of hygene and blather!


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Roze wrote:Hmm well no-one really ridicules me for playing with "toys" my friends tend to look blankly at them if there out drying or what not, and my family dosen't mind either way. my Boyfriend once Smashed to bits a 1500 point fantasy army i had because his friends thought it would be "FUN!" to see the look on my face. It was not fun...........not fun at all. I guess thats a form of greif right?

I hope this guy's not still your boyfriend.

I have two brothers. One that I play 40k with alot, and the other that makes fun of everyone I play with. Infact sometimes its pretty harsh, but it still makes me laugh. Thats about it really

I've honestly never been ridiculed about my little army guys. Been looked at kinda funny about them a couple times from Mom and Dad, but my wife falls into the category of "was at one time interested in playing, now is not but still really likes the look of a painted army". The most she does is give me flak about not cleaning up the workspace on my desk.

People I associate with all have their geeky side. Wife loves Star Wars to no end, been playing D&D with my best friend for years, met a person who came to be a good friend at a local gaming store after meeting him on Dakka, and I work with the coolest bunch of people in the world and the only thing I would get if I brought minis to the workplace would be a bunch of questions asking how'd I paint such tiny things.

There are a couple 40k players at work, too, but they've been out of the hobby for a while and have their minis in storage.

OP - Time to take out the trash! Tell your mum to know her place, if the mrs wern't happy with you she'd soon let you know about it [they have their oh so subtle ways of letting you know!].

My old man used to refer to them as "silly soldiers" but then he probably wanted his car washed at the time rather than me sitting in my room! He did go so far as to say he thought that I would have grown out of playing with toys by now [back when I was about 22] but our neighbour said that after about 10 years it was a hobby and he pretty much STFU since then. I'm much older now and thats about the limit of comments I have gotten, the Mrs occassionally asks what I am doing and whether it is more warhammers? Having said that once in the boozer I did get a mates sister try to point out that I played with toy soldiers whan I was chatting up her friend, I felt compelled to point out that women that have a baby out of wedlock with someone that they were no longer with had more important things to worry about than what I did or didn't do - I think.....she got a bit annoyed at that point and left. Her friend stayed - win double! Go on smell my finger!!

Although I am sitting here at work typing this I can not imagine a situation where I would raise the subject of my interest in wargaming at work, I don't think it would help with looking professional etc.

That being said I am not that comfortable in GW shops [why employ such annoying cretins?] and am very much slowly upping my involvement in wargaming. I might even join a club soon but there are no FLGS near here anymore!

[i]edit - tasteless anecdote added


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Roze wrote:Hmm well no-one really ridicules me for playing with "toys" my friends tend to look blankly at them if there out drying or what not, and my family dosen't mind either way. my Boyfriend once Smashed to bits a 1500 point fantasy army i had because his friends thought it would be "FUN!" to see the look on my face. It was not fun...........not fun at all. I guess thats a form of greif right?

I hope this guy's not still your boyfriend.

I'm not in contact with most of my friends any more, one used to play a bit, but has since given it up. The other never played, and we would mock each other for our various interests, so it was all fun.

My parents don't really mind either way. My brother has recently got back into playing (and we have met up and had a couple of games, which were fun), so no problems there.

Though we have a laugh at walking round trying to hide the fact that we are carrying huge army cases and preserve the illusion that we are are "normal" people.

My gf/soon to be wife (getting married in a couple of weeks) is not really into it... she used to have some of her brothers things to paint when she was younger, and I have bought her a Wood Elf army to paint (she has not touched it yet claiming, quite rightly, that we don't have enough room for her to paint as well as for me to paint, and also that she is not too interested). I don't think she likes the room it takes up, but she likes it when I play aginst my brother (as she likes to see me have fun - it is pretty much the only social interaction I get) but she is still not all that happy about it.

My aunt reecntly came up to see my parents and was shocked to learn that I play... she could just not understand how someone of my age and about to get married could play with little toys, or how I would be allowed to do so

Ah well...

LOL he is still my boyfriend, he replaced the army although i was still pretty devastated. He used to bring it up in conversation that i built "toy soldiers" and played "geek games online" when his friends were about but once he realised they were more intrested in what i did than he's "big me up" stories he stopped doing that. The closest it gets to ridicule now is on occasion he'll tell me to "Just go play with my soldiers" but thats mainly when im handing him his ass on Left 4 dead

Frenzied Potato wrote:Just respond, " You rather I be LARPing it up or maybe playing World of Warcraft?"

