Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
I freind and I were talking about this the other day, and had a good laugh about it. I was wondering what everyone thought was the ultimate nerd hobby? We felt that miniatures war gaming was definitely nerdy, albeit not the most nerdy.
This was my breakdown on the nerd-o-meter, from least to most nerdy. I am looking at it from a Nerd's perspective (us wargamers) and form a layperson's perspective.
Video Games (Even my Mom and Dad play video games now, I don't even know if you can call these nerdy anymore)
Comic books (with all the movies its almost Nerd Chic to like comics these days)
Minitaures War Games (People, even if they think its pretty lame, nearly always respect the end result of a nicely painted mini and a nice table top)
RPG's (Still have not shaken off the stigma of D&D from days past to the layperson)
Magic (Everyone has heard of Magic, and it is universally regarded as a nerd passtime)
LARPing (OK, this is uber nerdage, it has even made it into the several movies because of its super nerd qualities)
Pokeman (These are the bottom feeders of the Nerd Hierarchy, they help keep FLG's afloat, but they are barely tolerated around my parts!)
Original 150 are, anyway. Not these freakish, new, geometric shape blobs they're trying to pass off as pokemon these days.
Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
Wow I think its nerdy that someone spent the time to make that
The crappy part about that list tho.... I my wife and I both have Nintendo Ds lites and we like to play 2 player games. Anywho we had a couple pokemon games for that and those games were actually really fun and well designed. Thats as far as Im going to defend pokemon tho
Original 150 are, anyway. Not these freakish, new, geometric shape blobs they're trying to pass off as pokemon these days.
.....
Dude! :
But on-topic, I think with the 'mainstreaming' of Video Games and Comics these hobbies, overall, are not 'Nerdy'. It's in the many subtle LAYERS within the sub-culture that we define 'geek' and 'nerd'. For instance, a guy who plays Halo with his frat buddies. Not a geek. A mom who plays sims in her free time. Not a nerd. Anyone who plays any of the Total War: series of games. Total friggin geek. Native English Speakers who play Final Fantasy in the original Japanese to capture the 'true experience'. Power nerds.
I will miss the day when entire hobbies could be blanketed with a semi-'deragatory' stereotype name. Things were so much simpler when people who went into Comic/Gaming/Computer stores were nerds, and those that did not, weren't.
I don't think Pokemon even counts as being Nerdy or Geeky. I liked it, for what it's worth (And will sometimes pick up the latest handheld video game offering to this day) but calling it 'geeky' is like calling Ninja Turtles geeky. It's not geeky, it's just kiddy.
And oh man, there is no two ways to slice it, LARPing is power nerdy. You can justify it however you want, you're a card carrying member of 'The Lost and the Damned' if you LARP. Though one could argue that LARPing is just a different grade in the genre of "RPGs". But then we demonize D&D even more by making it a "Gateway Game".
Speaking of LARPing, where does reenacting fit? I imagine it's somewhat of a lateral move, much akin to moving from Warhammer to Historical gaming...
Iorek on Zombie Dong wrote:I know you'll all keep thinking about it. Admit it. Some of you may even make it your avatar
Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
Well, the nerdiness of hobbies depends on two things:
1) how involved or ridiculous looking the activity, and
2) how geeky the people that favor it are
this is why LARPing is the bottom of the barrel, while airsoft/paintball are barely geeky at all. Both involve running around the woods pretending to be something your not, but airsoft has actual shooting and ducking and fieldcraft, while Larping has foam swords. In addition, LARPers are larpers, while airsoft guys tend to be pretty normal dudes.
Reenacting is less nerdy than Larping for the same reason. The people that do it are family type people, with jobs and kids and stuff.
So how low (or high) might someone rank on the nerd-o-meter who has been involved with all of those at some point in there life time (excluding LARPing)....such as myself.
has anyone here checked out the documentary "Uber Guber"? One of the things it explores is the geek hierarchy. It's an amusing if admittedly sometimes painful to watch film. I recomend it. However I'm biased since it was filmed largly in the Austin gaming community and I know 90% of the people featured in the movie.
Speaking of LARPing, where does reenacting fit? I imagine it's somewhat of a lateral move, much akin to moving from Warhammer to Historical gaming...
As an avid WW2 rrenactor, I was wondering about that myself. I would not exactly call it a lateral move. Historical reenactors are pretty well accepted by the mainstream, certainly more so than SCAers. (don't get me started on that bad joke) So they are certainly up the food chain a rung or two. Both are above LARPers...although admittedly in the case of the SCA the two are not too far removed. Likewise I think that historical miniature gamers are up a level from the fantasy gamers on the social acceptability hierachy.
Also, were does another of my geeky hobbies, airsoft, fit?
I'm generally pretty comfortable telling outsiders about my involvement in reenacting and historical miniatures. But I'm much more reluctant to tell my co-wrokers 9for example) that I play fantasy miniatures or D&D.
