Are you a gamer? Do you keep it hidden from people because you feel they would judge you or wouldn't understand?

Are you a reformed gamer?

Have you ever watched a Magic: The Gathering tournament on ESPN 2?

confessions and curious replies only, please.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Answers

Ok, I'll be the first one to start:

It's something I've tried to do, but to me it seems like it requires more of a socialized creativity than it is about any creative exploration. I once tried to set up a campaign where one of the players had to bargain for the other players at a slave auction, but that just seemed to deflate everyone's interest in gaming. Everyone grew up on me all of a sudden.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I am not a gamer. I'm not! Dammit!

(sob) OK, I admit, I'm getting sucked in. Cause see, the boyfriend is a heavy-out full-on gamer. He's been gaming for years. Way before I was in the picture. He has a gaming club, and another group of gaming friends, and then a third group of gaming friends. The first group is into role playing games (RPGs for the uninitiated) and the second is into board games. Like war games. Risk but more mature.

And now I'm getting sucked in, dammit. See, there's this game that he plays on Friday nights and it sounds kind of fun, and besides if I ever want to hang with him on alternate Friday nights, I sort of have to go, and.. DAMMIT! I knew this was going to happen!

It's a good thing I love him so much.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I'm not, but my husband is big time.

Before the baby was born he went to a game night once or twice a week. I don't know if he's going to start going again, now that the baby is here, but I'm sure he would if he could.

The closest I ever came to being a gamer was being addicted to MajorMUD for four years. That game was my damn life. But I got that monkey off my back, boyee.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I'm that other kind of geek gamer -- the computer gamer. Once a month I compulsively buy another $45 game that requires a faster and better computer than, well, let's face, anyone in the world has. I frag, I camp, I chat, I check my ping, I check my frame rate, I download drivers every other day and never bother to screw the side of my case back on. I check bluesnews.com every ten minutes.

May god have mercy on my soul.

I briefly toyed with the being addicted to INWO (a Magic-style game), but I wasn't any good at it, so I quit. Nothing like playing games in arbitrary and meaningless worlds to make my petty competitiveness shine.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Um...uh....I kinda got sucked into Magic with my then boyfriend now husband, and he got me hooked pretty bad, before I knew it I had spent untold amounts of money on pieces of cardboard. I still like the game, but I don't invest into it anymore. Um...once I played Vampire the Masquarade live, in college, because I was bored...um okay maybe twice, but the people scared me so I quit...*blush*

But back to Pamie's question about watching Magic tournies, I worked at a store that sold RPG and board games, and they hosted a tournament. It was crazy, hundreds of 8-14 year olds throwing money at me, buying cards to take across the hall to play, not even wanting their change back. These kids had hundred dollar bills, it was frightening!

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I used to play "Champions" at MIT, back when I was in college. I'd get into lots of trouble, because I just didn't take it "seriously" enough.

"Champions" is all about super-heroes. I chose to be a female super- hero who used all her ability points (or whatever -- the math in gaming always bothere me) to have the most SPECTACULAR outfits. She never did much during campaigns except stand around and change clothes a lot.

Oddly, she didn't get killed. I think the guys in the group liked fantasizing about her. Weird.

So I'm not only a reformed gamer, I'm a reformed gay fashion geek gamer. That's pretty low.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Ok - oh my god - I watched that Magic tourney on ESPN2! I watched it with great fascination and utter confusion...it might as well have been broadcast from MARS.

I sat there - for HOURS, y'all - listening to the announcers (!!) talk about the red decks and mountain cards and whatever creature thingies they were and I was stunned that such a thing was going on without my knowledge. Thousands of young guys playing this card game.

Do girls play it too? I didn't see a single girl playing.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

:::standing up:::

*ahem* Hello, my name is Pamela, and I'm a... closet gamer. *sob*

Ok, yeah, I game occasionally, and I usually don't talk about it. I first got into D&D because of a boyfriend. I really had a lot of fun. Haven't played since breaking up with said boyfriend.