You know, as a response to someone making fun of your hobby, making fun of some other hobbies in return is not only completely besides the point, but also immature and stupid. But hey, if you don't mind becoming as big a moron as the people ridiculing you are, that's just fine and dandy, friend.

My method has avoided all ridicule up to now, first I say:
"I'm into 'sciencefiction tabletop miniature strategic wargaming"
Then they go goggle eyed & say: "what?"
Then i respond: I play with plastic toy soldiers.
Now the ridicule is on them for not knowing what my invented term means and me having to explain it in it's simplest form.
Even if they don't feel ridiculed for not knowing, they don't have any material left to work with as i've just used up the most obvious joke they could make of it.

I've never been ridiculed. I like to think it's because I'm the 'cool' gamer.

My friends and family who take zero interest still think the hobby/modeling side is really neat. The GF supports me and will even humor me by playing once in awhile.

I find the easiest way to stop ridicule dead in it's tracks is to agree with it. For example: "Dude, that's nerdy as f***"

"Yeah, it sure is nerdy as f***, but at least I'm interacting with real people in a face-to-face manner. I could be playing WoW."

I haven't been ridiculed for this hobby. Most of my friends think it is pretty cool. That's because I am only friends with cool people.

People who call it a waste of money are usually the type who buy new phones every month for £150/200 ($200/300) and think its necessary. Or the ones who seem to have no deeper fun than sitting infront of the television or texting. Hobbys cost a lot of money, all of them. Just some, like drinking in teen clubs is accepted but some others that were 100% are becoming less acceptable, such as Fishing. This generation (of which I am one) don't understand hobbies, theyre too busy talking on their instant messages and hanging round streets. All the people I know without hobbies are age only spend their money on clothes, nights out (not opposed to it, even though sitting off with mates and ale is much better) and mobiles/contracts. Seems really boring, no mental challenges or stimuli.

I got right in everyone's hostile little face. Yes, these are bruises from wargaming. Yes, I am comfortable with that. I am enlightened.

If anyone says anything, I ask them their favorite film, then call them a nerd for watching a fictional programme and spending money and time on it. Surprisingly they defend such actions and thus prove to me they are are just set in their ways of little army things=nerd

Anyone who thinks a space marine isnt cool is not worth conversing with, because they are liars.

most people laugh until you em your a red belt in shotokan then they run

Personally I've introduced a lot of friends to the hobby, both 40k and Warmachine. I have a few friends that make fun of my little toy soldier hobby...Ironically the one whose most vocal about it plays heroscape... and I'm not implying he only has a few of the kits... he has every single heroscape release. His Heroscape "Room" in his basement is bigger then the room I play 40k in most days....so I don’t pay to much attention to him lol.

As far as my G/F is concerned I'm lucky. She plays/paints PoM for Warmachine, and is currently helping me paint my IG army. She is a pretty big nerd herself and she allows me to pursue videogames/war gaming freely... as long as my legion of plastic soldiers does not sit on the coffee table when guests are over.

My parents don't really see my fascination with the little men I paint... but they don’t give me a hard time about it. They've always let me go my own way for the most part... as long as I don’t come home in the back of a cruiser they are as supportive as I can expect.

My Team Lead at work is really interested in the models, not enough to get into it himself... but he asked me to take him to a GW or hobby shop to pick up something for his kids.

So overall I think I have an easy time with the amount of flack the hobby can throw at people.

We have a development my Wife has agreed to play a game of Warhammer 40k.

So what Im going to do is set up the AOBR set and the away we go if she likes it she likes it if she does he does if she doesnt she doesnt.

So either way Im happy.


Roze id have smashed a bottle of his head WTF doesn he think hes doing?? damned idiot no cretin my mum once swept a 2000pt Imperial Guard 2nd ed army off my desk in my room whilst "laying down the law" when I was 17 I went into her room and smashed up her porcelin statue collection.


