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I'm a level 5 nerd.

I grew up in the home education crowd and so don't really have a concept of street credibility. My hobbies include music, I'm a drummer; into Australian styled hard rock, I am; obviously; a wargamer, I do archery, I am a puppeteer, I studied Linguistics and I have done some amateur surrealist art in my spare time.

A nerd, no, I dress like somebody from Judas Priest. A geek, probably. A strange person, yes.

Flashman wrote:Meh, I collect toy soldiers and play games with them.

Other people go out and get drunk every Friday night and then waste half the weekend getting over a hangover.

If I'm the odd one, so be it

haha, very well said

I'm not a geek at all, and people wouldn't dare call me one.

Wargaming is extremely social and you get to meet all kinds of people, alot of my friends sit on xbox shouting abuse at a kid in Japan who is "pwning" them sitting in their pants on their own in their bedroom.

Its a time consuming hobby which is very intelligent and the key thing, as I already said... Its sociable.

I also play in a touring band and am assistant manager at a live music venue. I have many friends and am extremely popular in my local which is the main student bar in town, I occasionally DJ there and it goes down very well.

Its a particular person who is a geek, nerd or dork, not their hobby that defines them.

The OP is a nerd, level 8, or higher, if levels stack. Go with it, you are not alone with it.

wuestenfux wrote:The OP is a nerd, level 8, or higher, if levels stack. Go with it, you are not alone with it.

Naw, don't think so..... I'd say I deserve like 5..... but maybe starting this thread has pushed me to 6....

MrMerlin wrote:Wich leads to to this question: Am I a nerd?

...................

Are you also nerds?

If you have to ask...

(It's not a bad thing!)

I'm a geek, not a nerd.

I was playing with a soldering iron and electronics before I wargamed.
I was playing with a camera (film, SLR) and developing my own pics before wargaming.
I was playing with computers before I wargamed.

shingouki wrote:Like i told my kids"i'm that uncool i've swung back round to being cool again.

Ha!

I would put us between Roleplayers and Larpers on this hierarchy

http://toogeekyforyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/geek-hierarchy.bmp

Let me see here:

I wargame
I'm semi smart
I'm a swimmer
I love cooking
I play video games and hacki sack
and I have many friends

I see some nerdiness and some non nerdiness it just depends on you're view of nerdiness.

Great White wrote:Let me see here:

I wargame
I'm semi smart
I'm a swimmer
I love cooking
I play video games and hacki sack
and I have many friends

I see some nerdiness and some non nerdiness it just depends on you're view of nerdiness.

This reminds me of a video

Piston Honda wrote:

Great White wrote:Let me see here:

I wargame
I'm semi smart
I'm a swimmer
I love cooking
I play video games and hacki sack
and I have many friends

I see some nerdiness and some non nerdiness it just depends on you're view of nerdiness.

This reminds me of a video

Or this one. Opening joke on your vid was funny.

I'm a geek. At least when it comes to my toy soldiers.

However, I shoot guns, ride ATVs, fish, my car is another hobby, love football and MMA, go to the gym regularly.

O by the way, I've been in the military for over 20 years.

I think war gaming interests all types. Lets not try to fool ourselves, this is a geeky hobby.

Plays with toy soldiers as an adult = NERD.
dont worry about any title, being a nerd is a good thing. If you were a jock then there might be problems.

Just a side note here. You mention you have a lot of freinds. Nerds (i.e. those of us who play games etc and fall inot many of the catagories that most people label nerd) often have lots of friends. This is a biproduct of playing lots of games. At 40 I have a large circle of friends that many of my non gamer freinds and relatives are jealous of. Once your out of school etc. it becomes increasingly hard to maintain and meet as many people as when you were younger (in my experience as related to me by my older, non gamer friends.) So being a nerd may actually translate to a happier and therefore longer life. Enjoy. Embrace your inner nerd.

I thought labels only existed in High School?

I think the real answer to your question, is with another question.....are you happy?

MWG guys are awesome. Love their terrain videos and introducing me to foam core.

Byte wrote:I'm a geek. At least when it comes to my toy soldiers.

However, I shoot guns, ride ATVs, fish, my car is another hobby, love football and MMA, go to the gym regularly.

O by the way, I've been in the military for over 20 years.

I think war gaming interests all types. Lets not try to fool ourselves, this is a geeky hobby.

I'd like to point out that the kind of people who "shoot guns" and "ride ATV's" are WAY worse than "geeks".

No offense.

I go to the gym, have a girlfriend (who is actually hot), play warhammer, enlisted in the army, I play guitar, and love sci fi/fantasy

I was never thrown in a locker in school
I never wore glasses like buddy holly
And I don't wet the bed.

adameast wrote:

Byte wrote:I'm a geek. At least when it comes to my toy soldiers.

However, I shoot guns, ride ATVs, fish, my car is another hobby, love football and MMA, go to the gym regularly.

O by the way, I've been in the military for over 20 years.

I think war gaming interests all types. Lets not try to fool ourselves, this is a geeky hobby.

