What is your gamer stereotype breaking hobby?

[Jeremy Skitz]

Well, I'm a musician who's working to get into drama school. I'm also really ill right now from all the drinking at download festival this weekend. XD

 

[AngloDoom]

I go to the gym as often as I can and desperately want to learn to sing and dance now that I've learnt I can't do martial arts for a few years.

Oh, and I find it extraordinarily easy to talk to absolutely anyone the first time, even if they don't particularly like me. Women especially, though I think it's because they think I'm gay ("but not 'gay gay', like, just somehow not like other men") which I'm still not sure whether to be complemented by or not.

 

[Ieyke]

I think my hobbies pretty much cover the entire geek spectrum, but I also have hobbies that go into pretty much all the rest of the spectrums too...

So

Roughly in order of time consumption from most to least:

- 80% of my real friends (and all of my closest friends) are incredibly attractive women. I spend a ton of time hanging out with them.
(^This, I suppose, is where it becomes immediately obvious that I'm not the "stereotypical" gamer.)

- I'm always knee-deep in investigating some new topic or other.

- I keep up with all manner of science news.

- I devour music like a hungry Snorlax devours Cheetos.

- [THIS IS WHERE GAMING WOULD PROBABLY ACTUALLY BE ON MY LIST]

- I get bored and I organize and find more efficient ways to do things.

- I'm an art student (I hesitate to call myself an artist, though I guess I most certainly am)

- I read (thought not nearly as much as I should.

- I cook.

- Martial arts.

- Firearms.


Honestly, I don't even so much think of myself as a gamer... Gaming is just the thing I most naturally gravitate towards while waiting for something better to do.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I was thinking something similar. I like to paint but half the time I'm painting, it's a space ork for 40K. Even other arts I'm into like glassblowing involve a lot of the skills (and hand muscles) developed from video gaming. It wont make you a pro but it helps. Martial arts, basketball, cars are also very gamery.
But I have a lot of hobbies and there have got to be a couple that few other gamers are into.
I guess my most stereotype breaking ones would be hair & makeup.

Exactly though, most of my abilities and skills have been shaped, if not at least improved, by gaming. You've got more muscle control in your hands and fingers - key for any artis, better hand-eye coordination (especially if you play with something like the Wii), etc. I mean, we can look at things and say that "Hey, this hobby isn't very gamer-ly" but most of them have been at least facilitated by games.

That's just what it seems to me.

As far as my art goes, apart from digital work that requires hand-eye coordination when using a drawing tablet, I also do pieces in charcoal, acrylics, ink, sometimes even scratchboards or the sort. It varies.

I love scratchboards, it's like 2d sculpting.
You're right. All my hobbies and skills have probably been improved by gaming in some way shape or form. And when you stop and think about it, as games have evolved, so have gamers. Many of the games I played as a kid just tasked you with jumping a character from platform to platform and hitting enemies on a 2d plane. There were no stats (maybe a health bar and/or special weapon allotment) or flanking. Current games require the gamer to keep track of a whole lot more information at the same time and respond to changes in patterns and circumstances more rapidly than before. It may not be as edifying as some sports and other brain building activities but it's definitely a workout for the brain...well, most games at least.
Lets face it, some are just mindless fun.

 

[TheDoctor455]

I write mainly science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Tried semi-historical fiction once. Didn't go well. Neither did my first attempt at a fantasy novel. Both were written before I really started to develop my voice.

Was working on a cyberpunk-ish novel until my computer decided to reformat itself. (that right there is why I'm not worried about an AI uprising in the future; they'll just reformat themselves and forget why they're rebelling in the first place)

Also...

I used to do some acting. Haven't had much chance to perform lately though.

 

[Cloudydays]

I was thinking something similar. I like to paint but half the time I'm painting, it's a space ork for 40K. Even other arts I'm into like glassblowing involve a lot of the skills (and hand muscles) developed from video gaming. It wont make you a pro but it helps. Martial arts, basketball, cars are also very gamery.
But I have a lot of hobbies and there have got to be a couple that few other gamers are into.
I guess my most stereotype breaking ones would be hair & makeup.

Exactly though, most of my abilities and skills have been shaped, if not at least improved, by gaming. You've got more muscle control in your hands and fingers - key for any artis, better hand-eye coordination (especially if you play with something like the Wii), etc. I mean, we can look at things and say that "Hey, this hobby isn't very gamer-ly" but most of them have been at least facilitated by games.