To the dude who snogged his mates Girlfriend that is pure genius one in the eye of his standard lifestyle lol "Now f**k with my hobby guess who's f**king your girlfriend" lol

You guys know that anyone that gives you a hard time about being a gamer and playing with toy soldiers is really just insanely jealous of your geek cred, right?

I agree with Nicole.... geek cred is all that really matters!

BOSS_PIMPALOTZ wrote:We have a development my Wife has agreed to play a game of Warhammer 40k.

Have fun scrapbooking


I had a 17yo kid show up at our local shop and ask me "If I had a life" after looking at my tyranid army which has won several awards for painting. I asked him if he had ever stuck his d**k in anything but his sister's dirty underwear..... he just stared at me blankly then walked off.

I have a great job, a smoking hot fiance, I work out, and I have plenty of friends and family. Anyone who gives me crap for a hobby I enjoy is going to get it right back.

No one in my family or anyone that i have been out with has ever said anything against my hobby. If anything for what I do people actually stop to take an interest in it. I have my brother playing and i even had a few girlfriends playing. ex`s now though but I do believe some still have an interest

My dad chucked away some of my 40k stuff when I was a kid.. he dosen't really understand anything unless it makes money.. This ofcourse was just an excuse to get more stuff.

But overall I dont tell anyone I play unless I already play with them.

Warhams is childish though, I can see that, I should become an accountant/lawyer get a wife and get bored get a mistress get divorced lose money drink more.. but right now I paint wardollies.

There was a trainer opening where I work that carried with it a couple bucks an hour raise.
I got it over 100 other applicants by getting through two interviews with the last having me select something to train my interviewers to do.
I brought in some Orks and taught them how to trim,clean, and assemblr miniatures.
They kept the orks on display in their office after they gave me the job.

My bro used to take the piss properly but now only jokingly does it, his favourite line is "Now, Im going to make your Silver pants, blue!". I've always been a little nerdy though, i usually buy Rpg's for games consoles etc so another one he says to me whilst im playing is "To find the wizards key..." - nerdy simpsons character *with voice and all*

My best mate is just as nerdy as me so we take the piss out of ourselves, especially in front of his girlfriend and his brother. Embarrasses them not us ha ha

My mum doesn't say much...she used to offer to go to GW to pick stuff up as i don't really like the cringe fest that is GW, although i always declined the offer and bit the bullet. My dad thinks it's sad but doesn't think any less of me.

However, i don't go round saying im into painting miniatures or anything to people i meet. Saying that i wouldn't care what they think anyway...


I used to work at Sports Direct/Soccer Sport/Sport Soccer/'The Donnay Shop' or what ever it's called now...Anyway, i was talking to a friend who said he was going to work straight after he finishes. I thought this was odd as we finished at 7pm so i asked him where he worked. "Oh just a toy shop"...I was very confused as there aren't many toy shops open that late. I asked him exactly which oneand he said really defensively "Games workshop but its not lame as its like playing with toys all day". I was like ''ah thats cool i used to collect warhammer'' then proceeded to talk about Orks and Space Marines for the next 45mins. Was pretty strange as its two guys in a sports shop...kinda weird.

I've got back into the hobby now but i think it'll be a while till i play a game as i can't face going to GW. It's full of annoying kids, plus from my experiences the people who played were extremely arrogant and generally not nice people. It may have changed...the staff were cool but i felt they were a bit patronizing when it came to gaming and asking for help etc.

I used to be really into Legos, and when that phase ended (when the big bin went away about two months later the pirate series is introduced... ) I just got into 40k. I am a very creative person, so 40k is just a nerdier venue for which I let loose my creative side. The family is ok with it too.

Girlfriend doesn't really mind, she's artsy herself and expresses interest in my conversion work especially (mainly because I can't paint, so don't). I don't even bother trying to explain the hobby to my friends, they just wouldn't understand. I can't really dispel anyone's arguments that the hobby costs too much, as I can't smoke or drink (or go to strip bars, for that matter) and as such can't compare the money they spend to the money I spend.

Rico.

rico wrote:...as I can't smoke or drink (or go to strip bars, for that matter)

Poor lad.

JonnyDelta wrote:

rico wrote:...as I can't smoke or drink (or go to strip bars, for that matter)

Poor lad.

Ah, the woes of youth.

A suddenly depressed Rico.