Same bf introduced me to MUDs. I got heavily into playing on a couple for a few years. I don't "play" anymore, but I still log on occasionally to chat. Honest.

After I was an established mudder, another friend got me to join her MUSH. I was really into that for about a year, until I hit general computer burn out. I actually just logged on to that mush today for the first time in weeks. I was surprised my character hadn't been purged.

My husband, who is a recovered mudder, got me into Magic last year. I must have an obsessive personality because I got really into that game. I've participated in 2 tournaments (losing, mostly). We spent pathetic amounts of money on cards. Then our last big ebay win arrived, and after dividing it up with another friend I suddenly lost interest. I think I was coerced into playing once in the last 6 months.

Stop looking at me like that!

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I used to play D&D eons ago (even tried my hand at Champions, hehe), and even though I had heard a bit about M:TG through the years, I was never that bent on playing M:TG. That is until I saw the tournament on ESPN(2?) a year or two ago. I was totally engrossed. Since I didn't know anyone that played I went out and bought the computer game and learned and played...by myself! It's not so bad being a gamer, but being a gamer wannabe? That takes mega-geek genes.

I also got on a 3 or 4 month kick of collecting Star Wars Collector Card Game cards (much like M:TG). I never, ever played the silly game, but I sure am hoping they'll appreciate a bit...of course, that, too, is an entirely different kind of geekiness.

God save me. I don't think I'll ever grow out of it.

Well, gotta go check out my Utopian province for the 5th time today...

Darren --> (perfect geek name)

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Ooh, Patrick, what a great idea! See, the Friday-night campaign that I'm about to get involved in because of my boyfriend is... ta-dum, a Champions campaign.

So, I bet it would go over REALLY well if I were the token fabulous- looking chick gamer who just kind of looks fabulous all the time and occasionally busts out with a superpower. Yeah!

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Hello, my name is Ghafla, and I'm a recovering gamer...

I haven't played an RPG actively since August 1996, but I know it's just a matter of time before the relapse comes.

I was first introduced to gaming when I was 7. A babysitter brought over his copies of "The Player's Handbook" and "The Dungeon Master's Guide" and "The Monster Manual" and I was hooked almost immediately. By my 13th birthday, I had shelves of RPG-related papers. I played D&D, and Car Wars, and Star Fleet Battles, and Ogre, and Battletech. Things tailed off a bit in high school and through the early part of college, with only occasional relapses into gaming. However, I was a member of a group that played Shadowrun regularly during my senior year of college. Since I left college, however, I've been clean. I've seen the rise of the corruption that is the card-based RPG, but I've managed to stay away from it.

I know I'll fall off the wagon eventually, and binge at a game store on $200 in new rulebooks, but for now, I'm clean.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Oh yes, I'm a gamer. And Oh Yes, I keep it a secret.

Boyfriend hates it. Some friends think it's weird. The rest will never know.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I guess this would count as a "curious" reply, because I honestly have NO idea what y'all are talking about!

The only game like that that I've even heard of is D&D, and I don't think I've ever even known anyone who was a gamer. (Or maybe I did and they were also "closeted.") Oh, wait -- I HAVE heard of Magic: The Gathering, but I don't have a clue what it is.

The closest I've ever come to this type of addiction was when we first got our Super Nintendo years ago. My husband and I got addicted to Zelda: Link to the Past, and played it every single day until we finished, then we started over. We even played it with that cheater thingy, the Game Genie. But other than that... I'm clueless!

This may be too big a request, but could someone try to explain these games? I can't stand to be out of the loop!

