08-08-2006, 06:29 PM
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I'll be back.
Join Date: Nov 2002
Casino cash: $690478
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Gencon - Revenge of the Nerds
http://indianapolismonthly.com/month...sp?articleID=3
This is a long-ass article. I'll just quote my favorite part.
Quote:
Wells is far from the typical Joe Gamer. Most are single men in their 20s or early 30s with bleach-white skin and black attire. Many suffer from some combination of medical affliction, be it a runny nose/dandruff mix, an acne/pinkeye blend. They either talk constantly in a nasal, matter-of-fact tone, or they say little to nothing at all. Under no circumstances does the typical gamer wear a wedding ring, or for that matter stand purposefully in the vicinity of a woman. It’s not that he’s necessarily gay or doesn’t like women;it’s just that since mostly guys game, and gaming is mostly what those guys do, the situation rarely presents itself. When gamer girls are around, confusion, a sort of sexual disorientation, ensues.
That fact is illustrated when Wells meets his party. Kayla, Courtney and Purple Sarah—so named because her now-blond hair was once dyed—are the female contingent of the IU Gamers Guild at Gen Con. None of the three is unattractive by any means, but from the distant awe they’re drawing from the men as they walk through the halls, you’d think Galadriel, Lady of Lorien were here in the Elvish flesh.
But these girls aren’t here to tantalize would-be suitors. Like everyone else, they’re here to game. “It’s a male-dominated world of gaming,” says Purple Sarah. “But a lot of girls game, too. They’re just not supposed to.”
Sarah is a hardcore LARPer. She loves the freedom of live-action, where you aren’t restricted by levels and dice and can just improvise with the flow. She also likes the costuming that’s sometimes involved. Yesterday, the 5-foot-nothing Sarah walked around the convention all day in a full Victorian gown as part of a LARP she played in until 2 o’clock this morning. “People outside were constantly staring,” she says. “I didn’t mind. People need to be weirded out every once in a while. Anyway, I love characters with fashion sense. That’s why I love pirates.”
“Pirates?” I ask.
“Mm-hm. Pirates have better clothing sense and all that cool jewelry. It’s all a matter of taste.”
“What’s all a matter of taste?”
“Pirates vs. ninjas.”
Blank stare and silence.
“You know, it’s the proverbial gaming argument. Pirate vs. ninja. If you want it done quick and quiet, you want a ninja. But if you want it done with style … I have a very strong stance on this.”
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this?”
The tiny gamer girl shoots me a stone-solid serious look. “Yeah, I think about it all the time.”
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