How to explain your hobby to friends, family and people just being polite. - The Bear and Badger

Bollockoff

Having a meal with some family and friends last night and the conversation eventually turned to my father exclaiming his usual disbelief at technology these days and how I speak to my friends while gaming with them over the internet with a headset. Then a friend of my sister cuts in saying that I must be playing the new CoD "Black Something" and her and sis then have a good giggle talking about that time in Big Bang Theory when Sheldon did this and Sheldon did that while I grind my teeth together slowly and think what a shit piece of plaice this is.

The friend comes back to the question and asks if CoD was indeed what I was playing and it's left to me to explain the ins and outs of League of Legends 5v5 play, how much strategy is involved that's seperated into early/mid/late stages of the games that can last up to an hour and passionate, (I.E. wound up some of my friends can get over losing a match) grand and spontaneous the atmosphere of playing with friends over chat can be. Without sounding like some ultra geeky bedroom obsessive or a general twat.

I'm sure I failed in this scenario and will do in plenty more to come. But i'm wondering if anyone else has had awkward moments in a similar fashion or if they have a general attitude when this comes up.

n0face

I generally don't bother taking about games to people who don't play, it's like people attempting to talk football at me, I don't get it and I'm not interested and would rather they hadn't bothered.

TheDJR

I have trouble explaining badminton nevermind games.

beano

Mum- "Uni secret santa?"
Me- "Videogame internet forum secret santa actually."
Mum- "Internet strangers?"
Me- "Kinda..."
Mum- "Kinda?"

or going to Belgium every year in November.

Me- "I won't be in from Wednesday till Tuesday, I am off to Belgium."
Supervisor- "Oh nice, holiday?"
Me- "Boardgame tournament."

There are obviously loads more.

Diluted Dante

Lol Beano.

I'd have explained how only pre-teens play CoD.

I generally just express surprise if people question the fact I play games.I don't think I've ever tried to explain it beyond 'It's fun. You do like fun don't you?'

[Deleted User]

Gaming is popular these days. It's no biggie. My 65 year old Mother doesn't get it but that's because she's old and associates modern technology with the nuclear bomb, which she doesn't like in the least.

TheDJR

My gf, despite being pretty cool regarding everything still doesn't understand it. She couldn't grasp how The Walking Dead (a game!) could invoke an emotional response. I think I'd find it easier to explain a love of dogging.

beano

Like them cunts who think comics are for kids.

I've bought a few cunts like that Joe Sacco novels.

One lad in particular was so above himself I got him Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, as to continue a narrative of the worth of comics. He still hasn't read it.

Thundercunts.

Diluted Dante

That one's easy, just explain that you really want to meet Stan Collymore.

TheDJR

Always been a big fan of Phil Mitchell too. I was only joking anyway, it's how we met in the first place.

Blue Swirl

You think explaining video games is hard, try explaining Warhammer.

Diluted Dante

Painting little figures is fun?

[Deleted User]

I couldn't care less what people think about my love for games. I find the main problem these days is not that I'm into the whole gaming thing, but more that I have a problem with people who don't "respect" the games I play.Â

This is utter snobbery on my part of course. Trying to explain the brilliance of the N64 to a ten year old who loves Angry Birds will give you a bad name.

Diluted Dante

But Pilotwings 64 is quite clearly better than Angry Birds!

Yossarian

But the graphics are shit.

[Deleted User]

Diluted Dante wrote:

But Pilotwings 64 is quite clearly better than Angry Birds!

You know it, I know it, my boy will learn it if it kills me.

Blue Swirl

Diluted Dante wrote:

Painting little figures is fun?

Aye, it is, but most people will either just think of Arnold Rimmer and his Risk Campaign Book, or that scene from 40 Year Old Virgin where the titular hero is painting Napoleonic troops.

[Deleted User]

I've suddenly realized that good games, like good films, will be always be popular. The fact that Angry Birds is popular now is no more significant than the Â the fact that Angel Delight was once considered a good pudding. There'll be people much younger than you or I that will champion the really good games in decades to come. What's genuinely brilliant will always be. This is art.

Brooks

I don't. What's left of my interest in videogames is shared with internet people like you mob only.

n0face

Angel delight is a good pudding.

equinox_code

Brooks wrote:

I don't. What's left of my interest in videogames is shared with internet people like you mob only.

Yep.

Sasukekun

I've given up trying to explain WoW to the wife, and my attempts to help her understand games with narratives that she could possibly enjoy always winds up with her asleep and me playing happily away.
My family don't bother talking to me about games any more.

MattyJ

I'm lucky in that both my brothers game, my mum likes to play games and we've always been a geeky family.

One of my good friends plays games like us too, but another only plays FIFA and CoD really.

The more difficult thing is when you have a new gf/potential and are not sure what she feels about games...potential minefield depending on the girl, but I'd say most under 30 have grown up with SNES/N64/PS/PS2 so are used to it.

Tempy

Oooh it's a funny old world. I like to talk abut the stuff I love, be it films or books or games, but I find it hard to grasp the attention of people who don't play games when talking about them, because it's not like films... they're inherently understandable, but understanding games frequently require knowledge of how games work, or how types of games operate which is why I think the 'classification' of games is pointless, because RPG and JRPG do not accurately convey to an outsider what a game is: the terms don't aid discourse in any way.

That said, I find it hard to talk about slightly left of mainstream music witha lot of people, and comics too (as mentioned above) and holy fuck, even the idea of a novel is sometimes lost on people entirely.

The toughest sell though seems to be stuff like Netrunner, I don't even try anymore.

WorKid

Playing video games as a hobby is embarrassing. I don't tell people.

RamSteelwood

Gonzo wrote:

equinox_code wrote:

Brooks wrote:

I don't. What's left of my interest in videogames is shared with internet people like you mob only.

Yep.

+1, and there's little interest left.

+me.
though in the past if i was asked about gaming by my family, i would panic and say i didn't do it, that i was cool and just did drugs and get drunk and have fights in the street etc.

Tempy

I take it 80%+ of the people on this forum are above 30 yeah?

I have gathered that when you hit 30 all joy for Books, Films, Music, Comics and Games is just sucked from you by the responsibility of adulthood/parenthood.

I do not want to turn 30.

fullspectrum

Yo I turned 30 on 1st Jan. You're wrong bro. And I'm proud to play games.

Brooks

Just the Games bit applies. Though I suspect it won't in another 20-30 years of medium development and advancement within pop culture.

Tempy

fullspectrum wrote:

Yo I turned 30 on 1st Jan. You're wrong bro. And I'm proud to play games.

An single exception doesn't disprove the rule! I think there are people that are always endlessly enthusiastic. Reg is, which is why I imagine he is a good teacher. That's why I think i'd be a good teacher too, without wanting to brag.

RamSteelwood

Tempy wrote:

I take it 80%+ of the people on this forum are above 30 yeah? I have gathered that when you hit 30 all joy for Books, Films, Music, Comics and Games is just sucked from you by the responsibility of adulthood/parenthood. I do not want to turn 30.

yep. Â for me it was a double whammy as turning 30 also coincided with the arrival of child number 1. Â i reckon if you counted reading a book, going to cinema, buying an album or buying a (non steam sale) game as a similar 'thing', then i'd be surprised if the combined total for those over the last 4 years exceeded 20....

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