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

OH! that reminds me, I am totally addicted to (playstation) Final Fantasy V, VI & VII, the sad thing is that they are RPG's too. My sickness has just switched over into the virtual realm. I logged over 75 hours in FF7 alone. I'm amazed that my husband hasn't left me yet.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Story 1: Tried D&D when about 13-14 years old. 25 year old DungeonMaster stalked me for months. This was after I attended two games. I was skeeved. It greatly affected my ability to flirt or to be comfortable with new people, as I learned (erroneously) that people will not respect your boundaries or hear you when you say 'no'. (Sad thing is, I wasn't exactly flirting with the DM, even, I was just polite. I was even urged to be nice, since the DM can take a dislike to you for whatever reason and kill you off and I was creative enough to be an interesting player. Oh well.)

Story 2: Discovered dikuMUDs in the early 90's. Disliked hack 'n slash element, enjoyed object oriented coding and chatting. Was amazed to discover that people lie about their age and gender all the time and expected me to actually be a guy or expected that anyone with a female name would be interested in hearing about their prurient fantasies apropos of nothing. That was yucky. I remained upfront about my age (older than you) and gender despite more and more negative experiences with rude or persistent people. Several serious machine crashes (where you'd have to start from square one with nothing) ruined what little remaining fun MUDs were for me.

Story 3: Annoying, mean-spirited, whiny mailroom guy at previous job was dubbed "Magic: The Gathering". Much hilarity is had by all. "Magic" never had a clue.

Story 4: I collect tarot decks and related items. I just bought a novelty deck called "Gother Than Thou". Uh oh! Looks like it's a game! Yikes! :) But it's hilarious and so I couldn't resist: http://www.gothic.net/~luvcraft/gother/

I suppose I'm a reluctant gamer, have been involved tangentally in the past.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I haven't watched a Magic tournament, but on a few occasions I've sat in on some of my friends' gaming (not Magic, I'm not quite sure what they're playing *lol*). Mostly I sit there and make smart-alecky comments amidst the playing, which they enjoy enough to have asked me if I want to join, but thusfar I've resisted being sucked in.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I was into D&D and Car Wars and Traveller and various other geekware during middle school, but put it all aside when I discovered electric guitars, a far more efficient waste of time and money. About 4 years ago, my roomies and I hauled out ye olde D&D crap and decided to try playing again. I got bored and then passed out drunk. I think they used my character for cannon fodder after that.

-p

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

At our school, all gamers are nerds. Being called a gamer is the ultimate insult. I called my best friend a "Gaming Club wannabe" and he slapped me across the face. Hard.

It's rather unfortunate that not one single even remotely normal person is into gaming, but that's the way it is. Here, at least.

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

And that is a "confession or curious reply" how? Can you not follow simple directions?

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Hoooooo boy. *raises her hand and waves it around a lot* Gamer geek girl, right here! That's right, I'm out and I'm proud! Matter of face, I just went to my first gaming convention this past weekend. You can read alllll the gory details here.

Basically, I always wanted to play. I grew up when all the hoo-hah about D&D being a Satanic game was going on, so I could never find anyone who'd teach me.

I didn't get my chance until I was 22. My friends were playing Mage: The Ascension, and Champions on alternating weeks, so I joined in, and man, I was hooked. We went from that to playing a fantasy campaign (set in the Forgotten Realms, but using the Hero System -- she says, in gamer geek code) for several years.

Then, heaven help me, I discovered MUSHes. My first serious one was The Dreaming, based off the game Changeling: The Dreaming, which has, over the past two years, become my obsession. I've branched out, of course, I play Changeling, Mage, Werewolf: The Apocalypse /and/ Vampire: The Masquerade online... I'm pretty much a White Wolf junkie.

As far as face to face, real-life gaming, I run a Changeling game, and play Shadowrun and will soon be playing Legend of the Five Rings as well.

And of course, this past weekend, where I was belatedly exposed to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons for the first time.

Curious to know more? Email me, I'll answer questions about my geekiness. :) Or just go check out my journal.

Out and proud,
Lisa :)

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Yea, I'm a gamer. But, I play real fucking games. I play 00 on Nintendo! Fucking gamers. Where's my whipping wand?

