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i agree i'm not ashamed of the hobbie its self

just the fact i'm a 23 yr old who plays with minitures against kids aged 12 and up.

i'm normal but i hate the generalization of it when you say that you play it.

its the whole
"Oh! your one of those people"
that you get from the randoms who ask you about your hobbies.

Sasa0mg wrote:Hardest thing to explain is how much it costs, trying to explain how spending £14.50 on a plastic figure is worth while to someone who isn't really into the hobby and just asking out of general curiosity is somewhat daunting.

Ask them if they smoke or drink. If yes, point out that your hobby is cheaper and not fatal.

Interrogator-Chaplin wrote:i agree i'm not ashamed of the hobby itself

just the fact i'm a 23 yr old who plays with minitures against kids aged 12 and up.

Try being almost double that age. The reactions are somewhat stronger. Ranging from "What kind of freak wants to play children's games?" to worse.
At least when you're 23, you are still close enough to their age.
I try to reassure parents with "It's ok, I'm not a catholic priest" (the local area DID have several miscreant priests - it's why they had to sell several churches to pay costs) but most of them seem to BE Catholic themselves and not getting the joke.

Although since the move to licensed premises, this has reduced the number of under-agers attending (and GWs price increases have done the rest. Kids now start with Magic or yu-gi-oh cards because it's cheaper.). All of us "grown-ups" had to do "working with children" police checks when we were at the local youth centre.

The whole idea of adults(mainly male) likeing things meant or thought to be meant for kids are some sort of deviants is disgusting.
Its the same for Bronies.

Try being almost double that age. The reactions are somewhat stronger. Ranging from "What kind of freak wants to play children's games?" to worse.
At least when you're 23, you are still close enough to their age.
I try to reassure parents with "It's ok, I'm not a catholic priest" (the local area DID have several miscreant priests - it's why they had to sell several churches to pay costs) but most of them seem to BE Catholic themselves and not getting the joke.

Although since the move to licensed premises, this has reduced the number of under-agers attending (and GWs price increases have done the rest. Kids now start with Magic or yu-gi-oh cards because it's cheaper.).

you used that catholic priest joke? that hilarious!

I can see your predicament though, i've gotten some of those strange looks before but thats just mainly for the back stories and general knowleadge of the 40k universe i know. and share with the kids how are interested at my local GW.

funny you should say that because i got my dad into the hobbie for a while until he got some of those looks from parents when he went in there by himself and started to feel a little awrkward at games nights when parents used to ask him what his kid collected or which one was his child..... he gave up collecting after 1 yr.

hotsauceman1 wrote:The whole idea of adults(mainly male) likeing things meant or thought to be meant for kids are some sort of deviants is disgusting.
Its the same for Bronies.

Yet the percentage of warhammer players against MLP is staggering

talk about intolerance for their own kind

LunaHound wrote:

hotsauceman1 wrote:The whole idea of adults(mainly male) likeing things meant or thought to be meant for kids are some sort of deviants is disgusting.
Its the same for Bronies.

Yet the percentage of warhammer players against MLP is staggering

talk about intolerance for their own kind

"PFFFt, you guys are weird. Leave me alone while i go play with my toys and tranformers"
Let he without sin cast the first stone.....

I agree. The stigma generally comes from people who are fairly close minded or unaware of how modern hobbies in general work (basically anyone who is unaware of hobbies outside of fishing lol). Any sort of gamer/collector will usually understand though.

What doesn’t help though is that GW primarily targets kids nowadays when previously it was more of a broader spectrum (with the older crowd being the primary target). Comparing when I started out 12 years ago to today, everything is the opposite.

Yeah, i dont get it. we are the ones with the money. we dont have to beg our parents to buy for us(anymore)

I am one of those guys how couldnt care less what negative things you think about me.

I am very proud of my hobby and the results of my painting and show them off to anyone who makes fun of "playing with toys"

You would be shocked to see how many people will stop making fun of you and say nicer things about you when they see a well painted figure and you tell them how much work went into it.

I dont get made fun of for it anymore because everyone I work or hang with, is either involved in the hobby aswell, or are impressed by my painting enough to think its cool : )

Or they are silenced by the mind boggling amount of time spent in it.

They still wont accept its funny , but they will accept your fanaticism.

