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I don't deny it, but i never used to go look at me I touch metal men.

I have however found many a friend at work who I have spoken with about it as they have seen my doing army lists etc on my lunch break and it has given me access to lovely hordes of old model gold mines

They know bits of it at work, but after a coworker mercilessly berated and ridiculed me, I'm less than thrilled to share with them what it's all about.

BrookM wrote:They know bits of it at work, but after a coworker mercilessly berated and ridiculed me, I'm less than thrilled to share with them what it's all about.

One of my old freinds used to berate me as well with the geek and sad hobby crap. Then I reminded him that I have a girlfriend, have friends, have a social life and spend less time looked away in the house.

*Has no friends and doesn't speak to anyone at work about non-work related things most of the time*

Solves a lot of problems

Having said that, I post modelling stuff on my facebook, and don't hide it if people ask.

BrookM wrote:They know bits of it at work, but after a coworker mercilessly berated and ridiculed me, I'm less than thrilled to share with them what it's all about.

There always has to be that one person.......

Same type asked me if I wasn't a little too old for that......

Your co - worker obviousily has no respect for whatever people like to do , i'm sure that if he told you about something that he passionatley enjoyed and got the most out of and you ridiculed him he would be very angry with that fact. People like that are no good for you

Onto myself i have been Modelling and painting warhammer 40k for 8 years now and to be honest i just cannot get enough of it , its something i enjoy doing instead of sitting around playing PS3 all day everyday. Also i think that it would be better for me to do this than be walking around the streets at the age of 16 causing trouble which is probably what would end up happening if i did not have warhammer 40k to keep me occupied.

I do not see myself as being a geek or nerd as i do other things as Wargaming , i also ride motocross and have been doing MMA ( mixed martial arts) for 6 years now which are both thing i would not think i would be doing if i was a geek / nerd correct me if im wrong here .

Take care.

~UnDeAd~

The way I see it, everyone is nerdy about something.

I get really annoyed when people who are nerdy about say, celebrity gossip make me listen to their nerdly hobby. I can't stand music nerds who go on and on about obscure bands and sub-genres of sub-genres. And when people start ranting about their favority religion or political party or sports team, I find an excuse to leave the conversation.

So I don't subject people to my nerdly interests, unless they share them. It's not so much shame as it is treating others the way I'd prefer they would treat me.

Like a lot of people, I would never deny it. But I don't really bring it up either. With the people I'm living with, although I don't know my newest housemates that well, I'm perfectly happy to let them see me assembling models in the living room. (in fact I was doing so when they arrived). However, I don't really talk too much about it, except to answer questions - there's nothing more boring than someone chewing your ear off about an activity that you don't know or care about.

Also, I don't like to display warhammer as a first impression, especially to attractive ladies. If I'm off on a date, and I'm possibly bringing someone home later, I clear the warhammer away into a cupboard. If I have a girlfriend, I'll stop concealing the stuff after a few weeks, so she doesn't see me as a weirdo within the first week or two of a relationship, where its easy to put people off by a couple actions.

Im also a old fart but even when I was younger playing my revolutionary zx spectrum, rpg etc I never felt myself "diferent" or nerd... not because it was a common thing around here ( by the contrary it was a rarity) but just because to me my activities are normal.

Normal to the point Im neither ashammed or proud of it... Never gave a rats ass what others think about me or my life, its really their problem not mine I concentrate myself on just living my life.

I'm not the sort of person to walk around with a placard displaying my geek credentials but on the other hand, nor do I deny it. My wife knew about it when we were courting and likewise, I have my own man room full to the rafters with miniatures and all that so it certainly isn't hidden. However, there is a certain stigma associated with wargaming (and it isn't new - I remember feeling guilty about being a geek when I was 12!).

I'm sort of half-way, everyone at school knows that I do warhammer, but have long since given up on trying to take the mickey.
I don't go around with a banner saying that I do warhammer, but I have my models freely visible in my room, and if asked about it I won't deny that I do Warhammer.

I occasionally have the odd bit of banter about it with some of my male freinds, and my female freinds see it as "something my little brother used to do" and so just find it a bit odd that I still do it.