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

There's this company in Austin called Origin Systems Incorporated. In 1997 they came out with this game called Ultima Online. And three years later, its still on my hardrive.

But I don't consider myself really fargone. Can you imagine playing a computer game for six months and then be paid $2000 for all the treasures and skills your character acquired? Incredibly, character accounts on UO have been sold on Ebay for amounts ranging into the thousands of dollars. That I have not done so, though many have.

btw, anyone wanna buy a badass assassin character on the GL server for a measely $500?

j/k I'd never sell!

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I started with D&D around 1986, then a few years later discovered Call of Cthulhu which was much more interesting (you don't go mad from the monsters in D&D, after all). Still have the CoC manual I bought ten years ago, though I only ever played it with a couple of friends who never took it particularly seriously. Still, though it's been nearly a decade since I last played it, I've never abandoned my interest in Lovecraft otherwise, and in recent weeks have found myself roped in onto the editorial board of a Cthulhu Mythos fiction website. So in a way it's never quite left me

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

I don't think I'm a gamer but...

When I was in college got introduced to war simulation board games... first D-Day and then various Civil War battles and then Blitzkrieg, all night long gaming sessions... and then just a few years later, married, mid-20's did some more multi-day sessions...

Years later, along came computers... tried some text based games on mainframes... got bored... wander through tunnels or corridors, suddenly gang of evil gnomes attack you, steal everything, you die... okay, whatever... pointless... yawn...

Then my eldest reaches 6th or 7th grade, gets into Dungeons and Dragons (or is it Dragons and Dungeons?) and for the next few years every three hour car trip is spend listening to his play by play descriptions of the most recent game he and his friends had played.

Now there are elaborate computer-based RPG's, etc... but I have no interest... Super Mario Brothers was too much for me... I like old- fashioned electro-mechanical pinball machines... Except for SimCity200, damnit, that thing was addicting, just suck you right in, hours could go by... My daughter loved the RPG adventure games... she just now gave up her subscription to the Dragon Realms MUD site after more than three years, probably because I bought Sims for recently and she has been playing that almost everyday since then. She also played Dungeons and Dragons, etc. My youngest never really got into that kind of game; he's more into Total Annihilation or Quake or GTA, etc.

I have noticed that now that Sims is on this machine, both kids and their friends will be gathered around the screen, all hooked on those little simulated humans. And I will admit that I have deliberately avoided playing it. I have no interest in most computer games but I remember how addictive Sim City2000 was and so I am trying to avoid Sims.

Jim

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2000

Yes, I'm a gamer. I've been into AD&D ever since an (ex)boyfriend introduced me to it in college. I don't hide it in the slightest - it's part of who I am. I'm a computer nerd. I game. I mush. And I don't keep it a secret. Of course my entire family thinks I'm strange. But there's more reasons than just the gaming for that.

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

Yeah, I agree with Jenipurr, there's a LOT more than gaming that makes me strange...

Anyway, I'm French, and I don't think the gamers are that much ostracized in my country, compared to yours.

I mean, ok, we get the occasionnal suicide of a 16 years old goth and then his mother comes to tell us all on TV that AD&D killed him, but no more, I'd say it only happens every 2/3 years, when the media don't know what to talk about...

I AM also a gamer, loud and proud and never in any closet. I started playing RPG games with one of my best friends when I was around 13, I'd say.

Then all my boyfriends were gamers. Roleplayers, Magic players, video games players, console and computer games player. I have a major problem with nerds: i love them. I swear, except for one [when i was trying to resist the fatal attraction], ALL my boyfriends have been computer science students, geeks and gamers.

And so, I love it, i married the 'cause', and i turned into one. After years of theoretical studies of art & communication, I end up a webdevelopper, hooked up with a comp science student who programs C all week-ends, and what I'm trying to get him to do is to play Magic: the Gathering with me, but he doesn't like it. He's more happy as a roleplayer in Terry Pratchett's of Frank Herbert's universe.

