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How has gaming changed your life? has it kept you out of trouble, have you met new and interesting people because of it?

Lol, gaming has kind of always been my life, so can't really say it has changed it.

And while I have met many new people, I wouldn't claim they were any more interesting that the next man.

Most of the craziest people I know I met through gaming or games related knowledge.

Also, shouting 'blood for the blood god!' is almost like a freemasons handshake for recognition.

Gaming hasnt changed my life except it has been more fulfilling, possibly.

I am now poor.

Iranna.

 Iranna wrote:
I am now poor.

Iranna.

But rich in spirit surely?

I honestly don't know what I'd do with the vast majority of my spare time if I wasn't gaming, painting, or what have you. Pretty much the only friends of mine I talk to are gaming buddies and coworkers, and I wouldn't want to cut that population by half by taking out the gaming guys. I don't know what the sweeping changes of gaming have been, but it's been so ingrained in my life since I was a little kid that I can't honestly say I'd even be the same person.

 Iranna wrote:
I am now poor.

Iranna.

seconded!

Made me better with girls and talking to them. SOunds weird but before i couldnt even talk to girls about anything, but all the staff at my FLGS are girls so talking to them about games made me comfortable talking to the other sex.
And it made me learn when to keep my mouth shut.

Well lets see, its cost me a bunch of money and pissed off my wife quite a bit.....

But its something I love and she has accepted it.

Painting has become my destressor and has gotten me through.

 Mr. Burning wrote:


But rich in spirit surely?

But of course, the Imperial Creed has taught me respect and tolerance towards others and patience also.

Iranna.

Taught me to "know when to quit"

Seriously though, if I take "gaming" to be pretty much my involvement in the realms of fantasy, then it has been a massive motivator to me, in terms of travel, relationships, imagination, creativity, expression, and personal identity. I honestly think I would be less of the person I ma today (which probably isn't saying much) if I hadn't picked up that Fighting Fantasy book all those years ago!

How has it changed my life? It helped me meet my significant other
I don't think you can get much better then that.

 Iranna wrote:
I am now poor.

Iranna.

Good one.

Gaming has pretty much always been in my life, whether it was playing Zelda: Link's Awakening on the Game Boy, or playing Dungeons and Dragons with my buddies every sunday, I've always been a gamer.

Gaming has really changed my life in the past 2 years through war gaming. I bought the night goblin painting box because I wanted to do something while my DnD group was in hiatus (stupid college lol), so I started painting, and looking at the games, wanting to play them. Painting is not something I'm good at, but it's something I've always wanted to try. So after starting to paint my models, etc... I took an art class to receive some level of "classical" training... I got an A in the class, but I still kind of suck at painting lol.

Wargaming hasn't really changed my life in any way by itself. I met one friend through wargaming, but that's it. Most of my gaming is done at home with family and friends I've known before it.

Although it has made me a happier person, if that counts for anything. Its been about three years down the road since I've started this hobby, I don't think I can give it up without a lot of mourning, it's become a part of me.

Well, most of my long time friends are gamers, so that hasn't changed.

But most of my newer friends are all from the FLGS. Only a few really good ones, but still a great diverse group. Tons of great drama too, gotta keep it interesting. (Such as the guys who used to be roommates, and the one guy who tried to hook up with another guy's girlfriend's best friend).

Plus I have a nice home away from home at the FLGS.

I am not sure exactly how gaming has influenced my life, but it has been a huge part of my life for probably the last 10 years, with miniature gaming being a large part of my like for the last 4-5 years.

One think painting has done is to help revive some of my "artistic talent" (as others have said I have, though I am not so sure that I was all that good), that I had when I was younger.

Well I'm a lot broker then when I started...

It made me broke.

Likewise.

I've been broke for 25 years, and it's all down to new improved wargame-o

I have a room full of little unpainted guys that i'm sloooowly catching up on, but my wife (who games some, and paints more) and daughter (who games some, and paints occasionally) are content to let me wallow in my insanities.

We also have a huge d+d/Pathfinder library in the game room, a half-finished suit of leather armour and a couple of crates of other rpgs/wargames, plus the crate of markers and templates for OOP games and so on..

If i didn't have gaming, i'd get bored. You don't want to be around me when i'm bored. Odd things happen...

oh yeah, its definitely stolen all of my extra cash XD

but its given me something no video/tv related to do, and met lots of cool people (like dakkites! heck, even some dakkanauts )

It's given me great insight to the human animal. I still get shocked at the emotions that can go into this game.