I don't get any trouble from people, even when they try to give it to me. The wanna-be offenders are the fashion gits and people trying to impress fashion gits. I have the largest group of friends at school, both guys and girls, none who insult 40k, except the girls think I am weird anyway, proving that I have more of a life than the people who insult 40k. But maybe that's because I don't go around replying to the question 'What do you want to do this weekend?' with 'Paint my 40k Tyranid horde.'. Instead I normally say I'm doing nothing, unlike two of my three 40k playing friends, who say 'I am going to paint my Hellhound' or 'Finish painting my Hammerhead'. Because unless that answer is said to me or Boss 'eadbreaka's human form, they recieve blank looks saying 'Have you landed on your head lately?'. Ah, well, I never have been the one with particulary normal friends.

Roze wrote:LOL he is still my boyfriend

Why?!

Seriously, I can not wrap my head around this no matter how hard I try. What the hell could you possibly see in someone who's perfectly willing to destroy hundreds of dollars worth of his girlfriend's property, just to see "the look on her face" and laugh about it with his friends? Who would do that to their girlfriend of all people? Not only that but he sounds like a hardcore fething ass in general even after the fact, why do you put up with it?

There's probably more to the story than we've been told. (private joke perhaps?)

Brother laughs at me... Then i kick his a** and go to rugby practice.

I used to get laughed out but now i just tell people about the commissions i have done and the money i got from them
Also i normaly invite folks who are not in the hobby to a 2v2 game and just show em the ropes.
Yah cant rag on it when you do it yourself

All hobbies are pretty silly, if you look at them from a strictly logical perspective. Even the "normal" ones - can anybody think about anything sillier than golf, or football? However, I would argue that's the whole point of them - they are an escape from the "seriousness" of real life. The best hobbies give you a place to go to relax, a place to express yourself and the very best allow you to escape into a "moment" where you are completely absorbed in your hobby, and the stress and hassle of real life can't reach you. When your in the middle of a game, when your about to crush your opponent or are about to be crushed by your opponent, you forget about the mortgage, the threat of redundancy, the boss, the client etc etc. And it's the same on the golf course (I assume), or when you nail the single track on your MTB, or top out on the route that's been scaring you for months. Which hobby isn't the point, its what you get out it.

And as for the "should your be playing with toys at your age" thing - well why not? Golf clubs are toys, footballs are toys, bike's are toys, fast cars are toys...... One of the most attractive quality in any person (man or woman) is a sense of fun, the "boyish" or (girilish!) glee in having fun doing something that is totally pointless. So why not play with toys. Grow old as long as you never, never grow up........

EYIG

its stupid how people call you nerds and geeks for playing warhammer because the definition of what actually NERD and GEEK stand for in english is completely different.

nerd is sterotypical most of the times, an intelligent but single-minded expert in a particular technical field or profession.
while geek is a person with an unusual or odd personality.

sure, if you walk into a local GW store, there will be geeks in it - but that doesnt describe the whole gaming community itself.

I tell anybody who asks me. My parents were not bothered in the slightest as my brother also collect anmd games. Girlfriends have not really ever been told unless they were serious. Now that I am married my wife knows all about it and apart from thinking its a waste of money thinks I am a closet geek.
I say closet because I dont fit her sterotyical image of a geek (nor does my brother 2nd dan black belt)

People at work know and some of the girls were commentuing that they can tell I paint when I was applying eyeliner to one of them amy winehouse style.

SOme people take this hobby to seriously and all they talk about is the hobby. Thats sad and shows a lack of social skills if thats all they can talk about. (especially to random people who dont play 40K)

Every once in a while people ask what it is and sometimes I'll get that look. But w/e my gf thinks I should enjoy my hoby no matter what others think and she likes to paint so she can relate. My parents think its a waste of money but at least I dont buy pot and blow my money on that this stuff lasts longer lol.

Warhammer lets you pull all the chicks without any problems.

I've never gotten grief about the hobby from anyone that mattered. There will always be those people who make snide comments, but their lives probably suck anyway.

My wife every once in a while will make the "your such a dork" comment when I get into describing a battle, but she knows its the last shred of self I still retain after years of marriage and being a father...

*sigh*

reading this im glad i dont have a gf or a wife. but thank goodness i have a car.no license but a car.at 14.