I long for the days where i had time and a bunch of roleplayer friends, when i spent nights impersonnating a mage, or a young peasant discovering her magic powers, when i could meet Gandalf in the woods and shiver in the dark corridors of a castle [the bad guy's one] we where trying to invade...

I long for all the characters I built and abandonned for lack of time, and OH am I jealous for the TV showings of Magic tournaments!!!

We don't get that in Europe, you have to pay for the train and go there if you want to see it..I wish I could watch this!

ok, you can start laughing now!

Actually you would be wrong to... I really think gaming involves a powerful imagination and distanciation, and a big sense of humor... I think it's one of the ways to keep our ability to dream when we grow up, like sport was basically 'invented' to allow us to 'play war' without killing anyone... Anyone who doesn't like to play [from darts to card games to Monopoly to RPG] AT ALL is suspicious to me, like they don't have a heart or a child's soul or whatever, like they're only remotely human...

Sorry for the rant, guys.

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

Hoo boy.

Well, let's see. I, along with three other guys, run a Vampire: The Masquerade LARP. I also play in one on occasion.

No, wait, there's more.

I once ran a Mage chronicle. I've played in or ran many many chronicles.

No, wait, there's more.

Here we go, this is the big one:

I've written two gamebooks for Mage.

YES! I WIN! Well, maybe. And in case you're interested, I wrote Chapter Three of _The Spirit Ways_ and I co-authored the forthcoming _Blood Treachery_. STOP LAUGHING! WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?!?!?

I don't game nearly as much as I did before, because the novelty has worn off. But on occasion I still get a craving to polish off the d10s and pretend to be someone else for a few hours.

Oh, it hurts.

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

Ah, Mage, that's the one my friends play and that I've sat in on a couple of sessions.

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

Ohh, yeah, baby, I'm a gamer! I've got Basic D&D, the original three books, AD&D, ADND 2d edition, Champions I, II, and III, Fantasy Hero, Runequest, GURPS, White Wolf, Rolemaster, MERP, and things I've never even played and don't remember what they are. More, more, more!

This fall I'm gonna get the ENTIRE FREAKING AD&D GAME SYSTEM ALL OVER AGAIN because they're publishing a 3rd edition! NEW DUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE! NEW PLAYER'S HANDBOOK! NEW MONSTER MANUALS! CD's! Magazines! 4TH EDITION CHAMPIONS, TOO! NEW BOOKS! MORE BAD GUYS! MODULES! MAPS! YES! YES! YES!

I'm a little excited.

Can't stand Magic: the gathering, though. Only way to win is to kill your opponent. Dull. Kind of like chess, only more colorful, and with ogres.

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

Okay this isn't exactly a confession or curious reply, but it's really funny (sorry I don't know how to make links, html-challenged) http://poof.affliction.net/DDsatan.mp3

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

i watch the people at pease park with their capes and foam swords and giggle my ass off. then i pray the dog doesn't attack them.

i remember watching people play magik (sp?) in college, and thinking how utterly bizarre it was.

but you people are still cool with me. i just don't have the patience or imagination. same reason i hate fantasy novels/movies. i can't pretend very well.

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

OOh me me me! Im a total geek gamer chick. :)

In college we used to play every Friday and Saturday night, but when I graduated I didnt play anymore. Just last year I made a new friend on the internet who invited me to join his game. Well, I lasted 2 sessions before one of the players in that game invited me to join the game he was starting. I said "YES" because the Gamemaster for the Forgotten Realms setting game was kinda sucky. SO I left that and joined the Rolemaster game that my (now) friend was starting. That was a year ago and the campaign is still going on, 2 times a month we get together for 10 hours and play. I play a kickass warrior chick who can take down even the biggest man! This is where I met my boyfriend (gamer geek as well).

