Being a nerd: your better half edition

[Madness]

After secretly wanting to kill Akkon Sek and his wife due to sheer envy (http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=5114) I thought I'd start a separate thread about this argument, to avoid tainting that thread too much.

What are YOU doing to get your partner involved with your hobby, is he/she looking at you as if you were a crazy person? Did you manage to score some points and sneak some literature under his/her eyes?

Personally I'm trying to get my gf to read the background part of Rogue Trader (rpg), she has an english exam and she can use some training with the language. Or so I'm telling her.

[fade_74]

My wife used to play D&D with my group about 5 years ago and lost interest. I show her my latest and greatest paint job and she ooohs and ahhhs over it, but I know she doesn't give a ****, and that's fine. I have my own game room upstairs, and that is where all my stuff is banished to lol. We just have different interests. She doesn't read anything for pleasure. I devour books like pigs devour corn. I paint, she chats with her friends on the phone. I play computer games, but she would rather make a new profile, from scratch, on myspace. I listen to the college radio station that plays alternative....and she listens to German death metal that sounds like somebody is choking to death on a chicken bone. I don't try to get her to do my thing....and she does likewise. It works for us. We have been together since 1999. So I guess my advice is...let her come to you if she is interested in gaming. If she isn't....oh well.

[Madness]

I wasn't really looking for advice, just trying to have a decent chat.

[eagleboy7259]

My girlfriend paints with me sometimes, every once in awhile we talk about the stuff, surprisingly shes a lot more open about my little nerd hobby than I am. Really I think the thing she likes most about it is that it gives her something to buy me for surprises, I have almost every little piece of football memorabilia for me team that I can think of. GW ain't cheap, but compared to ticket prices, lets just say she likes it.

[lobster-overlord]

This is my John-alone-time stuff. She can keep her scrapbooking and I'll keep my warhammer, thank you very much :-)

[BuFFo]

I keep my GFs out of my hobbies unless they want to be a part of it.

[Pyro-enthusiast]

My better half was already fairly nerdy in that "overachiever" way when I met her. I introduced her to D&D last year and for my birthday she got me the 4E DMG (partially so I would no longer have a reason to not run a game that she could play in). I'm honestly surprised at how quickly she's taken to the strategic part of the game considering she's never played any tabletop geekiness before. She's recently gotten into painting her own D&D minis, so hopefully I can turn that toward an intro into a Warhammer addiction. Currently I'm building a second army, after it's done I plan to sucker her into a few games against me somehow.

[fade_74]

I wasn't really looking for advice, just trying to have a decent chat.

I'm glad you weren't looking for any, because I really wasn't offering it to you lol. You made it clear in your post how you felt. The advice was for the people who posted after me. Btw this is a decent subject to chat about. Just to add a side note, how will your children fit into your gaming life? Mine is not exposed to it at all really. She is only 2 though. I think that I won't offer gaming to her until she comes to me. I once read an article by Roger Moore (i think) who used to edit Dragon magazine back in the day. He loved dinosaurs. So he tried to give his son everything reptilian in hopes that his love would some how rub off onto the poor kid. The kid turned out to hate dinosaurs for that reason alone.

[Subject Keyword]

My girlfriend loves painting models. She's all over Harlequins and Wood Elves and stuff. She plays games with me every now and then (only fantasy). Other than that, all my attempts to addict her to the Hobby have been fruitless. She's a dancer, first and foremost. The whole Ballerina/Geek combo works quite well.
I did get her hooked on Mass Effect though...

[Lerra]

My other half and I started 40k at the same time about a year ago (I got Black Reach and he started his IG army within the month).

We tend to trade our nerdy hobbies. He got me hooked on Monster Hunter and Mass Effect and I pulled him into my D&D group and corrupted him with a few of my favorite games.

[Aldramelech]

Goodbye

[Cryl]

My wife played the first mission of space hulk with me when that came out, in the kind of way that a childless Uncle plays with his nephew... very uncomfortably and mostly to get me to shut up about it. She rarely even goes into the study and just tolerates me coming back from warhammer world with large bags full of resin. I hold no hope for her collecting an Eldar army anytime soon :p

[Denzark]

I have a very tolerant wife who lets me use the entire double garage for my warganimg - spray table, racks of minis, book cases of 20 years of WD, and the table tennis table she let me buy for a table - 5'x9' so not bad for apoc.

Recently she has me agreeing that my ebay habit is a little too well developed as yet another 2nd hand wolf scout arrives...

As for the young master he is 2 and so I keep him out of the way. Howewver, when I get a cacked up chimaera or Leman Russ off ebay to restore (aka pimp my tank) I always let him carry it around and bash the dog with it (attack the giant Xenos construct! No surrender to it's hairy malevolence!) just to get him in practise.

If it works for the cadians...

[Denzark]

PS am I missing a cultural reference - why the furge is everything bloody EDITION????

[Madness]

PS am I missing a cultural reference - why the furge is everything bloody EDITION????

