"What has being a 'gamer' taught you?" Topic

I have learnt about painting.

Webdesign.

Modelling techniques including scratchbuilding.

History around the periods I play.

Some legal stuff around DSR.

Most gaming companies (mine included) are one man bands run around normal day jobs.

That even a hobby full of historians, artists and geeks has its fair share of rude idiots.

Probably some other stuff too that escapes me right now.

What about you?

Michael.

Cheating

English

That middle age men who play with toy soldiers can be really grumpy and intolerant……

Painting

Crowd Control

How to deal with a room of socially awkward men

How to not breath through my nose

How to have an amazing time with my friends and not getting too drunk

Some interesting tit-bits about history

How easy people in wargaming represent a group of teenage girls.

Tom

There is something more expensive than my wife.

Everyone has a different idea of fun.

1. The Technichs.
Modelling clay, plastic, sand, green stuff. Painting. Scratchbuilding. Webdesign. Paper modelling. Being creative to go around things I don't have the money to aqquire.

2. The Historics.
Historic knowledge around a vast period of history. From pre-history to modern days. Seeing history with the eyes of a wargamer and not a historian – there are some lapses of logic in the History they tell us.

3. New Languages.
English, French, Spanish (Castellan). When you talk and talk and talk with people all over the world your language skills has to improve.

4. Social Interacting.
There is a pool of nasty wargamers, it's given – but then again there is a pool of nasty human beings. But there are pearls in between. We must be lucky and draw from the candy bag the right ones. I have been having such luck many times. Good, intelligent and generous people have I met, traded, talked, shared experiences and became friend. I think that this happens in every group of people with the same goals. Be it wargamers or shark watchers. The main difference, I think, is that wargamer are ready to see things from other angles. Some, at least…

5. The True Art.
And from time to time (in a very regular basis) I get to see the work of truly amazing artists. Sculpters, painters, scratchbuilders. People who do amazing things outside mainstream art.

6. The Circle of Brotherwood.
A strange thing. A true thing. Some of the people that inhabits here share a strange brotherwood-sisterwood with me. A sense of belonging. That's why they are willing to share, trade, even give things to complete strangers on the other side of the world.

7. The precious.
Playing with toys, of course. With the amazing excuse of grown man rules, maths and systems. In the end there is a understanding that we are playing with toys, like when we were six years old and wanted to be a perfect man who kills. "Bang, bang! You're dead! Fall to the ground."

If you are talking about things I didn't already know then it would be painting, modelling and improving my historical knowledge. Everything else listed here I already knew (with the exception of languages, which i still don't – except French).

Maths

Too much to list here, but pretty much name a subject, and I've learned something about it due to being a "gamer".

That while I thought I was a grumpy and ornery individual, I am in fact quite tolerant compared to many others.

a fair bit of history.

How much I missed in my history courses.

I've learned…

many gamers need to bath more, eat better, exercise more, and visit the dentist more.

to beware Napoleonic gamers.

Unlike Hollywood, the good guys get hit too.

pretty much name a subject, and I've learned something about it due to being a "gamer".

Knitting?

A lot of history.

After 30+ years it is impossible to list all of the data nuggets that I have gleaned over the decade. Much of it is due to individual research in the area of uniforms and troop operations.

Guitar.

Keeps me out of the bars.

The chance of hitting a target in a game is inversely proportional to the firepower you direct at it.

Painting.
History.
How to sneak beer into the game store.

Things I have learnt about being a gamer:

(1) RTFR
(2) RTFR again
(3) Be a gentleman and enjoy the game, not just aiming to win.
(4) Appreciate well painted miniatures
(5) Learning how to paint well
(6) Learning how to build and paint scenery
(7) Mental arithmetic
(8) Historical research
(9) Dynamic narrative
(10) The Importance of Social Interaction
(11) The joy of recycling mundane household items and packaging fro wargaming purposes
(12) The importance of personal hygiene at all times, including at wargames shows
(13) The need to appease SWMBO
(14) Why House Rules are important
(15) That you CAN meet decent people on the internet, meet them in real life and have a good time.

The fundamentals of computer programming and project management, both of which I went on to do at a professional level.

having a sense of humour is a must

Had to Google RTFR

Nothing much from wargaming or RPGs , but I learnt a lot from Grand Theft Auto…

That smoking crack is probably cheaper .
Reading and comprehesive skills
Tactics – in all things
math . Odds modifers etc
history
building and painting ( models but applications to "real world carpentery ".

knitting is useful for camo' nets.

Probably.

That it's just a hobby, the really important things are family and friends.

That the laws of probability do not apply to me. The dice really hate me.

I need tactics, because I have no luck.
Rules lawyers suck.

Ming, Heroin is probably cheaper.

How to handle bad situations and people with at least some grace.

That history is WAY more than names, dates, and places

That this hobby is still cheaper than video/computer gaming

That if gamers in general are in any way representative of the human race in general, then the world is doomed.

That I can be waaaaaaaay too competitive and I need to be careful about that.