Game 2. my Boyfriend runs a game 1 time per month on Saturday. That one is relatively new, also Rolemaster game system. In this one I play a sweet magician chick who upon casting her first spell (Shock Bolt) rolled a natural 100 and blew the head off a giant ogre *cheer*

Game 3 my female friend who also plays in the above 2 games runs another game on the last saturday of the month. I have a neato teenage rogue chick who can turn herself invisible (handy for stealing from people!)

I ALSO own 6000 magic cards. I dont play anymore, anyone need some cards??? *laugh*

To look at me, you would NEVER know I was a gamer chick.

whew, I feel better getting all THAT off my chest. Thanks for listening.

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

I'm an orphan. I love M:TG. I used to play it all the time, but usually just with my roommate. I've played it since it came out, since I had a friend who was in Richard Garfield's classes at Whitman, and he got us all hooked.

I don't buy a lot of cards anymore, and right now I don't know a single person I could play with. (well, one. But he's an asshole)

I admit it. I like it. So there.

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

Well.... I admit when I met my husband to be at a wee age of 19, he was full speed ahead in Magic and AD&D. I was stunned. Here was a guy I was going out with and he was playing.....those games ?! He tried to get me to play Magic, Didn't like it one bit. He then tried to get me to play AD&D, I liked it but kept getting left out. But then lo & Behold.... I discovered....White Wolf...online!!! that was a year ago. And I am....::sniff:: Addicted. I play Vampire the Masquerade whenever I can. I love it! I tried Mage, it was a little too much for my lil feeble mind. Won't touch Werewolves. Might play Changeling if I found someone to play with. Would like to play Wraith. I have now since married my hubby and he's quit playing Magic and AD&D, but he's addicted to all kinds of computer games (he's a programmer, go figure) Quake3, Unreal Tournament, Diablo. He even hosts LAN parties at the house like twice a month. We even play Robo Rally board games with our friends once in a while. it's hard to find a couple that enjoys gaming that we can play with !!! There. I've said my piece, it's time to go back into hiding. ~Summer

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

First off, let me say that I'm completely new to this forum/group. As it happens, someone posted a link to that 'coming out' script on a gaming board, I read it, and laughed.

That said *cracking of knuckles* let's do that 'geekier than thou' routine.

Okay, I got into D&D when we had the blue book with the dragon. It was interesting, but I faded out over time, and just bought the books. I didn't really get to seriously play until I hit college, and boy was that fun. Played Champions then, and AD&D with this female GM who had thought up this entire _world_ of her own during high school. It was chock-full of detail - you could wander around blindfolded and fall into a plot. (Our gay psionisist did, actually.)

Eventually there was a waiting list for this game. Fantastic lady, too. Eventually ended up dating my roommate.

Lessee... later on I got into Magic real big when that hit the stands. I'm mostly out of it now.

My wife's a gamer too, but mostly board games. She likes Magic more than me, actually - she's a bit better at it than I am. Whereas I play the Legend of the Five Rings game.

Role-playing wise, I'm in an Elric! game and two Sailor Moon games online. (There's an entire Sailor Moon RPG subculture on the internet, which shouldn't be surprising - I wouldn't be surprised if there was a subculture of people wanting to have sex dressed up as presidents.)

I've gone completely off the question, haven't I?

Yes I'm a gamer. I don't hide it, but I don't go trumpeting it about. I bring it up in conversation when appropriate. I do tend to downplay the Sailor Moon gaming, though. :)

I haven't watched the MTG tournement on ESPN 2, mostly because I'm too cheap to buy cable that I would only watch for a couple hours a month. (Not only am I a gamer, I'm an elitist anti-television snob!)

Anywho, thanks for asking.

-john

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

Oh, yes, I am definately a gamer. I play AD&D, Palladium, White Wolf, Shadowrun, and others. I've been role-playing for about ten years now, and we game every single weekend.

My husband is a gamer. My best friend is a gamer. Her husband is a gamer. Actually, come to think of it, most of my friends are gamers.