I'd like to point out that the kind of people who "shoot guns" and "ride ATV's" are WAY worse than "geeks".

No offense.

None taken. I never said being geeky was bad. It's hard to stereotype the war-gamer.

I also enjoy sci-fi/fantasy, as well as play and collect electric guitars.

I play Wargames, and have actually been in a War.

I don't know what that makes me.

I play war games, though not as often as I used to.

I play PC games daily.

I play console games weekly.

I have a job that entails at least 10 hours a day in front of computer troubleshooting code, or telling people why their strategy for their NPO is stupid.

I read academic journals for fun.

But then, I also spend 2-3 hours a day in a gym, and love me some celebrity gossip, fashion, and sports. So your mileage may vary.

Harriticus wrote:The 8 Levels of Nerd:
-Level 1: Casual Gamer
-Level 2: Likes Sci-Fi/Fantasy
-Level 3: Hardcore Gamer
-Level 4: Wargamer
-Level 5: Writes fan-fiction
-Level 6: Anime/Manga Otaku
-Level 7: Still likes Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh over the age of 13
-Level 8: LARPer/Cosplayer

Level 1-check
Level 2-check
Level 3- nope, play to tell a story
Level 4- yep
Level 5- Do intro's for scenero's count as fanfic?
Level 6- Anime eh....humm how about pre 2000 stuff? Akira, GitS, Appleseed, Legend of the Galactic Hero. Not bleach naurto gurrenlaggen
Level 7- Only psyduck....hes awsome and ill thank you to not snicker at me
Level 8- Nope

I think everyone has a 'little geek' in them just waiting to escape from your basement, I don't know where I am going with this =o[

I gladly accept the title of geek or nerd. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, I play MMO's and FPS's, I play tabletop games and paint toy soldiers. I love all things Japanese and would totally LARP if a local community existed.

At the same time:
I'm a drummer in an alternative/rock band
my wife has a huge rack, with whom I have 2 sons
I go to parties and imbibe on major holidays(except Christmas and such where being drunk makes for sad stories for my kids)
I am a tattoo artist.

I enjoy a happy balance, but if I had to choose I'd be a husband first, father second, drummer third, and nerd/geek/gamer fourth.

It really depends. But then you should ask, does it really matter? You are into a hobby that lets you express yourself in a productive way. "Art" if I may be so bold.

I am very happy with myself and embrace all part of my personality.

Nerd: I wargame, get really into RPG games going so far as to buy rings and make chainmail, not to mention my 45lb battle axe that would lop a head with the momentum I could swing it at.

Jock: Love sports, workout, go running an camping all the time.

Outcast: I can be really reclusive at times and often feel like no one understands me, but I enjoy the time alone.

Bad side: I have been in a "bad" crowd before but came out unscathed, gave a new perspective on what's important life. Also am a cig smoker...

Wild side: I have a nickname, "Creature". If you can imagine golem... yeah, bout sums it up.

Mischievous side: Putting things in peoples carts at the market is always a kick when you get to see there face at the counter. "I didn't put this there!". "Why is it in your cart ma'am?"

end rant.

I guess what I'm trying to say is yes, all us wargamers have a nerdy side (playing with plastic/metal army dudes) but it doesnt necessarily mean your the "I play halo all day in my mom's basement stereotype".

Unless your TFG, then that might aply to you.

I think its funny though when someone makes a negetive comment about the hobby, then I realize I know the dude. LOLed and said, "hey aren't you the guy (insert witty, demoralizing comment here.)"

We really need te redefine Nerd and Geek. Here's my attempt

Nerd (n): A person with a extreme focus in one interest to the point of absolute mastery. (ie: Baseball Nerd that can tell you the percentage ratio of better performance of Mark Maguire pre-steroid vs. post steroid)

Geek (n): A person with varied interests with the passion to become an expert at many of those interests. (ie: I practice martial arts, play drums, play 40k, pathfinder, scifi shows, etc..., but I am a very good computer tech, and cook.)

As far as socialability, most Nerd and Geeks have better friendships and more friendships than most normal people due to all the circles we travel in.

Consider adult Jock vs. adult Geek

Jock has his rec team he plays with, his drinking buddies, and his work buddies, maybe a girlfriend.

Geek has:

RPG group or 3
Online MMO groups
friends that play other systems
Work friends
Science friends
Computer friends
Convention friends
Wargaming friends
Sports friends
Girlfriend/wife maybe
etc..........................

As a testament to my nerdatude I can say that the iconography associated with 40k universe is so engrained with my daily existance that sometimes I have to stop myself and realize that there are not floaty croissant shaped tanks with lasers, and that not everyone knows what a howling banshee is.

I do a bunch of cool stuff too, but let's be real. 40k's pretty geeky. Unless it's a gamer girl, 40k is definitely off topic until about the 5th date.

Not me...

Any T-shirt stand at a mall should be able to make one for you.

I actually plan on getting a batch of Tzeentch stickers made for various uses, my car and what not.