You're missing a cultural reference. Also, relax.

[rbryce]

mines alright, she loves the concept of the gaming systems and the painting (can i get her to paint her gobbos though...), she wont play though as she finds moving the models too fidelly. as for gaming rooms... i ... will... hunt... you... all... down...!!! nah, just kidding, i dont have a gaming room, i got the cupboard under the stairs. oh the joys of victorian farm-workers cots, high ceilings, big windows, zero floor space, and 5 rooms in the whole house means no games room for me:( not even a garage as we dont have a road near to the house :(

[Hyperion]

My wife used to play D&D with my group about 5 years ago and lost interest. I show her my latest and greatest paint job and she ooohs and ahhhs over it, but I know she doesn't give a ****, and that's fine. I have my own game room upstairs, and that is where all my stuff is banished to lol. We just have different interests. She doesn't read anything for pleasure. I devour books like pigs devour corn. I paint, she chats with her friends on the phone. I play computer games, but she would rather make a new profile, from scratch, on myspace. I listen to the college radio station that plays alternative....and she listens to German death metal that sounds like somebody is choking to death on a chicken bone. I don't try to get her to do my thing....and she does likewise. It works for us. We have been together since 1999. So I guess my advice is...let her come to you if she is interested in gaming. If she isn't....oh well.

Yeah, I get that too... you'd think I'd just painted the Mona Lisa judging by the reaction. Still refers to them as the "Little Men" though so not much chance of any involvement. Having said that, I had to have a conservatory built and a TV installed so as not to be forced into watching any variations on people singing and dancing and skating etc. Can't complain too hard I guess...

[Aldramelech]

Goodbye

[Denzark]

You're missing a cultural reference. Also, relax.

If you looked at my profile, you will see I am a skinny plasticine man backed up by a stocky northern plasticine psycho. I post at a rate of 2.44 a day.

You however portray an androgynous manga he/she, you post at a rate of 7.97 a day. Now I know in this modern world Shims are probably better with all the touchy feely stuff and you evidently have more time on your hands.

So, bowing to your bigger rate of epeen, could I respectfully ask you to help me to relax, by simply explaining the reference? It will be a quicker way to relaxation than your concern over my state of mental equilibrium which comes across quite patronising - something hermaphrodites should never be.

Not even Lady GaGa.

[Aldramelech]

Goodbye

[rbryce]

"PS am I missing a cultural reference - why the furge is everything bloody EDITION????"

probably due to a need to edit everything in their grasp, history, geography, the amount of oil in middle-eastern countries. i dont think it matters, just a curious cultural thingy that we dont get, like US rules football lol. (this is a joke by the way)

[therealjohnny5]

I live in a two bedroom flat, Consider yourself fortunate! lol

one bedroom...got you beat...my table comes apart and lives behind my fold down couch when it's not set up on our expandable bar for game nights.


If you looked at my profile, you will see I am a skinny plasticine man backed up by a stocky northern plasticine psycho. I post at a rate of 2.44 a day.

You however portray an androgynous manga he/she, you post at a rate of 7.97 a day. Now I know in this modern world Shims are probably better with all the touchy feely stuff and you evidently have more time on your hands.

So, bowing to your bigger rate of epeen, could I respectfully ask you to help me to relax, by simply explaining the reference? It will be a quicker way to relaxation than your concern over my state of mental equilibrium which comes across quite patronising - something hermaphrodites should never be.

Not even Lady GaGa.

man that just happened. lol

as for my bride, she also refers to them as my "little men" and likes to tell our friends about my hobby often much to my incomprehensible embarrassment. she likes my painting and enjoys stomping around the game board when we're setting up and moving terrain when i'm not looking. it's a good laugh. she has said that fantasy might interest her since she was a d&d player for years along with hero's quest. i love her :D

[Denzark]

as for my bride, she also refers to them as my "little men" and likes to tell our friends about my hobby often much to my incomprehensible embarrassment. she likes my painting and enjoys stomping around the game board when we're setting up and moving terrain when i'm not looking. it's a good laugh. she has said that fantasy might interest her since she was a d&d player for years along with hero's quest. i love her :D

This got through even my cynical shields and made me smile - whilst I would dearly love to say something in the voice of the big horned thing from Dungeon Keeper your loyalty does you a credit Sir so I'll keep my powder dry:D

[Melissia]

While I don't currently have one, in the past I've surprised people with my nerdiness... never really tried to get anyone into it though, except a friend whom is currently joining my Dark Heresy and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay games. She doesn't really want to get into the 40k hobby because it's so expensive, sadly.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

My GF loves necrons, HP Lovecraft and hard sci-fi books....*deeep siiigh* so perfect :D

[therealjohnny5]

This got through even my cynical shields and made me smile - whilst I would dearly love to say something in the voice of the big horned thing from Dungeon Keeper your loyalty does you a credit Sir so I'll keep my powder dry:D

i aim to please, sir! I was told a motto before we got married by a couple friend of ours (they were considerably older than us and sort of mentored us) "Happy wife, Happy life" and i have to agree. For all you singles out there...GET MARRIED!! it's the best. :p

[Aldramelech]

Goodbye

[ggg]

- My missus once made me complete a questionnaire about how well I knew her and I did really badly (couldn't name her favourite Sex in the City Character etc.) So I asked her about my interests and she completely flummoxed me by correctly identifying a dreadnought, a space marine, an ork and a necron (although she calls them 'Nefrons') on the pages of White dwarf. I have never explained the hobby to her, she has simply picked this up from me chatting to friends. She does describe this hobby as a 'pointless waste of time.' She does also try to explain my hobby to her friends much to their confusion and humour.