I think gaming exercizes the mind, allows you to think creatively within a loose set of rules, and because there is no "winner" and no "loser" it allows you to learn cooperation. Gamers are, as far as I've ever seen, the best communicators on the planet. We know how to talk together and we know how to work together to find solutions.

With my non-gamer friends, I've had more grief, arguments, and stupid shit happen than with my gamer friends. To tell you the truth, I don't much care for most people who don't game... we just don't get along as well

KT

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

I'm an 18 yr. old girl born and raised in a family of gamers. I guess it all started with my great-grandparents, who would give you a sound thrashing in Progressive Rook every chance they could get. My uncle is the sort of guy who has every boardgame or dungeon-crawling game or war game or card game ever published. He might as well get a frikin' subscription to the gaming store. My other uncle is a GURPS-head. Board and card games put me to sleep, quite frankly, but I LOVE roleplaying. I have a pretty large family, and we role-play every chance we get with whoever we can coerce into joining us. My mom and her best friend are the best GMs ever... if you're ever in a game they're running, you'll be spoiled for life. I've tried gaming in other contexts, but most people really don't know what they're doing, and they don't know how to make it fun I tried Live Vampire The Masquerade once but all the players were really self-centered, defensive, and immature. It's living-room role-playing for me, baby. I'd reccomend Lace and Steel, Feng Shui, Legend of the Five Rings, Pendragon, and Teenagers from Outer Space.

Fer all you chikas out there, have you ever role-played in a group of all-girls? If you have chicks who are clever, competent, and work together, you can explore a whole new side to gaming... a complex world of devious plot and subtle social interaction. I think women tend to role-play on a more character-interaction level, if you know what I mean. It's about as far from 100-sided-dice and whacking on Orcs as you can get! (If you want to get the boys involved, Lace and Steel actually has rules and stats for the whole social thing, to make it easier for them to understand.)

As for keeping it a secret... you bet I do. It's more like a secret society. Don't mention role-playing to anyone until you think you have a chance of inducting them! If you're doing it right, once they get a taste of it, they'll never go back.

--Alayne

-- Anonymous, March 31, 2000

All right... Not all gamers are freaks, yes some are, and they get really into it. They spend a lot of money and waste like half thier lives. But, no need to stereotype all gamers to that high school boy with pimples, a pocket protecter and a bow-tie or however you, "normals" lets call them, think of us gamers. Just because some one is a gamer, don't judge him or her, it's a hobby, much like sports or baseball card collecting, it's just that our hobby is a bit different, we actually use our minds for something other than memorizing baseball statistics. Now, I don't want to put down any other hobbyist, it's just that, some hobbies are kind of pointless if you think about it, even gaming. But, every one, deep down is a gamer, whether they play an occasional game of Poker or they went ahead and spent thier entire inherentance on AD&D supplements. No big deal.

-- Anonymous, April 01, 2000

I confess... to once playing... Rifts! Although I must admit it was at secondary school and we were at a all- boys school so there wasnt much else to do. We persisted despite older boys taking the piss and harassing us. We persisted for four years. When we were 18 though it slowly drifted apart; my friends were nolonger interested and we found other things to occupy our time (like joining the debating team and going to chatup the girls at the local girls bording school). We all kicked the habit except me. When I got to college I started Star Wars and for a year or two it was ok. However recently I have had strange feelings: The sight of several grown men and women getting excited about throwing a 1 on the wild die just irritates me and the endless looting of stormtrooper corpses seems pointless. My house mates just smile knowingly when I set off on a wednesday evening to GM. Dammit why cant I find any GURPS players?

-- Anonymous, April 01, 2000

I've been a gamer for a loooong time (still am). For awhile, I didn't mention it to potential friends and then I figured out, "Hey, love me or leave me, buddy!" After this revelation, I never hid it again and y'know what? I have a bunch of friends, good ones, and almost all of them game.

Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore and I started getting 'involved' with gaming companies. First as a general usenet gadfly and then as a netrep. Finally, I graduated (devolved?) into actually WRITING for them. Who says you can't live your childhood fantasies?