TR
Former Kommandant, KZ Dakka
"I was Oldhammer before Oldhammer was cool!"
Polonius wrote:Well, the nerdiness of hobbies depends on two things:
1) how involved or ridiculous looking the activity, and
2) how geeky the people that favor it are
this is why LARPing is the bottom of the barrel, while airsoft/paintball are barely geeky at all. Both involve running around the woods pretending to be something your not, but airsoft has actual shooting and ducking and fieldcraft, while Larping has foam swords. In addition, LARPers are larpers, while airsoft guys tend to be pretty normal dudes.
Reenacting is less nerdy than Larping for the same reason. The people that do it are family type people, with jobs and kids and stuff.
So what does that make someone like me who LARPs, Airsofts, and Paintballs? Also, I've met more "normal" people who LARP than who Airsoft.
You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was
Sorry guys, I should have been more specific, I meant the Pokeman card game, not the old gameboy games which admitedly are pretty fun.
The card game, at least as I have seen it, is inhabited by vicious ankle biters that ply the game store asking people for money, picking up minis with their booger and kool-aide stained hands, stealing stuff, just being a general PITA.
As for combo nerds (I am into comics as well, the occasional video game and used to play RPGs back in the day [RIFTS, FTW!]) I guess we are just extra super nerdy!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/03/26 22:58:24
Personally, I was saddened when they stopped producing Alternity.
You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was
Well it's obviously a purple mecha godzilla. Man, I miss the simple Pokemon like Charizard or Turtoise.
I voted for Larping. Not that I have no respect for people who put so much time and effort into costumes and stuff but when they come to the fun part (the fighting) everything's full of rules like "no stabbing". Seriously, if you're a Nerd who actually goes outside to become his RPG character, then why would they start restricting themselves like that Besides, Nerds who go outside are creepy. All that fresh air and sun can be very unhealthy.
Platuan4th wrote:
So what does that make someone like me who LARPs, Airsofts, and Paintballs?
Ubernerd!!
I'll admit to that.
You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was
I have damaged my chances at promotion at work before because I refused to work on the day that my boss knew was D&D night. That was back when people played real Dungeons and Dragons, not this cartoon video game pablum.
I was almost sucked into SCA as a young teenager, I had a friend who was in it and I thought his armor/weapons were kinda cool, then I decided I might actually want to be inside a woman at some point and passed.
"Holy Sh*&, you've opened my eyes and changed my mind about this topic, thanks Dakka OT!"
Nurgleboy77 wrote:Wow, LARPers FTW! Hands down the Nerdiest!
I was almost sucked into SCA as a young teenager, I had a friend who was in it and I thought his armor/weapons were kinda cool, then I decided I might actually want to be inside a woman at some point and passed.
So you decided against a nerdy hobby because you were afraid of your chances with the females?
Grow some balls man! Either stand up to being a nerd or get the feth out of this thread
hahahaha, yeah, no closet nerds here! I use my toys to get laid!....You see, I whack a hottie on the head with a big metal model then pull her back to my lair.....
@Platuan: I never got into ALternity, but I loved Rifts. The game engine sucked balls, but the setting was all aces. I keep hearing rumors of a movie, but who knows. I wish I had not sold all my books, the material was great for the art and inspiration alone.
Anung Un Rama wrote:btw.: My cousin met his wife while Larping.
I met an ex while LARPing and yes, it got me laid. Also, people having sex on site was a huge problem and got a LOT of people kicked out.
Plus LARPing =!= SCA.
You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was
It figures that I'd scroll all the way down to the bottom and someone would get to the fact that women LARP.
I'll just add that alot of hot women get into it. Much moreso then the other hobbies....
( I don't Larp, but I have friends who do).
.Only a fool believes there is such a thing as price gouging. Things have value determined by the creator or merchant. If you don't agree with that value, you are free not to purchase.
Anung Un Rama wrote:Really? What if they did it in character?
Part of the problem was it was stated in the rules in gigantic letters that it wasn't allowed.
The other part of the problem was that, half the time, it was 20/30 year olds having sex with underage girls. I exaggerate, but it happened repeatedly until they caught the guy in the act. Best part, this is the same guy that was running Rocky for the Gulf Coast(who was actually running Rocky to[surprise!] have sex with underage girls).
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2009/03/27 00:14:50
You know you're really doing something when you can make strangers hate you over the Internet. - Mauleed
Just remember folks. Panic. Panic all the time. It's the only way to survive, other than just being mindful, of course-but geez, that's so friggin' boring. - Aegis Grimm
Hallowed is the All Pie The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was
honestly, one of the most attractive girls i know larped
you know, when she wasn't working at victoria's secret
i larped a few times......and by larp, i mean i went, borrowed a big foam spear, and then experimented on how hard i needed to chest stab a guy to knock him down.
its a good stress relief, going out and ganking some nerdlings
WoC 
2000 
1200
190 
in progress