But to get her involved int he hobby - as likely as me watching sex in the city whilst wearing a dress, putting make up on and talking on the phone to her mother for hours on end (her favorite past times).

[Aldramelech]

Goodbye

[gwensdad]

My wife has no interest but Da !Gwen has swiped an old scout sarg and some grots from me and painted them up. Her gift to the grandparents was taking some Bretonnian warhorses and painting them up for her (not too well, she's 6).
Da Gwen is next gen geek in the making. She watches Mythbusters. She knows all of the Justice League members (from JL: Unlimited). She argues that Robin needs to be on Teen Titans and doesn't belong on Batman. She knows her X-Men and Spiderman characters. Love Clone wars (but hates Star Wars), and used to watch Doctor Who but claims to have "outgrown it"
Maybe she can paint some of my fantasy orcs on her snow days.

[rbryce]

any woman that asks you what her favorite sex and the city star/character is called wants an affeminate man, and should prolly get a sex change to attract said man lol. and having lived with a gay bloke for 2 years(platonic friends people, before all that starts), i can honestly say i HATE every single one of those characters so much, i actually pray for the 'nids to come and eat SJP's face off. on another note, my daughter(shes 2 bless her) painted her first mini last weekend. i now have the trippiest battle sister you'll ever see lol

[Vorlon]

Actually, my soon to be wife got me into the hobby. I played DoW for a while and I like the universe but never played a real game or painted a mini. That changed when she had me sit down and paint a model with her (it was a minotaur...still have it lying around somewhere) and Ive never looked back. Lately, I am trying to get her back into the hobby. Shes fixated on archery and the gym and stuff.

[Vorlon]

any woman that asks you what her favorite sex and the city star/character is called wants an affeminate man, and should prolly get a sex change to attract said man lol.

Im effeminate and my fiance hates sex and the city =p

[Melissia]

any woman that asks you what her favorite sex and the city star/character is called wants an affeminate man, and should prolly get a sex change to attract said man lol.
There's so much wrong with this statement that I feel somehow less intelligent for having read it.

Because you know, there's no such thing as an effeminate straight man? Or a bisexual one? Or even no such thing as a man into Sex and the City who isn't gay? Straight people have bad taste in tv shows, too (arguably moreso... just look at the "Reality TV" fad...) you know.

[crazyredpraetorian]

....or a male Sister of Battle.

[rbryce]

i thought the lol at the end would get across it was a joke mellisia, as the post later reads i used to live with a gay man, and he was more into startrek voyager and star wars than anyone i have ever met, so i know as much about the gay comunity as anyone can be without actually being gay myself. as i say intended (and probably taken by most) as humour, not a political statement.

[Duke]

....or a male Sister of Battle.

That is almost as crazy as a Female Space Marine!

[bob9801]

My girlfriend and I were waiting for a restaurant to open up and we walked around a little strip mall. I noticed the 40k figures in a window, I knew what they were from DoW, so we went in. I painted up a free spacemarine and she painted a goblin. Several months later we had each saved up some money and now I have an IG army and play frequently, she has 20 wood elves and just enjoys the painting. She has fun hanging out when I play games though. I don't know that she has the patience to fiddle around with figures and dice in larger quantities though.

[Madness]

I'm thinking about postulating a BoLS variant of godwin's law, involving genderswapping power armor users.

[Vorlon]

Because you know, there's no such thing as an effeminate straight man?

Hugs for Melissia!!

[Mystery.Shadow]

Because you know, there's no such thing as an effeminate straight man?


Hugs for Melissia!!

You know all those sensitive caring men? They already have boyfriends.

This thread made me think of this Ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RyPamyWotM

Whee!

[bob9801]

You know all those sensitive caring men? They already have boyfriends.

This thread made me think of this Ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RyPamyWotM

Whee!

That is a cool ad. I missed it on tv. I gotta say I would take a challenger over a charger though.

[Madness]

Are really men so insecure in the US? I mean do they really need reassurance that by buying a car they will finally be unemasculated once again?

[therealjohnny5]

we americans are notoriously insecure and materialistic...generally speaking..