This is a bit of an odd one for me as i am far more into the painting and modelling side of the hobby. Probably because i'm sooooo awful at playing the game itself

A few work mates have seen me going into the local GW and looked at me differently since, but like another poster said; I'm not a typical nerd.

Whenever i get any negative comments, i find the brutally honest statement 'I really enjoy painting stuff, find it very relaxing, and make a few quid on the side' usually shuts people up. If someone is out to get you, then discovers that you really don't care/can't be wound up by their comments, they switch tack pretty quickly.

A couple of GF's have gone from laughter at seeing ranks of toy soldiers on my shelf to 'omg, how the hell can you paint these things like that?!'.

Emphasizing the artistic side of the hobby goes a long way toward acceptance

Besides, if you're gonna be embarrassed about what you enjoy doing, what's the point in doing it?

Edit: Edited for putting 'o's instead of 'i's :S

Clay Williams wrote:

BOSS_PIMPALOTZ wrote:We have a development my Wife has agreed to play a game of Warhammer 40k.

Have fun scrapbooking

I will Im a man of my word lol

assultmarine wrote:reading this im glad i dont have a gf or a wife. but thank goodness i have a car.no license but a car.at 14.

A lot of good that's doing you. lmao

I don't really understand the "waste of money" comments. All hobbies are a waste of money technically. Unless your "hobby" happens to be work.

I get HEAPS of mocking from my family and gf because they reckon that it is a total waste of time and money!
I reckon it's 'cos they just don't understand Warhammer at all, and write it off as pointless.
I pity them, kind of...

Some people don't understand anything that doesn't get you drunk or laid.

Not that I'm knocking either one, obviously, but when your entire lifestyle revolves around it to the point where you simply can't comprehend doing anything else with your time...that is sad.

I bought the Inquisitor Coteaz model off eBay. My girlfriend opened the pack, took a look at the pewter and said "Hey, why did you buy a model with a feather boa?"
Coteaz has wolfskin hanging off his shoulders, but somehow this led my girlfriend to mistake him for some drag queen.
The model has since been known as 'Priscilla'.

Just an example

I'm pretty lucky, I guess. Most of the people I know just accept that I like wargaming and painting minis and don't comment on it at all. They seem to think nothing of it one way or the other. I've gotten a bit of gentle teasing from a couple of friends, but nothing malicious, and for every jibe I've also had a comment along the lines of "Wow, I could never paint something that small".

As said before 'Completely Boys (Girls) with Toys'. And what about this hobby is considered 'silly', or some other word, by others? Is it that it is far out of budget for some? Is it because the 'outcasts of society' (I call them real people) understand it so simply? All I know is that the onl ones who haven't like it and ridiculed it are covered in five inches of make-up.

After doing this for 15 years, I just don't care anymore. It would be interesting to know how much grief you get over miniatures compared to ages. My observation is that as you get older, no one really cares what you do in your free time, as long as it is not WAY past the social norm, and even then, many people won't really care. Most people are curious and then forget about it. I was, however, talking with this woman who, when I mentioned it and showed some pictures, thought it was neat and that "she wished she was creative like that". To be completely honest of course, I usually describe miniatures in terms of "art" and "model design" rather than miniatures gaming.

I do think it is interesting though that some of you ridicule more "commonplace" activities such as watching football or partying as "moronic", or something along those lines. Isn't that just a tad hypocritical? I just don't like pigeonholing anything into categories, in spite of the fact that that seems to be almost an instinctive response with people.

I don't think blowing 300$ on miniatures is any more "silly" or "worthwhile" than spending 2500 on a golf vaction, or 20 dollars to go to the movies. These are all recreation activities that people enjoy. Take something that is "common knowledge", and then imagine trying to explain it to someone who had never been introduced to it. Take golf, for instance. Well, golf is this game where you try to hit a ball into a hole using 14 or less club like objects with as few swings as possible. Most people wouldn't consider golf childish or a waste of time ( well, maybe the latter for people who are really obsessed with golf).

Of course, keep in mind how far someone could logically take that reasoning. Would you feel the same for someone who buys life size anatomically correct dolls, dresses them in clothes, talks to them, and then uses them for gratification at night? You could call that a hobby too.