Quote from: DKChannelBoredom;417461I think the comparison is legit, and I repeat my question, if your approach is correct, why would anyone want to watch a group of young people piss their life away and degenerate and humiliate themselves in a haze of heroin, leaving the cinema feeling miserable, when they could just watch The Hangover? To be cool and edgy?

You can think it's legit, but that doesn't make it so. Comparing movies to roleplaying games as an entertainment medium is pointless. Very different mediums with very different levels of participation and very different methods of delivery and very different core experiences.

Quote from: Sigmund;417463You can think it's legit, but that doesn't make it so. Comparing movies to roleplaying games as an entertainment medium is pointless. Very different mediums with very different levels of participation and very different methods of delivery and very different core experiences.

Fair nuff, I can follow that and actually I didn't compare the two forms of entertainment to begin with. I would still consider films like Requiem and Leaving Las Vegas misery tourism, but also more than that, just as I think indie games can be more than that. And could we move on from the skullf*cked cabinboy... I'm sure that he's not mandatory in all indie/forge games.

Who plays games just to be hip and edgy?  Umm, Ron Edwards.  He admitted that his choice of games was influenced by wanting to be in with the hip crowd.

People's choice of anything, from clothes, books, movies, makeup, even food can be based on being cool, in, hip, edgy, whatever.  The idea that RPGs aren't the same is ridiculous.

The idea that rpg's are hip and edgy at all is fucking hilarious. Our hobby is for nerds, not cool people.

Quote from: jeff37923;417450It isn't a question of belief, since this has happened. This is the real thing that has gone on. You are just attempting to proselytize a bankrupt gaming ideology.

Okay! Your theory is perfectly sensible! I have nothing to add.

Quote from: danbuter;417478The idea that rpg's are hip and edgy at all is fucking hilarious. Our hobby is for nerds, not cool people.

...and yet, so many "cool people' are playing RPGs or admitting to it finally.

The old cliches and stereotypes no longer hold true.


- Ed C.

Uh. I'm not a nerd, but I game.

[initiate denial mode]

-=Grim=-

Quote from: BWA;417407But the operative bit is "to me". If someone says "I played Mountain Witch, and it was okay, but it wasn't as much fun as Legends of the Five Rings", then I think "Huh. That dude likes different stuff than me." That's really the only truth of the matter.

We are all human. We have certain things in common as a baseline. Well, most of us do. I mean, for example, I would never want to play an RPG which involved the GM stamping on my testicles. Now, don't get me wrong, some people would enjoy that sort of thing, and who am I to judge? But by and large there is likely to be some element of common ground between my enjoyment and the next person's or I at least ought to be able to empathise with what they're getting out of it. For instance, I can empathise with the soccer enthusiast who lives for his team. I watch international soccer matches and if England are playing I can get pretty excited about them. I understand the tribalism, the passion, the excitement, the aggression. But these story games... what are people really getting out of them? What exactly do they think they're doing? Perhaps if you can articulate it, I might achieve better levels of empathy with... "your kind"

Quote from: danbuter;417478The idea that rpg's are hip and edgy at all is fucking hilarious. Our hobby is for nerds, not cool people.

Clearly I am in the wrong fucking hobby then!!

Quote from: danbuter;417478The idea that rpg's are hip and edgy at all is fucking hilarious. Our hobby is for nerds, not cool people.

I would posit that being a nerd does not preclude being cool.

Quote from: Benoist;417525I would posit that being a nerd does not preclude being cool.

You may posit it, and I will kick it out of the field into the crowd for them to tear to pieces.

None of us here are cool. But who gives a fuck? We have fun with our mates while talking shit and eating junk food. That's good stuff. Fuck cool.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;417526You may posit it, and I will kick it out of the field into the crowd for them to tear to pieces.

None of us here are cool. But who gives a fuck? We have fun with our mates while talking shit and eating junk food. That's good stuff. Fuck cool.

You might not care about being cool. Heck, I don't give a fuck about being cool. I'm not talking about role playing games in particular, nor do I pretend to be cool myself.

The notion, however, that being a geek means you're automatically uncool is stupid. Period.

Quote from: Benoist;417527The notion, however, that being a geek means you're automatically uncool is stupid. Period.

Its also out of date.

Geez, is everybody on here Middle-aged to fossil? I know I got gray in my beard - but I at least can spot a trend change.

The younger regulars at the store and at other strores in the mall don't ostracize 'geeks'/'nerds'/gamers.

Why would they?

 They grew up when its practical to have a smart friend that can fix your computer or build you a new one.

They grew up when the majority of the blockbuster movies were what used to be consider 'nerd' movies - but are now typical high-grossing blockbusters.

They also grew up in years where it was always normal for there to be a "Star Trek" show of some kind on TV each week and it wasn't a cancelled failure that a select few talked about.

They grew up in a time when "LOrd of The Rings" were those really cool movies in the theater or on DVD ...and "Oh yeah, they're based on books from years ago, I'll have to check those out. "

The current crop of College and High School kids grew up in years where the majority of them have had an older brother, sister or friend that was part of a Dungeons & Dungeons or role playing group for a while - or even their parents.

The world of what is supposedly 'cool' or 'not cool' has changed and even turned upside down while the press and many others weren't looking or noticing.

- Ed C.

Quote from: Benoist;417527The notion, however, that being a geek means you're automatically uncool is stupid. Period.

Back when I was in college, some of the off-campus people I came across who sometimes played D&D at the college gaming clubs, were guys who looked more like hairspray rockers or disco dancers, than nerds/geeks.  In those days, that was the epitome of "cool".  (These days, disco dancers and hairspray rockers would look kinda silly).

There's also the Pokemon Effect to consider.