[Commissar Lewis]

Sadly, I am very much on my own. I had once dreamed of finding a chick that was into 40k, but I have resigned myself and written it off as a pipedream, much like many of the crazy schemes my eccentric mind has concocted over the years. ( orange-launching mortar - did not end well). I acquired my ability to resign myself from living in a trailer park for about 15 years - if there's one thing a trailer park teaches you, it's how to accept a bum deal in life. That and how to be knocked shirtless into a kiddie pool without sustaining an injury.

I'm just rambling at this point; sorry it's like 2am.

[Madness]

Sadly, I am very much on my own. I had once dreamed of finding a chick that was into 40k, but I have resigned myself and written it off as a pipedream, much like many of the crazy schemes my eccentric mind has concocted over the years. ( orange-launching mortar - did not end well). I acquired my ability to resign myself from living in a trailer park for about 15 years - if there's one thing a trailer park teaches you, it's how to accept a bum deal in life. That and how to be knocked shirtless into a kiddie pool without sustaining an injury.

I'm just rambling at this point; sorry it's like 2am.

Um. There there?

And don't be bummed if you don't find a person intrested in 40k, just being able to sustain a passive conversation when the sugar rush hits your 40k nerve is more than satisfying.

[Commissar Lewis]

Sorry, I get a bit introspective when on vicodin - had an operation a few weeks back, long story. I'd just be glad if someone actually tolerated my eccentricities.

Actually I think I'm going to eat some cookies and go to sleep.

... still wish that orange-mortar had worked. It was on par stupidity-wise as the Roman candle firefight of '06. Good times, but stupid nonetheless.

[Melissia]

I can talk my father into listening as I rant about the 40k universe, he actually finds it vaguely interesting because it's not a typical sci-fi universe.

But then, I'm a background fanatic first and foremost, so...

[Denzark]

Sorry, I get a bit introspective when on vicodin - had an operation a few weeks back, long story. I'd just be glad if someone actually tolerated my eccentricities.

Actually I think I'm going to eat some cookies and go to sleep.

... still wish that orange-mortar had worked. It was on par stupidity-wise as the Roman candle firefight of '06. Good times, but stupid nonetheless.

Slightly OT but on the subject of Orange Mortars...

The British Military has a tradition of Mess Cannons in Officers' Messes. I have seen an orange fired 30 metres. THe construction was a length of drain pipe, with a screw on blanking plate. The blanking plate had a car spark plug put through a hole - so when an orange was in the barrel and the blanking plate was on, there is an air tight seal. The propellant was aerosol deodorant - take off the blanking plate - spray a good amount behind the orange, attach the blanking plate and initiate the spark plug. THe key is having a good tight fit for the orange.

ALso size dependant will fire coke cans, tennis balls, dead hamsters.

This leads up to the utmost - Taranto Night where the Royal Navy commemorates sinking the Italian fleet in WWII. Someone dresses as an Italian Admiral, the battle is recreated with Mess cannons, and people have to pracise 'carrier landings' down the long tables of the mess. I last attended on 5 years ago - the scars in thr ceiling from boiled cabbage being mess cannoned are still there today.

Hope this helps the vicodin haze.

[Aldramelech]

Goodbye

[Lord Azaghul]

I pretty much paint/build in the living room while my wife watches tv or whatever, and that’s about the extent of her involvment. She’s never really been into games of any sort (you can blame her grandmother for that: her idea of teaching her grandchildren to play checkers was to beat them soundly then demand that they not whine about lossing! – this happened when she was 4)
BUT – my wife will let me buy stuff (or I’ll sneak it home and pretend the box has been in the closet for ‘a while’) and knows I have and always have had a great love of games.
She does get annoyed with my armies taking over entire rooms in the house, and I sort of sprawl my boxes across the room when I am assembling something…
However I think we’re both happier with each other not being in the others hobby!

[Vorlon]

You know all those sensitive caring men? They already have boyfriends.

This thread made me think of this Ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RyPamyWotM

Whee!

Actually being sensitive and caring got me every nerds wet dream. A sexy MMORPG (how we met actually) playing, gym freak (goes every day, size 0, can kick some ***), who is very successful, a total nympho, and puts up with and finances my 40k fixations, also placed 2nd in state for women's recurve archery. =pppp

Dont be so insecure and you'll go far =pp

[Aldramelech]

Goodbye

[Vorlon]

Well to be honest, we met when i was stationed over seas in Japan. I wasnt fully convinced she wasnt a guy/robot/horrible joke by my ex untill i saw her in person...two years later.

[Melissia]

What's amusing is that some people claim all the good sensative guys are taken up by girls, while toher people claim that all girls want is jerks and that leaves the good sensative guys as singles.... It's somewhere in between (I know my sister married a jerkass during her first marriage... the guy she's with now is nice though).

[Aldramelech]

Goodbye

[Marshal2Crusaders]

Talking about relationships on a tt board is a new low people. If we are gonna be pathetic, let's keep it in universe. One article about a female gamer and suddenly everyone is *****ing about how hard it is to find a girlfriend. I mean come the f*** on.

