Is "grognard" pejorative?

two_fishes · July 13, 2010, 02:35:57 AM

I don't know where the connotation comes from, but that is my sense of it, based on how I've seen it pejoratively used.

Unless I heard it differently, I would pronounce grog and blog to rhyme with log, fog, and dog. Nard rhymes with lard, 'tard, and hard.

flyingmice · July 13, 2010, 03:06:13 AM

Quote from: two_fishes;393479I don't know where the connotation comes from, but that is my sense of it, based on how I've seen it pejoratively used.

Unless I heard it differently, I would pronounce grog and blog to rhyme with log, fog, and dog. Nard rhymes with lard, 'tard, and hard.

It's pronounced "Gron-yard" roughly, and I are one. I have been one since I was a wargamer back in the seventies. OTOH, I like new games, enjoy experimenting within the traditional envelope, and haven't played a game published before 2004 for years - and that was one of my own games. So that proves precisely nothing, I suppose.

-clash

two_fishes · July 13, 2010, 03:13:52 AM

Well, now I'm more upset about the wonky pronunciation than anything else. More Frankish meddling in the English language, like it needed that. I need a language I can trust.

Drew · July 13, 2010, 05:05:18 AM

When used pejoratively it's pronounced Groin-Yard, and refers to the maximum distance a Serious Gamer allows the DMG to get from his cock. Any further than that and he is compelled to start a blog.

Saphim · July 13, 2010, 06:22:55 AM

Quote from: Cylonophile;393468So games have an expiration date?

We should throw out D&D, traveller, call of cthulhu, The morrow project, champions, rifts and all other games that predate 1990?

Just out of curiosity, should movies stop being watched after so many years? At what time do movies like casablanca, the maltese falcon and 2001 a space odyssey become unacceptable to watch?

I have a copy of one of my early games, ringworld, and it's still better than a lot of the stuff produced today.

I am not sure where in my post you are able to see me saying that. I wasn't saying old games are bad. I was saying old folks who only like old games and only bitch and moan about new games are bad.
I personally like traveller quite a lot.

Zachary The First · July 13, 2010, 06:29:19 AM

I don't take it as anything negative, though I'm sure some people intend to use it that way.

Shazbot79 · July 13, 2010, 07:35:02 AM

Yes...but they're taking it back from the man.

Darran · July 13, 2010, 08:49:03 AM

I see the term as a badge of pride, especially when applied to the Gloranthan Grognards.
If it aint broke don't try and fix it.

Settembrini · July 13, 2010, 09:33:26 AM

Thanks for the "pronounciation in America"-input.

James McMurray · July 13, 2010, 10:07:50 AM

It's like nerd, geek, nigger, fag, and many other words. Whether it's an insult or not depends on if a) you're a member of the group and using it to refer to yourself and your compatriots or b) an outsider looking down your nose at them.

Insufficient Metal · July 13, 2010, 11:36:52 AM

I always just took it to mean someone who was into old-school wargames. I think I first read about the term in PC Gamer when William Trotter was reviewing Avalon Hill titles, and self-identified as a grognard, so I never saw it as pejorative.

dindenver · July 13, 2010, 01:07:02 PM

I always understood the term to mean a wargamer who brings the same wargame attitude to RPGs.
Whether I took it to be pejorative or not depended on the game we were discussing and how that play style would work with it. For instance grognards and D&D seems like a good fit. But maybe grognards and Call of Cthulu might not work...
But, yeah, as I have seen it used on the internet, it has implied negative connotations.

Settembrini · July 13, 2010, 01:09:48 PM

I fear wargamers aren´t what you think them to be.

Seanchai · July 13, 2010, 01:36:09 PM

Quote from: The Shaman;393449How do you use it, if you use it at all?

Shrug. I was called a grognard because I don't like all the new races, etc., in 4e. I don't use it because it really doesn't mean anything outside the context of how it's used.

Seanchai

Cylonophile · July 13, 2010, 07:21:17 PM

Well, I consider myself to be a grognard as I got into games early on and didn't get pulled in via something like MTG or WoW, but I don't necessarily like a system because it's old or dislike a system because it's new.

In fact, I don't like some early systems. I hate random chargen as it lets the dice decide what you play. Say i want to play a scientist, and I get a character with strength 18 and intelligence 4. Wow, he's really going to be successful in the field I've chosen, right?

I like point buy systems and flaws/advantages, which a lot of early systems didn't have and a lot of traveller systems still don't have.

So no, I don't dis/like a system based on it's age. By that definition I'm not a grognard.