So, I started a new job last year, and I made no effort to hide that I was a gamer if it came up in conversation. And what do I find out? My BOSS used to game, plus more than one or two of my coworkers (it's a high-tech company but, still, what are the odds?) The kicker is that a few of them recognized the company I write for!

So, yeah, I'm a gamer and darn proud of it! =)

-- Anonymous, April 01, 2000

Hey! I've met some normal gamers. I might, er, uh, even, ehem --be-- a normal gamer. I figure as long as you don't get in volved with the live-action stuff (can you say "public VLARP"), which I'm not, you still have some credibility. It's when you get the outfits and start chanting in public and attending conventions that it's jsut gone too far...

-- Anonymous, April 02, 2000

I knew a guy who started a weird cult based on the Nephilim twelfth- planet ideas and some roleplaying game. Apparently he thought he was an archangel who had to kill demons 'in human form.' RPG's scare me, now.

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2000

okay, I'm abit late on this topic, but I read all the answers and I just had to jump in.

I used to play an RPG game online a year or so ago on aol [black bayou]. yes, it was abit tedious since all newbies were treated unfairly and the ANTs would always get on your case if you messed up. I played with my cousin and we were in the knight family or something. I think we were vampires. I don't remember since my cousin made up my CS [character sheet] for me to be approved. I had nooo idea how to do the points or any of that.

really, I quit after a few months. I do have tarot cards and a pendulum game [like oujia], but that's as far as it goes.

it was interesting reading all these stories. I never knew most of these games!

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2000

I was big into Magic for a long time. I was there at Gen Con '93 when it was introduced and I've been in several tournaments. I've even won a couple of times. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the tournament scene. I play mostly for the enjoyment of the game, and it stops being fun when you play against people that have winning as their primary goal. Some of these people take it *way* too seriously.

I would say that playing games is my number one hobby. But I think I'm in some kind of weird gamer's middle ground. I have a monthly game day with some friends and family and we always have a great time. I even love the really long-ass board games that can take five or six hours to play. And we've dabbled in RPGs a little too.

But whenever I go to a gaming convention or try to get involved with other gaming groups, I meet people that disappoint me. People that are frightening. People with really bad hygiene. People that suck the enjoyment out of games by over-analyzing, rules lawyering, bickering and whining. I enjoy a good debate about the intentions of the game author and points of strategy, but some people just go way overboard.

I want to game with people that just love to game for gaming's sake. The social interaction, the fun, the randomness, the excitement, the story telling, the humor, the sillyness. That's the kind of gamer I am.

r a n d o m l i f e

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2000

I'm not sure if I can call myself a gamer or not.

I game. These days it's once a month, a 12 hour session or so. I'd like to play more. It's a lot harder to find other gamers these days, and probably because of the stigma that tends to come with it.

Mainly I've played AD&D off and on since I was high school. I've played a couple of other games a few times, but not enough to have done any serious character development. I tried Magic with my gaming group, and really enjoyed it one long night. Haven't been back to it since though, and I actually never spent a single dime on it, I'm proud to say.

AD&D though...I really like to play it. As long as it's a good group. But I have to admit, you have to look out for who you're playing with. In the ten years or so I've been involved with it, I've only had two really good groups. The current one I'm playing with now (about to be disbanded due to people moving) and a group I played with 7 years ago.

Very sad.

-- Anonymous, April 05, 2000

whew...there's a long list of responses to go through, but worth the input.

i'm a female game developer and i love games. there's nothing to be embarassed of and in fact, if there was any career i could choose to pursue (besides drawing tatoo samples and getting paid a lot for it!) it would certainly be programming awesome video games. makin' and playin' games-- my two favorite things rolled up in one!

can you remember the first time you actually dreamt of the tetris pieces falling perfectly??? ...still one of my faves. :)

-- Anonymous, April 05, 2000