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So, I'm currently working for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency as an arms inspector. This means that I have to be an expert on the New START treaty so that I can go to Russia and make sure I'm inspecting all that I'm allowed to inspect, as well as escort the Russians when they come to the US to make sure they only inspect what they are allowed to inspect. The new treaty, while much simpler than the old one, is still hundreds of pages of leagalese. It actually reminds me a bit of a GW rulebook (although, to be fair, the newer GW books have indexes, which the treaty lacks). Which brings me to my point, which I just realized the other day:

Essentially, I'm getting paid to be a rules lawyer.

I noticed that a lot of my mental processes for learning how the treaty works have been formed from the way I study rule books for the games I play. Has this happened to anyone else? Have you ever had a latent skill developed by gaming spring to the fore of your "real" (i.e., non-recreational) life?

well nothing that cool, but the thought processes and strategic planning has come in handy for various things i have done.

No.

I've had it the other way around. A couple university courses have majorly affected my game (mostly economics and stats).

well, it motivated me to go back to college... I had dropped out, halfway through freshman year, and had no money.

Playing warhammer, the idea of seizing an opportunity, and committing your forces to it, seemed to me a metaphor for taking out a loan, and going back to school before I became too old and tied down with family.

I'm now starting my junior year

Honer: *highfive* That's awesome. I always get a happy feeling when someone says they decided to go back to college.

Yeah, I go out to bars, and when I talk to women, and they ask me what I do in my free time, I tell them that I'm a wargamer. They usually squal loudly and crowd around me so tightly I can hardly move. Next to actually scrawling perl out on a bar napkin, it's the best girl magnet I've found.


Sigh...

Seriously though, I enjoy gaming because the thing I do then have no bearing in "real" life.

It has helped me with an increased knowledge of financial planning, credite and debt, mostly the latter.

Seriously though I have found that I ready and able to tackle any that needs fixing especially on a small scale.

My old man, who doesn't care for gaming often comes to me if there is something fiddlely that needs to be done and he's usually more than capable of taking care of things himself but prehaps will not know of the many varied fillers, glues, compunds, solvents, etc that I will often use for Warhams.

The opposite is true for me. Reading Tax Code helps me read the rule book better.

Ruckdog wrote:...inspecting all that I'm allowed to inspect, as well as escort the Russians when they come to the US to make sure they only inspect what they are allowed to inspect.

Wow... Wow... Just, Wow... [shakes head]

Anyway, to answer your question... No.

I find that I have naturally low initiative, so I just bought a power klaw. I figure it will help in contract negotiations a great deal and if I'm going to go last anyway, might as well ignore armor saves. The blank stares people give me when I explain all this and rev up the power klaw are just bonuses.

When I first started playing D&D I memorized the whole Basic Set book. Then had a test in Science class (was in 7th Grade), one of the questions was 'what color is chlorine gas?' Hell if I knew, then it hit me, Green Dragons use Chlorine Gas as a breath weapon. GREEN!

It helped me to do research in the field of syzygies and free resolutions.

Seriously, no.

The only practical application wargaming has had is my ability to judge distances down to almost the inch. This has come in handy with some important things in life.

1. Moving, the ability to quickly and accurately judge a rooms diminsions the first time.
2. Picking out a television, the age old important factor in the defactor primary or secondary hobby for gamers, aka video games
3. Measuring and precutting lumbar. From years of painting, scratch building, building tables and terrain I can make a accurate cut with a hand saw the first time.

Haza! Wargaming as basically helped me measure things effectively and be able to express to friends how something is 24 inches away. However people have no idea what I mean when i say "hey its the range of a bolter."

On 1 more note... its given me a flat table to play beer pong on.

No.

Well, there's one exception. By making lists so much, I've gotten into the habit of doing basic arithematic in my head. Which is nice, since the most of my math education had taught me to just use my calculator. (basic arithematic is nothing compared to the glory of calculus ).

yes, guessing distances.

Also working in law enforcement, I think that the Red ones do tend to go faster.

I used to be a terrible artist. Now I'm doing it for GCSE and I plan to enter for an art scholar ship when I go into sixth form.