Well there has been no real noticeable change for me as far as actual 40k is concerned. But D&D did help me through some life issues when I was younger (Divorce, uncaring stepfather etc.) But now its just a fun little distraction, kind of like going to a bar, or going to a LAN party.

I met one of my buddies playing warhammer about 5 years ago. A year and a half ago he mentioned to me needing another guy at work. Flash forward to today, I'm in the best job of my life, making a great income that can continue to support gaming, buy amazing Christmas presents for family (dad got a 40" flat screen last year), and I owe it all to gaming. Had I not been a gamer, I wouldn't have me this guy, and wouldn't have gotten into a very niche job. So thank you gaming for giving me a great opportunity in life.

I would say the following:

Through gaming I've come to know a great bunch of people, and it certainly helped me socialise.

By necessity, I learned colour theory to improve my painting. The added bonus is that I can give rudimentary advice to my fiance (just imagine I've included the fancy accented e's and such in there...) when clothes shopping (like, 'If you bought that yellow dress, you could wear red shoes as a complement with a contrasting green as spot colour), which kind of scores brownie points...

Awesome answers all 'round! I just needed some reassurance that this hobby is awesome as I'm attempting to open a Brick and mortar store of my own .

 KalashnikovMarine wrote:
Well I'm a lot broker then when I started...

Being a Compulsive Buyer, I would still be broke, I just wouldnt have anything to show for all that money i dont have

It's given me a bit of mental exercise, on occasion, when I try to work within, justify, or believably extend the framework of the linguistic, architectural, mythological, etc. inspirations of the established aesthetic and fluff. Not much call, otherwise, for a degree in Medieval Studies and Art History.

Beyond that, it's mostly been a matter of expanding my repertoire with yet another niche set of skills and knowledge. I'm little more generally handy or artistically competent than I was before, at the core, but I've picked up some more specific techniques that have occasionally come in handy, especially considering my previous stint as a salesperson at a craft store (even if I've never used them for their intended purposes, I've become familiar with craft products from other spheres that have been appropriated by our hobby). With my current job as a framer, the vague, innate sense of color theory I had, which painting somewhat sharpened, has been a small boon, as well.

Really, the main benefit of this hobby, for me, is the fact that it's practical and I seem inclined to always have one. I tend to develop an interest in something then research the crap out of it, putting it into practice if and when I can. Generally, I spend more time reading about it and thinking about it than I do actually practicing it. It was the same with armoring, it was the same with medieval reenactment/sport combat (SCA/Markland), and now it's true of modeling/wargaming.

In my current place, I don't have the space to house my metalworking tools (or a way to contain the noise) and I have neither the ability to make (see preceding point) nor the money to buy the required gear for sport combat (let us pretend, at least, for the sake of my meager dignity, that I could get back into good enough shape to actually participate...). However, a table and some storage space, was certainly within my reach, as were, initially, a few lots from Ebay. While the money I've spent, in total, could have perhaps funded some other significant purchase (like an SCA list-worthy kit of armor), the ability to spread it out into smaller purchases has allowed me to remain more consistently involved. Considering the scope of information and discussion available for perusal online, for those times (most times, if I'm being honest) when my energy and motivation flagged, and the ease with which I could practice it in my current or any foreseeable future situations, I had found my new hobby.

TLDR: Hasn't changed me, at all, merely the details/direction of my perpetually unrealized plans and the sporadic flow of my meager disposable income.

Well, that may have come across a tad bitter. I must like it if I bother, even as little as I do.

It's helped keep me sane!

I got back in to the hobby after i was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma about 16 months ago. during the whole process i have had a lot of time off work and painting and building ( i don't play ) helps keep my mind off the cancer.

My doctors and the Mcmillan nurse's keep telling that a positive outlook and keeping busy can help a lot and the hobby helps me do both.

pitboy2710 wrote:
It's helped keep me sane!

I got back in to the hobby after i was diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma about 16 months ago. during the whole process i have had a lot of time off work and painting and building ( i don't play ) helps keep my mind off the cancer.

My doctors and the Mcmillan nurse's keep telling that a positive outlook and keeping busy can help a lot and the hobby helps me do both.

Kick cancers butt!

Personally, I moved down here after college and lost my girlfriend, a good bit of my friends and I did not know anyone. If it were not for my hobby, I would not have anything that I have now!