Okay so i just moved to another part of the state i hail from....i decided to be totally up front and spill the beans on the hobby as a whole when asked by peers who visited my room....(has a painting and modeling area in it that people often go ..."uhhh wtf..") so i explained the hobby to them and showed them my completed minis and White Dwarf mags....the i logged onto ebay and showed them how much pro painted items went for.....they were already very interested before i showed them the ebay auctions....one they saw the price tags on them their was no doubt in their minds that this game was not only fun and artistic but also profitable... one of them is actually coming to the store tomorrow to buy a kit for himself...he told me that it was one of the coolest things he had seen in a while....i was taken aback at the general acceptance i had received...

Shame? I used to feel that once in awhile. Its long gone now.

While I generally care not for others opioins, when most of my school year hates or dispises me for my love of minitures and sheer gakkyness at sport, while almost all of them attend a dozen sports classes and such I attend GW every weekend and wouldn't go near a sports club unless it was rowing or something like that. My schools like a jungle, and if you don't bully or try to emotionally destroy everyone in your path then you don't get anywhere.

I am 110% open about my hobbies, and for good reason, there are so many people out there that spend money, spend money, and hey guess what, spend money, and are bored out of their minds. Those same people point and laugh at us gamers, but at the end of the day and although our hobbies and interests are expensive, we can spend 500 bucks on Warhammer and a year from now still be enjoying that 500 dollar investment, the socially 'normal' people would likely spend this money on food and clothes and lets face it, you just poop the food out and fashion comes and goes and usually holds no value.

So yeah, when someone sees what I do I stand proud, I explain it and show them what it is all about, after all, you never know who will find it interesting. I am a case like this, I grew up loving this type of thing, but I was also a football player for 5 years in school (8-12 grade), I was active in JROTC for 4 years, and I took some honors level classes, whilst also enjoying skate boarding, drawing, singing, video gaming, table top gaming, RPing, etc etc, and I look like one of those 'normal people' but I just realize that I cannot grab a meltagun in real life nor will I ever command a Company of Space Marines and I will never shake hands with Dridzt but damn if it is not entertaining for the several hours I get to enjoy those subjects.

I do on occasion.

The times I watched the ragequit guy get all pissy and make the game unpleasant for everyone in the inevitable lead-up to his ragequitting.

Or when an expereinced player takes on a new player, crushes him, and considers it a mighty victory.

Or when the other player started telling me about his D&D character unprompted. Actually, I was kind of ashamed to be human during that one.

To be honest, 40k has grown A LOT since the 90's. I have only gotten back into it in the past 6 months after a 10 year+ break and I was very surprised at how the hobby has expanded in that time.
It no longer really feels like a 'fringe subculture' as it seems now that most my friends actually play it (all in late 20's), even those who I would have never suspected in a million years.
I think people's perceptions of it must have changed a little as a result of the surge in popularity and the fact 40k has been around for over 2 decades now. As a result I do admit I feel a bit more comfortable now at 28 than I was when I was 14 and just getting into it. Though that is probably just my age - I think you care less what people think about you as you get into your mid-20's. That's how it was with me anyway.

But anyway, considering the popularity of online gaming if people poke fun at me for liking 40k I always ask if they play online games. Often it turns out they play things such as WoW, so I simply explain the only difference is that I like to craft and paint my characters with my own hands and I like the social side of gaming, meeting up in person rather than online and having a few beers with friends whilst we play.
When I put it like that, people tend to have their preconceptions blown out of the water: No, we aren't necessarily a bunch of socially inept nerds. Yes, we do 'normal' things like you. Yes, really there is very little difference between online gaming and my hobby when you break it down. So think whatever you wanna think mate.



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blood reaper wrote:While I generally care not for others opioins, when most of my school year hates or dispises me for my love of minitures and sheer gakkyness at sport, while almost all of them attend a dozen sports classes and such I attend GW every weekend and wouldn't go near a sports club unless it was rowing or something like that. My schools like a jungle, and if you don't bully or try to emotionally destroy everyone in your path then you don't get anywhere.

Yeah my school was exactly the same.

