Response to Chase Davis' "RPGs in High School Society"

by Nate Greene

First off, I admit it. I play RPGs as a hobby. Chase Davis explains that the RPG player stereotype is a "overweight comic store clerk or underweight nerdy kid with glasses," spending "50 hours or so" playing a silly computer game. But why aren't RPGs accepted? Because of the stereotypes. I'd say that the hardcore, memorize-the-game player outnumbers the RPG hobbyist by, at least, 10 to 1.

But what separates the hobbyist from the die-hard player? One of the things is the amount of time spent on it. It might take the hobbyist weeks or months to beat a game while the die-hard player will finish it in less than half a week and have it memorized by next Saturday. The hobbyist might spend a half-hour every couple days to play the game whereas the hardcore player might go into complete immersion and hibernate inside for the next few days. Is it acceptable to completely lose yourself in a game? Of course. But is it acceptable to utterly devote yourself to the game? Think about it.

The driving factor of why RPGs are associated with "overweight comic store clerk or underweight nerdy kid with glasses," is the attitude expressed by the players themselves. The majority of the RPG player population is, let's face it, "dorks, nerds, geeks, etc." But is a social life devoted to the fantasy world of fighting dragons with sword and sorcery, any better than a social life trying to be the stylin' Tommy Hilfiger posterboy? Although mainstream America idolizes the "Tommy Hilfiger social life," it still equals the "Die-hard RPG gamer life," on the lame factor.