[Vorlon]

Finding a girl isnt hard...just like go to the gym and the rest takes care of itself.

We have gotten horribly off topic though.

[Madness]

My bad, I shouldn't have brought up the social aspect of the game outside of the gamer chaste. How pathetic of me.

Also, stop going off topic, or I'll spank you. And I don't care if you like the image of me spanking Vorlon, this is not a yaoi board.

[Vorlon]

Im not against the idea....as long as we can sell tickets....

[Melissia]

I know what you mean, My sister in law isn't happy unless shes dating someone that makes her miserable..
Yes, some girls are like that, but not all, which was my point.

That's part of what irritates me most about the BoLS articles on the subject ("Girls Girls Girls" being the worst of them, ugh... tasteless). So many people in the comments (and even the writers of the articles themselves occasionally give me something of this vibe) act like "gamer girl" is one demographic, as if all gamers whom happen to be female are alike...

I personally know a pair of female gamers whom are huge powergamers and thoroughly enjoy playing 40k tabletop. Several of them (including one of the powergamers) enjoy painting and modeling, and then there's several like me that are deeply into the background first and foremost. Most enjoy all three to some extent, but like all male 40k fans they're split between the three aspects of the hobby.

[Duke]

Gamer girls don't exist... They are only gamer guys wearing extremely good costumes to make the opponent crazy nervous so they will throw the game just due to jitters....




Duke

[Marshal2Crusaders]

Being a 'Gamer Girl' has nothing to do with being a girl into games. The sooner you realize that the sooner articles like ' The ANATOMY of a Gamer Girl' won't surprise you.

edit:
for example being a sorority/church/preppy/etc girl doesn't say anything about the organizations your involved with.

[therealjohnny5]

Done the coke can thing. Just dropped a lit thundy down the tube and shoved the can after, spectacular results! lol

i assume you've done the diet pepsi and mentos deal?


I know what you mean, My sister in law isn't happy unless shes dating someone that makes her miserable..

My miserable isn't happy unless someone's dating my sister in law...


My bad, I shouldn't have brought up the social aspect of the game outside of the gamer chaste. How pathetic of me.

Also, stop going off topic, or I'll spank you. And I don't care if you like the image of me spanking Vorlon, this is not a yaoi board.

Oh yeah God forbid we talk about something general in the general thread..:p


Gamer girls don't exist... They are only gamer guys wearing extremely good costumes to make the opponent crazy nervous so they will throw the game just due to jitters....




Duke

we can always count on you Duke for that sharp observational skills of yours.

[Melissia]

Being a 'Gamer Girl' has nothing to do with being a girl into games.
That statement is stupid. Also, it is stupid. Being a gamer girl has EVERYTHING to do with being a girl who is into games.

[Marshal2Crusaders]

Mel, look deeper into my post. Look at my examples. It does make sense, but I won't be elaborating on it.

[Aldramelech]

Goodbye

[Melissia]

Mel, look deeper into my post. Look at my examples. It does make sense, but I won't be elaborating on it.
I did look deeper. I doubt that any amount of elaborating by you can make your post any less silly, however.

[rant mode]

"Gamer Girl" is a label that is a combination of two labels in an attempt to be more specific. In specific, "Gamer" applies to both males and females, while "Gamer Girl" applies specifically to gamers of the female persuasion. It's simple as that; a "gamer" is one who plays games, and a "girl" is usually defined as a female human (oftentimes a young one depending on who uses the term "girl", but in this case age isn't really a part of the context), no amount of worming around and supercilious banter by you will change this..

It is a broad category, this is true, but the fact that it is broad does not mean that it cannot still be applied. One can say "American", which is a native to the American continents, despite the fact that a bewildering variety of people are under that one broad category. Saying "North Americans" narrows this down by half the landmass this label applies to, just as "Girl Gamer" gets more specific than merely "Gamer". It's a very basic concept of the English language and one that most US education institutions usually teach before one ever gets to high school, although I suppose some places don't do it well enough apparently.

While I do normally attempt to keep my inner pedant quiet, it's simply patently stupid to claim that a "gamer girl" isn't simply a girl who plays games of some sort, usually computer/video/tabletop games based on the context of this forum and most of the internet. Honestly I'd like to see you attempt to define it otherwise. Failures are often hilarious, and if you attempt it I anticipate nothing but.

[/rant mode]

[Madness]

In an attempt to defuse the derail of a thread intentioned to be all goody touchy I'd like to point out that gamer is a subculture type label, playing games doesn't make you a games just as much s listening metal doesn't make you a metalhead. Labels are stupid, generic, and empty, all the times, with no exception, being called a gamer girl bears no more weight than being labeled as anything else. Labels will always end up banalizing lifestyles and making them one-dimensional.

Humans are not made that way, not unless they suffer from extreme mental derangements.

So yeah, labels are stupid, all of them, no exception. Can we move on now?

P.S.: Sheena was not a punk rocker, she just liked the music and the clothing style.

