When Did Nerdiness Become Cool?

[HappyGilmore]

What I find ironic about the geeky/nerdy heirarchy is that while many nerds/geeks look down on tabletop gamers, they idolize people who make a living creating entertainment that appeals to the subculture. The irony comes from the fact that many of the people who create geeky things partake in tabletop gaming (the people behind Futurama come to mind).

True.

I guess I'd be labeled a geek, but when I get in a room with them, I don't fit in at all.  I shouldn't knock anybody, I'd say I've done some geeky things, but I was a KID at the time.  I dunno.

[wickednick]

While I do look down on larpers, I have to admit there is a certain geek in me that might find it fun, at least to play once. But Larpers and table top gamers will never be cool even amongst other nerds and geeks. There is just a certain anti-socialness amongst a lot of those people  that many people just can't be around for long, plus almost no women. A deal breaker for guys who still care about getting laid.

[Derf]

While I do look down on larpers, I have to admit there is a certain geek in me that might find it fun, at least to play once. But Larpers and table top gamers will never be cool even amongst other nerds and geeks. There is just a certain anti-socialness amongst a lot of those people  that many people just can't be around for long, plus almost no women. A deal breaker for guys who still care about getting laid.

You've apparently never been around an SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) gathering. While the men folk are whacking away at each other with their "swords" (often just sticks wrapped in duct tape), there are often quite a few women standing around cheering them on. I'm not saying they are always the most attractive women (though there are some), but plenty of nerdy women are into the whole medieval culture thing and will go along with their men to practice the art of knightly combat. I've seen a few groups practicing, and there is usually a good mix of genders. It's just a group of people getting together and doing something they enjoy. Nerdy? Sure. But so what?

[Jim H]

While I do look down on larpers, I have to admit there is a certain geek in me that might find it fun, at least to play once. But Larpers and table top gamers will never be cool even amongst other nerds and geeks. There is just a certain anti-socialness amongst a lot of those people  that many people just can't be around for long, plus almost no women. A deal breaker for guys who still care about getting laid.

There are actually quite a few women table top gamers.  It's still a significant majority of men. but there's a good chunk of women players out there.  Probably 1 woman for every two or three men.  I have no idea about LARPing, SCA, Bellegarth, etc, though.

[The Gravekeeper]

While I do look down on larpers, I have to admit there is a certain geek in me that might find it fun, at least to play once. But Larpers and table top gamers will never be cool even amongst other nerds and geeks. There is just a certain anti-socialness amongst a lot of those people  that many people just can't be around for long, plus almost no women. A deal breaker for guys who still care about getting laid.

Anti-social? Well, yeah, okay, some tabletop gamers and larpers won't associate with people outside the group. However, the nature of that kind of gaming assumes that you either have at least two friends or that you can get along well enough with other people to not get on their nerves too much for a couple of hours. The last time I checked, you don't actually need friends to play a video game, even if you play online multiplayer matches.

With that in mind, I'd like to say that I know many very social and friendly gamers who partake in both video and tabletop gaming. Heck, most gamers of both that I've met are pretty nice people who I wouldn't object to hanging out with. Also, the presence of women in all kinds of games is increasing all the time. Roughly 50% of video gamers are women, and while there aren't as many women who LARP or play tabletop games, the numbers have increased exponentially from when the hobby was first conceived.