Just remember 99% of those kids who are obsessed over sports and give you gak for your 40k hobby will end up nowhere in life. When they finish school they'll realise that being good at sports won't get them a job that pays the bills, a nice girl to spend their life with or decent friends later in life.
Most those types of people who went to my school have ended up in prison, dealing drugs, on the dole or working mundane jobs. I'm not even making any of this up, which is very satisfying for me .
In contrast, i'm getting married in June to a girl who put's up with my 40k addiction (true love) and my best man is the guy who got me into 40k at school 14 years ago.

So I wouldn't worry about it.

Henners91 wrote:
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Arm.chair.general wrote:I'm not ashamed of my hobby, but I do try to keep the fact I play from non-wargamers which is basically 99% of the population, unless they ask what my hobby is.

I really hate the stigma that comes attached to playing miniature wargames, pc gaming and console gaming is just as geeky in my opinion. The sad thing is I have known people that have dropped out of Warhammer because of peer preassure from people and I have even seen youtube videos of people burning their Warhammer figures trying to re-gain their 'coolness'.

When they burn unpainted stuff it doesn't phase me, since they're effectively just burning their money.

But that figure looked like some love went into it once :(

To be fair, that kid has a lot of FPS 'im so uber montage's in the rest of his library so he's the bigger 'freak' than us.

Most of them have hardcore music attached as well, because I am a glorified badass for playing a video game.

I treat it the same as any other art I'm not afraid to bring it up at school or around friends because its the same as artists who paint on canvas only we do it in 3-D!

I think most people don't talk about it because it's so hard to explain. Myexplanation normally goes like "Well, uhh... I paint miniature futuristic soldiers that I use to play a very complicated board-game." This often raises an eyebrow or two, especially when the person I'm talking to has never even heard of mini-wargaming. But at least we're actually doing something, I find that it provides a better conversation than telling someone that you sat in your basement playing Modern Warfare for 8 hours.

I've always been curious why mtg, wh, 40k etc are were considered nerdy.

Have you seen sports guys reciting someone elses stats from 20 yrs ago? You telling me thats not just as "nerdy?" Really? Or sports guys sayin "Yea we almost won the trophy this year." Wearing jerseys isn't that much different then cosplay.

Or any sort of enthusiast like cars, guns, or whatever. Those guys geek out bad. I'm sorry but everyone is a nerd by definaition for or for something.

Interrogator-Chaplin wrote:
you used that catholic priest joke? that hilarious!

I can see your predicament though, i've gotten some of those strange looks before but thats just mainly for the back stories and general knowleadge of the 40k universe i know. and share with the kids how are interested at my local GW.

funny you should say that because i got my dad into the hobbie for a while until he got some of those looks from parents when he went in there by himself and started to feel a little awrkward at games nights when parents used to ask him what his kid collected or which one was his child..... he gave up collecting after 1 yr.

He'd be welcomed at our club. I'm trying to get the grownups back. Sure, some of them may only be in their early 30s (the dads) but at least it isn't the creche the local GW is.
I've got GW models older than the new manager at the local GW.
They aren't even RT models (2nd ed).

I have way too many other things to be ashamed of, my hobbies are the least of my worries.

Recently I took my sweety to a gaming convention to meet some of my associates. I've been meeting a certain group of people for 30+ years as we talk about the state of the entertainment industry from our respective fields.

We all have gotten older now seen things in a different view point from the younger generations, though I think that most of us are still young at heart.

Needless to say most of my business and entertainment was done at the hotel restaurant where I could breath the fresh air.

The funk in some of those gaming rooms and in some of the seminars that my sweety and myself attended were pretty bad. She's a trooper and she understood what she was getting into, and yes she does play board games, but this did indeed embarrassed me in front of her.

To this day I can not understand why certain gamers know the concept of personal hygiene, as this puts a blight into a hobby that I have enjoyed for so many of good years.

chromedog wrote:

Interrogator-Chaplin wrote:
you used that catholic priest joke? that hilarious!

I can see your predicament though, i've gotten some of those strange looks before but thats just mainly for the back stories and general knowleadge of the 40k universe i know. and share with the kids how are interested at my local GW.

funny you should say that because i got my dad into the hobbie for a while until he got some of those looks from parents when he went in there by himself and started to feel a little awrkward at games nights when parents used to ask him what his kid collected or which one was his child..... he gave up collecting after 1 yr.

He'd be welcomed at our club. I'm trying to get the grownups back. Sure, some of them may only be in their early 30s (the dads) but at least it isn't the creche the local GW is.
I've got GW models older than the new manager at the local GW.
They aren't even RT models (2nd ed).