[Nabterayl]

Oh, come on, Mel. You're enough of a geek to be able to recognize an implicit attempt to introduce a term of art. You're doing it yourself, and lambasting Marshal for not using the same one you're using.

a "gamer" is one who plays games
I don't agree with this statement in the context of Marshal's post, and I think he has a reasonable point. You don't recognize any sort of "gamer" subculture, or any subset of personalities within the set of human beings who play games that you would label "gamer" as opposed to the rest of the set? I sure do.

[Fantomex]

Attempting (possibly with futility) to get the thread back on track, I'd consider myself to be in a fairly good position regarding a partner and their interest or otherwise.
I've been with Lady Fantomex for almost 5 years in a months time, and we've both grown to become very similar with regards to taste.

We'll sit about doing co-op on PSN, both love Star Wars, she also hates stereotypical things like soap operas or Sex & The City, preferring things like Family Guy, Lost, Heroes, etc..
Both of us like reading sci-fi and thrillers, and I'm trying slowly to get her into Black Library, so I may end up with some progress there..

She gets enough of 40k to name primarchs, chapters, knows the general story of the Horus Heresy, etc.
Can name races and their characteristics, and is getting interested with the modelling aspect as well, favouring Tau, not a bad place to start really..

The only thing shes not really into (yet) is actually playing competitively, as she feels that the local gamer circuit will laugh at her for being a girl gamer.
I've said this is unfounded, but she reckons the first few games where she'll be crap and utterly pounded will put her off.
Figure she'll get over it, she gets on well with the local GW staff (both legendary chaps) and I know most of the locals would be more than welcoming.
Plus, as I pointed out to her, I know every time I play that I'll get torn to shreds, and now find it pretty amusing..

[Marshal2Crusaders]

If you don't get it, then explaining it is likely to offend instead of fail. But honestly when people label people it really doesn't have anything to do with the things you do.

[Lord Azaghul]

If you don't get it, then explaining it is likely to offend instead of fail. But honestly when people label people it really doesn't have anything to do with the things you do.

Too true!

[Madness]

Maybe play some house matches so she can hone her skills and hopefully achieve some victories on her early matches. That'll teach them. :)

[Fantomex]

Maybe play some house matches so she can hone her skills and hopefully achieve some victories on her early matches. That'll teach them. :)
My thoughts exactly, shes always been quick on the uptake for everything else, hence our bookshelves entirely devoted to comics..
Plus, I figure she'll probably take quickly to kicking my arse around and then showing the rest of the locals a thing or two..

[therealjohnny5]

Sorry, that was a bit obscure even for English readers.

What I meant was, we took a metal tube and stuck it in the ground, we then chucked a lit Thunder Flash (a pyrotechnic charge UK forces use to simulate explosions) down the tube and then shoved the can in afterwards.

Passes the time.........

in an attempt to add to your time passing recreations, and in the vein of explosive reactions take a bottle of Diet Pepsi (2 liter) and an entire roll of those chewy mints Mintos. Make a paper tube out of a sheet of paper or something the size of the mentos that can fit into the mouth of the soda bottle. Put the mentos into the tube (unwrapped of course) and let them all slide into the Diet Pepsi bottle....and stand back. Whammy! Diet Pepsi Fountain....we've gotten one to shoot about 12 feet into the air...pointless but fun non the less....

[Melissia]

I don't consider labels to be offensive as long as one realizes that laberls don't define a person, so honestly I don't understand what the big deal is. More importantly though, being called a gamer girl isn't intended to be an insult and I doubt many people would consider it one.

Course with some people being female is an insult, but they're stupid and don't matter anyway.

[Vorlon]

Im watching my fiance play Bioshock 2 (after playing Fairy Tail Fights)....Im so in love.

[eldargal]

I've been a 'girl gamer' for fourteen years, I don't find the label offensive. I tend to use it more in situations where there is some degree of anonymity (online) so people don't call me 'dude' and 'guy' and assume I'm a boy. Face to face its blindingly obvious that I'm a girl so I just stick with gamer.
I don't think there is much of gamer subculture baggage, gamers play games. One doesn't have to consume copious amounts of cheetohs and drink mountain dew (stereotypes) to be a gamer. One just has to game.

Back to the original topic, at present I'm both my halves, but if I find a better half (or inferior half, my being the girl. Unless I find another girl, then I guess it would be equal half?) I would like them to be as enthusiastic about this hobby as I am. At the very least they would have to have vaguely benign feelings about it, I don't want it to be merely tolerated.

[Madness]

a better half (or inferior half, my being the girl. Unless I find another girl, then I guess it would be equal half?) Oh snap!

Anyway, all labels are misrepresentative, so yeah, the stereotypical gamer is always on sugar rush and has no social skill. It also lives right next to santa and the bigfoot.

[Melissia]

And across the street from the real Elvis and the guy who really shot JFK.