I also think it may be helping inertly.

I'll explain, I completely belive, that playing the violin has improved my reflexes, school work and almost everything I turn my hand at for some strange reason. I believe that the same may be true with warhammer, improving reasoning, logic and cause and effect processing.

When I used to be editor of a wargames magazine a practical knowledge of wargaming and RPGs was very useful.

I've done a few commission painting projects. Not minis at all, but rocks for people's gardens.

The manual dexterity and ability to focus I've refined from years of painting have certainly helped on numerous occasions. Can't think of anything off the top of my head, but I know it's helped.

I'm teaching myself Javascript by creating an army list construction application in hopes of being employed in that field. That's kind of a roundabout way of it, but there you go.

Only because you said "gaming"...

Playing a ton of video games helped me be prepared for the grueling field of Data Entry. I'm much better off than others in my position, only having to wipe the blood from eyes 3 or 4 times a day instead of having to stitch my eyelids open.

On topic, no, my wargaming skills have not carried over into my non-recreational life. But the converse is true, as increased math and critical thinking skills helped improve my game.

The ability to be in close proximity to a smelly individual and not make faces or instantaneously vomit helped me when I worked at a bank in customer service. Even smelly people go to the bank.

spartanghost wrote:Honer: *highfive* That's awesome. I always get a happy feeling when someone says they decided to go back to college.

Ditto!
well done that man!

Same to Wizard12! good on yer matey! good luck with the GCSE's and the scholarship.

Am such a rubbish gamer I sort of hope it hasn't rubbed off on other aspects of my life!
The reverse in some ways is true in that I tend to take a lot of risks and have fun when I play now which is something life has taught me to do over the last few years.

I need to start remembering stats and abilities of units and weapons, which will be good exercises for my brain.
My short term memory and concentration have really suffered recently, partly due to health issues. So it hopefully will be an affirmative in the near future to answer the OP's question.

The ability to estimate distances on a small and large scale helps me quite a bit as a contractor, both with estimating projects and laying out patterns, etc. I layed out a 6" tile pattern in tape for a type of flooring that I do and after that my eye was locked in on 6" for a few weeks, that came in handy for charges... ;-)

I can do probability math in my head *way* better now.

mattyboy22 wrote:The ability to be in close proximity to a smelly individual and not make faces or instantaneously vomit helped me when I worked at a bank in customer service. Even smelly people go to the bank.

This.


More seriously, I've become the "small-scale fixer" among my immediate social circle. For instance, my sister bought an anime keychain and it it snapped, so out came the pastic cement!

guessing ranges

Gaming skills? Not so much. The hobby in general, though, has. Kind of. Depends on what you mean by "real" life. There's a fine line between hobby crafter and ad hoc repairman. I've always been one to futz around with little craft projects, ever since I was able to see the top of my dad's workbench. Never having any real training or even a direction, I just messed around and occasionally made something. At this point, I've made everything from wood-burned chests to armor to electrical etching rigs to... actually, my last project was converting a stolen dining hall fork into a scorpion (turned out rather nicely, actually).

I don't really have much opportunity to play, but the hobby side is a perfectly natural fit. I've just expanded my tool collection and knowledge base a little bit more. I've discussed the finer points of spray paints, glues, and polymer clays with my more artistically inclined friends, many of whom have formal training. I'm always surprised when I know as much as they do, if not more. People have seemed to notice that I've dabbled in dozens of crafts, so I've become the go-to-guy for advice on every project, from finishing tables to building Ghost Busters proton packs for Halloween costumes. Every time it comes to glue or paint, I find I'm in a better position to advise or do because of my 40K hobby.

For me probably my social skills

I have become a bit better at estimating distances, but from a practical application stand point.... I have used Battletech to explain compartmentation to a guy who just couldn't get it.
Basic Math skills tend to improve in gamers, to the point where I can spot an incorrect sum a long train of numbers.
I have also become better at skimming a page or book for relevant information.
From the modeling aspect, I can read simple assembly plans better than some people I know in construction to the point of spotting missing pieces before they are needed.