I think he'd like that but he lives in WA now tho

where abouts do you play?

Cessnock, 'heart' of the Hunter Valley, is my 'home' club; the "Slayers" (formerly the Dwarf Slayers). WE meet in the boardroom of the local football supporters club. Most sundays 9am-6pm (but can go later - up til 9pm if required). I don't live there, but I have in-laws there and the wife and I are usually there on weekends for family dinners.

My other club is in Inner city Newcastle (Hamilton) and meets monthly. 10am-10pm. Also on sundays - I alternate it with three other normal club meets.

Both are now hotbeds of Infinity with the odd WHFB game being played. 40k has fallen by the wayside

I am in no way ashamed of my hobby. I don't advertise it, but if someone asks, I tell them that I play with toy soldiers on the weekend.
If they don't like it, I tell them to go themselves.
If they make fun of me, I unleash the full extent of my (quite considerable) vitriol against them.
If they think it's cool, I introduce them to the hobby and Hurray! new player.

Funny that the sterotype for us is that 40K, Fantasy, or any other games is for "Anti-Social Nerd". I consider Wargaming one VERY social game.

I used to have lie to myself trying to justify that even though I played 40K I wasn't as nerdy as those who played other games. I was an idiot. Sports are games involving physical ability and planning. And so is any other game. like 40K, it involves lots of thinking. I just don't run around shoving the topic in everyone's face. I mention it to my friends once or twice and explain it to them to see if they are intrested, If they are then great. If not I drop it and don't say much about it. Just like I wouldn't flaunt anything else even if it was considered "Cool" by the majority of people.

I have different feelings on the subject ; let me explain:

I go to a southern university where drinking, smoking, partying, getting by the soroity girls and getting all the sins of life is seen as "cool"

Back home, With my buddies i never gave it a second thought. Sure we never spoke of it in high school (cause it was seen as nerdy) and some of my friends did get picked on for bringing the 5th ed rule book and codex to school to read in the free time (lunch) but ive heard from one of them that since then he's found 5 people that were closet 40k fans that were too scared to show themselves as fans of the hobby.

Here at college, ive had a very rough time with the 40k scene. Between warmahordes at the NOT-so FLGS and my own friends opioion of it (Getting to that in a moment) its been really rough on me. Dakka Dakka has been one of the sources to keep me in the hobby and not giving it up so i wanted to thank the community for that

One of my buddies comes up to me and expresses interest in the hobby. I explain to him the rules and he goes home and does some research on the factions and races. He likes IG, Great i say, I own some IG so we can play a game. In the weeks leading up the game, i try to explain any extra tips or rules to him so he'll be ready. Come game night, we got out to grab a quick meal then play. 5 hours later, it ends in a tie.

Ok, I think Good game and all. He leaves and all is good.

Next week i ask him if he wants to play. He tells me on NO uncertain terms does he wish to play and that im evil for playing the game that has evil monsters in it. (Chaos and chaos related factions). I try for a few more weeks to get him to play another game to show him that his views are wrong on the subject. he eventually goes off on me about how he doesnt want to play and leave it alone. I relent and havent asked him but in passing once since then. When he comes over to chill i feel like i have to hide it or risk him thinking im gonna ask him to play a game.

Since then, hes got 500 round of ammo in his room, 9 survival radios and 2 months worth of water rations. He's gone on some survivalist mentality saying to me "I have no time for kiddy games, im gonna be ready and contuine training" I just shook my head and didnt say a word.


Friend 2 is the polar opposite. He drinks, he gets high, and he calls me a nerd because i dont like to do those things. . Now, he told me that because i showed him the GW site and the 40k models, to keep my mouth shut around his "homies" so that they dont think he is a nerd. Thing is, he's expressed to me he is a big sci-fi fan but to mantain the image of cool, he wont play or be seen playing.

There are others but i dont wanna be "that guy"

basically, am i ashamed of my hobby?

NO,

"You shouldnt knock it till you try it, Who knows you may just like it" is the motto of my life right now when it comes to others and their views on 40k

I have never minded if people know, some of my friends make silly remarks, but I just say, HAVE YOU EVER KILLED 400 zombies in a 2500pt game??? mhmmmm!

Then I get the silent treatment for a week...