[L192837465]

My GF worked at the comic book store I went and got my game on at. She was into warhammer before I met her, but after I bought her an entire Skaven army, she was hooked. We've spent nights playing "pass the controller, pass the paints" and she's a dream.

And on top of that, she's an amazing cook.

Game on.

[Madness]

I misread it as "pass the pants". Tonight I'll have dreams about strip WHFB.

[Kahoolin]

I don't think there is much of gamer subculture baggage, gamers play games. One doesn't have to consume copious amounts of cheetohs and drink mountain dew (stereotypes) to be a gamer. One just has to game.That's true right now, but I think there is gamer subcultural baggage emerging more and more. I can look back now and say that I've always been a gamer, but when I was a kid in school there was no such thing. My mates and I played D&D, WHFB, 40k, and video games, and my parents had always played board games. It may sound strange now, but I honestly did not see any of those activities as being connected in any way, or as saying something about who I was.

Now there is definitely a gamer culture. I have nostalgia for the innocent days when gamers weren't self aware, we were just people. Now there are gamer forums, and podcasts, and events, and movies and TV shows - things that tell you what a gamer is and whether or not you are one based on the sorts of preferences you have. Pretty soon there'll be gamer clothing (oh wait there already is) and it's only a short step between that and gamer haircuts, people!

On topic, my girlfriend is also a gamer (though like me she grew up in a time when she was just "a person who likes board games and card games"). She plays D&D with me, likes console and PC games more than I do, and has no interest in GW games. I'm not planning on trying to influence her to like GW stuff - that would be unnecessary, not to mention most unwise :D.

[RocketRollRebel]

I don't think there is much of gamer subculture baggage, gamers play games. One doesn't have to consume copious amounts of cheetohs and drink mountain dew (stereotypes) to be a gamer. One just has to game.

I agree. I have been playing 40k for 4 years now and its really the only "gamey" thing I'm hooked on hard core. Video games (baring pokemon. 10 years running with those games!:p) rarely keep my attention for very long, games like D&D have never really interested me and I'm not into most sci-fi or comic books outside of FB/40k related stuff. I've tried but just hasn't happened. A lot of my non gamer friends and one of my band/room mates are very into comic books yet still make fun of my gaming habit. I guess they are into the cooler nerd things.

Anywaaaaaay as for my significant other. I got into the hobby only a couple months after we started dating and her initial response was "that cost how much?!??!?" "wtf?!?" "Didn't your car just die? and you bought that?"...

Four years on and she's totally cool with it provided I pay for important things first before I shell out the rest of my check on beer and minis. She doesn't have much interests in it really which is fine. She calls my armies (IG and BA) boring because they are humans, but she understands when I cant take a call during a game and gets a laugh out of it when I explain it with "well your welcome for saving humanity!". She surprisingly knows a lot about the 40k races just from over hearing me with my friends and me reading white dwarf or a codex or BL novel in bed. A huge bonus is that shes not into any bad chick films or anything like that! We both like the same tv shows and movies for the most part but its mostly the historical films or documentary's that I'll watch that she wont be interested, so I just watch them on my own. I have watched Sex & the City with her and Project Runway and they aren't that bad really and its not like she begs or even asks me to watch them with her. So yeah its pretty sweet. :D

That leads me to a question. Why do some women force there guys to sit through movies, or shows or events that they know they are going to be bored to tears by and hate? How is that fun for anyone? haha
I don't ask my gf to come out to the gaming store with me or anything like that because I know she wouldn't have fun and she'd get very bored and/or annoying because she's bored! She's welcome to come along anytime but its just not her thing and that's totally cool. Sure if she was really into gaming that would be awesome but as it is we live together and we're in a band together so there isn't much that we don't do together so its kinda nice to have something to your self.

[Marshal2Crusaders]

Did you honestly just ask why do women attempt to contol men? :P

[Lerra]

The only thing shes not really into (yet) is actually playing competitively, as she feels that the local gamer circuit will laugh at her for being a girl gamer.
I've said this is unfounded, but she reckons the first few games where she'll be crap and utterly pounded will put her off.

If she does start playing, be careful who she plays with while learning. I started a little over a year ago, and I was solidly awful at 40k for the first 3 months (I was playing against tournament-level players with competitive lists, with no prior wargaming experience and a bad list). I heard a lot of comments behind my back: "Women are just not smart enough for a competitive game like 40k. It's too tactical." "This is why there are no women in wargaming," etc. One opponent made a comment before our game that if I started crying, he was leaving. I was dumbstruck and pretty pissed off. At a tournament a few months later, one player commented that I was a "free win" (I managed to table him. Deathwing > Tau!). I had built a reputation in the first few months of learning that game that took a long time to shake off.

Normally, if you have a losing streak in a gaming club, no one really notices or cares. If you are the only female in the room, people are more likely to "gossip", though.

Now that the group knows me and I have gotten better at the game, I'm treated like any other 40k player.