I have to admit i was much more cautious about letting people know about my geeky side when i was younger, however I think as one tends to become more secure with age I have stopped really caring.

So these days I am pretty much ‘out’ as a geek, however it does not normally come up much in conversation as work colleagues and friends tend not to share the interest. So generally if someone asks me directly about it then I talk away, otherwise I tend not to bring it up.

Why hide something you enjoy doing, I usually go around with a car full of gameing things, I spend alot of days at my local game store.

Its kind of funny when most people walk into a local game store they tend to think the stuff is really cool, makes me wonder why we dont have more gamers.

"You laugh because I'm different, I laugh because you're all the same!"

Jeez MGS, why don't you start a parade?

In case you couldn't tell, I don't say gak about my hobby. I MIGHT on occasion tell people I paint models, but I always tell them it's "normal" gak like model cars (which I do have but I don't really paint them that often...I need to though). A co-worker of mine ended up finding out on accident, but that was it.

I'm completely open about it. When asked what it is, however. The only people I know who would consider mocking it spend their spare time staring into their mirrors, getting high, or "taking care of business" whilst watching pr0n.

Other people tell me that they don't like my hobby, but never think of me differently.

Any problems people have with my hobbies are just that, their problems.

I don't bring up my hobbies at work and don't know many hobbies of others. That said, I have shown a few people some of my painted things and recently found out that someone I've known for a few years here actually worked in GW HQ for about 6 or 7 years. So it shows what a small world it can be.

I'm a Doctor Who fan and enthusiast of disused railway stations/lines too and quite open about that, so don't give a monkeys about people's opinions about my other geeky hobbies/interests. I've never had a negative reaction at this workplace though but I've seen it elsewhere. I think that people who ridicule the hobbies of others do so because they don't have any hobbies of their own, they lack the patience or mental capacity to do anything other than slump in front of the TV all day.

I am proud of it! Being a minister it can be kind of hard to explain to people, and I do not spout the Imperial Truth from the pulpit, but it comes up in social situations. My wife is OK with it, in fact she is the one who really supported my entry to the hobby while we were engaged and living 8 hours apart. The only time I even get somewhat judged is when I walk into my game store here in Ohio wearing my clerical collar or one of my kilts. But hey it is all fun! Just be yourself

I don't hide it, although I won't just walk up to people and ask,"Have you head the good word of the Blood God Khorne today?" I have managed to bring a few friends into the fold though.

Kilted_Cleric wrote:I do not spout the Imperial Truth from the pulpit

You should read from the Guardsmen's Uplifting Primer next time you are up there

I don't go out of my way to advertise that I paint toy soldiers, but then again I certainly wouldn't deny it or hide the fact. I am proud of the models I paint and more so of the fact, that unlike going to the pub every night, my hobby leaves me with something to show for the time spent enjoying it.

Most people who I tell about my hobby are genuinely interested, especialy once they see how much skill and dedication it takes to paint a miniature to a high standard. I would hazard a guess though that most people who turn their noses up at it do so with more regard to the gaming aspect than the painting or modeling. This is probably because you can clearly see the skill involved in the painting where as your average games of 40k just seems to involve rolling lots of dice and screaming Waaagh! a lot (just me then? )

I have one good friend who is also into the hobby and into D&D, although the thought of anyone finding out mortifies him to the point where he has hidden his miniatures at a friends house when he has a girl around! He works in a supermarket and quite often i will pop in to have a quick chat, I will never forget the day when I approached as he was chatting to a couple of girls, one I later found out he was really keen on, his faced droped and went a shade of white as he pictured me talking about Elves and Goblins, ruining his image. Instead i just wandered over gave him a slap on the back and said "see you at poker later on mate" and walked off. Needless to say I got bought a couple of pints for that one

Same as SF, in my younger days I did keep it on the QT but with age comes a diminishing of caring what people think/more confidence.

