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 BunkhouseBuster wrote:

Lol, I'm in the Midwest as well, in a traditionally rural part of Missouri, and I just about convinced the pastor and other leaders at my church to try Warhammer and D&D. They make enough references to Star Wars, Star Trek, and old-school Nintendo, so they lean kind of nerdy anyways, but still. The only thing keeping some of them out of it is the time and money to start up.

I actually joined my current church due to a Bolt Action tournament, hosted in the church by the priest.

In the UK, lots of people have heard of Warhammer (but nothing else), and reactions tend to be "Oh yeah, I used to play that as a kid, think I've still got an _______ army in the attic" but have no interest beyond that. Most people don't get it but appreciate the effort in the painting. More people notice all the lego first, though.

I tend not to hide it, but I don't tend to advertise it either. I tend to be fairly shy though and don't make a big deal about most of my hobbies.

 Peregrine wrote:

 BunkhouseBuster wrote:
Anything I can do to improve my marketability to a potential employer is a high priority these days, and not being "nerdy" is one thing I can keep behind the curtain during interviews.

Is that even something that would come up? Granted, I haven't interviewed for any of those higher-level positions yet, but hobbies outside of work have never been an interview question. At most it's been casual conversation before the interview while waiting for everyone to arrive, and nobody has ever taken more than a "polite small talk" level of interest in the subject. I can't imagine anyone bothering to ask you or take notes on what your favorite football team is or whatever, that's just not relevant at all in selecting a candidate.

It came up once in one interview when I was asked "what do you do for fun?" I didn't get that job, but that was more to do with the organization going through some ridiculous leadership changes and massive budget cuts and changes in all departments. It was for an IT position with my alma mater, and I knew several people that worked in that department who also went to school, and are also into nerdy hobbies like MtG and RPGs.

But moving forward, it's just a "better safe than sorry" thing to me. As @privateer4hire said,

 privateer4hire wrote:
It might come up during a Facebook/social media check. I've been part of companies who have turned down prospective employees largely on social media presence projecting the wrong image.

Having weird spacemen demon toys and memes smack talk that shows up when gamers talk 40k, etc. might be the difference between me and a 'normal' guy getting hired or promoted. Of course, if you have the This Town Football Team and similar smack talk on your FB groups, that's generally okay.

I don't care and would not make my hiring decisions based on their hobby interests, but with my degree and experience, I will likely be working with more "old fashioned" organizations that still don't know how to handle this new-fangled Internet thing.

I post and talk with quite a few train guys and modelers (think airplane kits, tanks, and diorama guys) - they are almost all closeted and only come into their local shop for supplies. Some are a wealth of knowledge

Speaking of interviews, in a recent interview one of the panel mentioned her DnD ranger shared my name so I asked her if she had a model for him as I've been known to paint a few toy soldiers myself!

I learned to play D&D from a Pastor.

 Peregrine wrote:

 BunkhouseBuster wrote:
Anything I can do to improve my marketability to a potential employer is a high priority these days, and not being "nerdy" is one thing I can keep behind the curtain during interviews.

Is that even something that would come up? Granted, I haven't interviewed for any of those higher-level positions yet, but hobbies outside of work have never been an interview question. At most it's been casual conversation before the interview while waiting for everyone to arrive, and nobody has ever taken more than a "polite small talk" level of interest in the subject. I can't imagine anyone bothering to ask you or take notes on what your favorite football team is or whatever, that's just not relevant at all in selecting a candidate.

You've never been for a job in the west of Scotland, then. That and "what school did you go to?"

Oh, it easy to see why people can be closeted gamers.

I just love those people who basically look at what you are doing and says: "Oh look, the man-child/grown-man playing with little toys/dolls/dollies!".

I am then forced to say that it requires a fair number of skill-sets than what that person is INSULTINGLY glossing over and making light of.

I can easily belittle ANY hobby but somehow tabletop wargaming seems to be fair-game... it is a strange prejudice I find.
I also find that the science-fiction setting seems to have even less merit than historical or say train sets with the uninitiated.

I remember a friend of my wife was taking some painting course and I was asking about some of the techniques and I got some comment "This is a professional artist course, I think what they teach does not apply to your hobby.".
I then banged out a canvas picture in an evening of a scene she was working on for the last month with better results... just to see if she had any pointers for me (she was trying to make layering paint sound like rocket science).
Yep, not sensitive about my hobby where I spent decades getting good at it only to have it made light of, no sir, not petty at all.
Seeing a textured paint blue circle on a textured yellow background and saying it is professional art ... yeah, no hypocrisy on my part at all as well.

Every once and a while you got to show that a bunch of diverse skills are applicable to so many things.
I think the moral in this not to be too quick to judge, especially when someone is passionate about it.

 insaniak wrote:

 jmurph wrote:
... and, as a younger man, I would definitely clear out the stuff if I expected a date to be coming back to my place, just as I would any video game junk.

I've never understood this need for people to conceal their interests. If you're getting to know someone, better to present yourself as who you are.

Took this approach with the last woman I dated, figured feth it put it all out there on the table and in the open and if she runs away because of it I'd probably be better off.

Needless to say I married her a few years later and she puts up with all my 40k crap quite easily.

But I don't jump at the opportunity to present my hobbies in normal conversations with people at work or people I'm just meeting. I guess I do tend to keep my interests in wargaming to myself or my small circle of friends, as I feel most people who just don't understand a single thing about the game look at it like I'm Steve Carrell in the 40 year old virgin sitting there with a head lamp on talking to Bob the guardsman as I paint him for battle.

Weird, your post is exactly what I would have said!

I don't advertise it, mostly because I don't think it's anyone's beeswax. And I'm a collector rather than a player these days.

I've seen it having positive impact and a negative impact... and remember, something seen as "adorably nerdy" on one guy is seen as "effing creepy, weird and childish, ew" on another.

 cuda1179 wrote:
I live in rural Iowa. Low population density and having GW stores few and far between means that miniature gamers are more of a niche' hobby cross section. In the last couple months though, I have learned that one of my customers is into miniature wargames (most WWII stuff), my future brother in law builds miniature dioramas, my wife's cousin (very close to her) loves to paint D&D minis, and a friend found out what I do and said her ex boyfriend used to play.

I'm beginning to wonder how many people are into miniature hobbies that I just don't know about. Are people just that private, or just worried to be labeled a nerd?

I know the town, and you are not far from a large contingent of gaming..... Omaha, Des Moines, or Sioux City... take your pick.