[RocketRollRebel]

If she does start playing, be careful who she plays with while learning. I started a little over a year ago, and I was solidly awful at 40k for the first 3 months (I was playing against tournament-level players with competitive lists, with no prior wargaming experience and a bad list). I heard a lot of comments behind my back: "Women are just not smart enough for a competitive game like 40k. It's too tactical." "This is why there are no women in wargaming," etc. One opponent made a comment before our game that if I started crying, he was leaving. I was dumbstruck. At a tournament a few months later, one player commented that I was a "free win" (I managed to table him. Deathwing > Tau!). I had built a reputation in the first few months of learning that game that took a long time to shake off. Now that the group knows me, I'm treated like any other 40k player, though.

wow people like that are real? Maybe I'm being naive but I thought we'd all grown out of that. *sigh

[DarkLink]

wow people like that are real? Maybe I'm being naive but I thought we'd all grown out of that. *sigh

Yeah, if I heard that, I'd probably get so pissed off I'd probably put them in a headlock and drag them out of the building, then make it clear what'll happen if they keep that attitude. Can't remember the last time I really lost my temper, but something like that'd probably do it.

[Madness]

"Didn't your car just die? and you bought that?" "Yeah, I thought about that too, but in my gaming club proxies are not allowed"

[Commissar Lewis]

If she does start playing, be careful who she plays with while learning. I started a little over a year ago, and I was solidly awful at 40k for the first 3 months (I was playing against tournament-level players with competitive lists, with no prior wargaming experience and a bad list). I heard a lot of comments behind my back: "Women are just not smart enough for a competitive game like 40k. It's too tactical." "This is why there are no women in wargaming," etc. One opponent made a comment before our game that if I started crying, he was leaving. I was dumbstruck and pretty pissed off. At a tournament a few months later, one player commented that I was a "free win" (I managed to table him. Deathwing > Tau!). I had built a reputation in the first few months of learning that game that took a long time to shake off.

Normally, if you have a losing streak in a gaming club, no one really notices or cares. If you are the only female in the room, people are more likely to "gossip", though.

Now that the group knows me and I have gotten better at the game, I'm treated like any other 40k player.

Holy hell, if I overheard any jackass at a GW store talking like that to/about a chick, I'd give em a swift punch to the throat. Possibly followed by a headbutt if I was in a bad mood that day. What can I say, I'm chivalric and have a penchant for heroic bravado. Don't really care if it makes me look like an idiot, and I don't expect any reward.

I dunno, I'm rambling. It's 5am and I'm drunk right now.

[therealjohnny5]

@ Lerra

See those are some of the reasons i don't like playing in stores. I've only done it once and it was ok, but i've heard enough douche bags talk poo at stores. I'm not a trash talker i think it's irritating...a friendly rub is cool if we know each other, but sometimes the competitive jerk attitude pushes me away from gaming with new people, and i'm competitive on my own right.

But then it's the same in fighting. There are people out there trying to prove something i guess and do it at the expense of others...i don't know that i understand that. Lest i be a liar i'm sure i've done that to someone at some point in life but don't remember, however it's still not nice.

I mentioned it before, but my wife is awesome. We have similar interests as we both came up playing D&D together and Magic. She was into comics and video games. When we can find a good two player RPG like Baulder's Gate or something we'll play together. She's never been one to make me go to movies and stuff but then i grew up watching musicals and classics withy my mom so there isn't much i don't like. That being said there are plenty of movies we both see previews for and are like Ehhh....not so much. Marriage is good. :D

[RocketRollRebel]

"Yeah, I thought about that too, but in my gaming club proxies are not allowed"

hahaha good call

[Melissia]

Damn, Lerra... that's worse than what I went through at any rate...



That leads me to a question. Why do some women force there guys to sit through movies, or shows or events that they know they are going to be bored to tears by and hate? How is that fun for anyone?
I don't know exactly why seeing as I haven't done this myself, but I would imagine that they greatly enjoy those movies and want to share that experience with their boyfriends/husbands. Wel, that's the most generous interpretation that I can think of at least. Some people are more vindictive than that.

[Lerra]

The "best" part was that one of the naysayers was my boyfriend of over a year. He is now an ex for obvious reasons . . .


That leads me to a question. Why do some women force there guys to sit through movies, or shows or events that they know they are going to be bored to tears by and hate? How is that fun for anyone?

I don't do this either, but I've known women who do. Let's say a wife loves this movie, but hubby thinks her favorite movie is silly and mind-meltingly horrible. The movie is important to her, and she wants hubby to be able to understand why she likes that movie so much. She makes him watch the movie with her because she thinks it will make them closer. Either that, or she just can't fathom why someone wouldn't absolutely love this movie because she has a brain the size of a pea. Or like Mel said, for vindictive/control reasons.

[Commissar Lewis]

I've never been dragged to anything, but in high school I've honed some skills that would help in that situation.

1. Sleeping w/ eyes open.
2. Evasion
3. Fake sick. ( hey I had 10 absences allowed and dammit I was gonna use em)