My Facebook page is testament as are the rather humourous conversations when an office full of girls ask "Yeah but how exactly do they move?!" or "You've spent how much on this thing!?".
Infact they seem to have more of a fascination with it then the guys do

Well, I am a recluse by nature, so I would say that no I'm not proud of my hobby around those that don't take part in it (unless I go into "Berzerker mode", in which case I'm too insane to care). However, when I'm with other hobbyists I don't give two gaks who see's me. Safety in numbers y'see.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:optimism of getting laid...

This will never happen to me. Ever.

Proud of it. I've been into computers since I was a kid. I've always loved Sci-fi and Fantasy books films and tv shows and I don't care who knows it. I wear t-shirts with slogans and images that only people like me get, and I don't mind explaining them if I'm asked by those who don't. I often have my 40k books on my desk at work and answer questions if asked without a problem.

I'm nearly 40 years old and I'm glad I haven't changed. Being an individual all that matters.

No shame, however I can only display painted models. At least that's the current rules at the house.

I am in the army. and one of the first things in the army that you learn is that someone will make fun of you for something... typically no one says 2 things about miniatures wargaming (at least in my unit, who until recently was over 50% full of WoW "gamers" )

but then again, when you shave your legs as a male for another hobby, cycling in my case, you kind of give another crate of ammo.

and i am married to a gamer wife, and mostly hang out with real gamer friends..none of that WoW crap. In fact, the missus just recently drug me into a game of D&D (not that it was really 'dragging' per se), and has allowed me to get a "few" reaper minis and paint them up for said D&D campaign.

Arctik_Firangi wrote:+1 for Captain Beefheart, Vlads... I just turned avatars back on.

That's relevant, but I wouldn't just tell anyone I think Trout Mask Replica was great. I don't mind pointing out things things I find interesting if it's relevant to the people around me, and I generally find wargaming to be pretty interesting. There are usually wargamers where one finds wargaming... etc.

Thank you!

As for the bolded, that's exactly, that's how I see it.

I will bring up Captain Beefheart or the like if Frank Zappa is mentioned (personally I enjoy the ol' Captain over Zappa) but otherwise there's no real point in doing so. Same with wargaming. I got a text from a friend the other day asking what I was doing, I told her that I got some models for a game I play in the mail. Which was true, I did just get some models in the mail the other day. But I wouldn't bring it up without good reason.

Also I'm sorry to hear that some people get made fun of for it but it's all relative in the end.

I don't shout it out, but hell, you ask, I'll be glad to explain.

Like you said, I don't give a feth if I'm "weird" or any of that bullgak. Everybody's got a hobby, and this is mine.

My friends jibe me for it, but it's all good-natured. 2 of 'em play anyway, so it doesn't matter really.

When I was playing years ago in high school, I had no shame about it. Some people there gave me a bit of grief about it here or there, but that didn't stop me from bringing white dwarf to read. Some people took an interest in it, others thought it was weird. In the end what others thought didn't matter to me. I kinda left the game for a while near the end of high school.

Fast forward 10 years, a group of friends of my girlfriend were talking about it. I mentioned that I had a pile of SM hiding in boxes somewhere, and they demanded I pull them out and have some games. Now I regularly play again, even getting my childhood friend and frequent opponent back into the game. I've been back in 40k for about 1.5 years now, and love playing.

Of course, my girlfriend and I, along with most of our friends play various pen and paper RPGs. I play chess competitively too. Nothing to hide. If someone brings up hobbies in conversation I might mention it in passing, but I'm always careful to not get into deep conversations about it unless the person is genuinely interested and not just being polite. Normally its something like "I paint and fight battles with model soldiers".

I don't really care to know anyone who would belittle someone else's hobbies. Its all just a way of enjoying our time.

If you can't live without yourself, you probably don't need to live at all.

I hide nothing about my gaming life. You want to look down on me for engaging in mentally stimulating group activities, then I would guess I am not the weird one.

Half and Half as i'm in high school and there are turds who complain about your nerdiness.
But otherwise to non-classmates I am proud. But why is it when you are found out to be playing Runescape its worse than nuclear kooties?


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Dracos wrote:I play chess competitively too.

So do I! What's your FIDE rating?