That's just what it seems to me.

As far as my art goes, apart from digital work that requires hand-eye coordination when using a drawing tablet, I also do pieces in charcoal, acrylics, ink, sometimes even scratchboards or the sort. It varies.

I love scratchboards, it's like 2d sculpting.
You're right. All my hobbies and skills have probably been improved by gaming in some way shape or form. And when you stop and think about it, as games have evolved, so have gamers. Many of the games I played as a kid just tasked you with jumping a character from platform to platform and hitting enemies on a 2d plane. There were no stats (maybe a health bar and/or special weapon allotment) or flanking. Current games require the gamer to keep track of a whole lot more information at the same time and respond to changes in patterns and circumstances more rapidly than before. It may not be as edifying as some sports and other brain building activities but it's definitely a workout for the brain...well, most games at least.
Lets face it, some are just mindless fun.

Mindless fun, woo!

No, but you make a good point here. Games evolve and so do the gamers with them. Since we're attributing games with improving our own skills, it makes sense to say that our own skills improve as games do. I mean, we still have platform games and really simplistic stuff but games are now made with different goals in mind, for different purposes - not just fun but education as well. You have to pay attention to so many stimuli all at once. If anything, it helps exercise our brains to pay attention to more minute details and yeah - respond to changes in our environments quickly.

 

[Darren Carrigan]

I'm a Poet
Sports Journalist
Experienced interview Journalist
I play football too (soccer)

 

[generals3]

I guess it depends, if we use the "basement dweller" stereotype the fact i often go out with friends goes against the gamer stereotype.
I also picked up jogging which wouldn't really fit the basement dweller stereotype either.

 

[mjelaine]

I'm a queer tattooed social worker who also loves sports, camping and swimming. Former lifeguard who is used to spending most of the summer outdoors by a pool (but gamers never go outside!!)

 

[holy_secret]

Uhm...I guess I'm very outgoing, love to travel and have a boyfriend. Also I'm a guy.

 

[GonvilleBromhead]

I'm a First World War re-enactor...

 

[Andy Farren]

I'm an IT Technician in the Royal Air Force (though I am jacking that in very soon). I am looking at becoming a teacher after I leave as well. I also don't particularly like video games.

Not to sound big-headed, but one of the reasons I love this site is Yahtzee/Ben, because he refuses to like a game just because it's the next big thing. I buy them all the time, so the industry is happy with me, but very few of them do I actually enjoy. I own Mass Effect 3, Bioshock Infinite & Batman: Arkham City, but I wouldn't put any of them in my Top 10 (though I appreciate what all the fuss is about). It's also very, very rare I actually finish a game these days.

Rarely game online (Battlefield 3 is my only online vice) and I actually own several games I have never even played.

But, the occasional gem pops up, so I guess I'm still looking for the one game that rings my bell!

Oh, and I own a NES, SNES, Wii, 3DS, 2 original Game Boys (one of which I purchased in Tokyo) and have a power mushroom on my keyring, but wild horses couldn't drag me to buy a fucking WiiU.

 

[TIMESWORDSMAN]

I cook. Rather a lot actually. I didn't really see it as a hobby or talent until recently, when I started telling people about cooking and got lukewarm, and occasionally hostile responses.
Can you believe some people don't want to cook?!

I'm also into history and etymology, especially centered around medieval Northern Europe and the British Isles.

 

[Andy Farren]

Can you believe some people don't want to cook?!

Madness. What sort of stuff do you cook? Also, who is hostile about it?! Are you especially young or something? At my age, it's not unusual to have an hour-long conversation about cheese.

 

[Zetatrain]

Sports, yeah I know not very original.

Follow primarily American football and Hockey. I also follow soccer whenever the World Cup rolls around.
Not too long ago I did Marital arts and Fencing in college and soccer whenever there was the random group of people who felt like playing the sport. I also like rock climbing

I want to say Airsoft, but considering the popularity of COD games this hobby would probably do more to associate me with the stereotype.

There's also plastic model kits, but people would probably immediately associate that with Warhmammer, and the fact that I also build Gundam models (Gunpla) won't do much to distance me from the stereotype.

EDIT: Oh yeah I can also cook and I actually enjoy it. Bell peppers and beef, pork chops, fried rice, beef curry, chicken Parmesan. Nothing fancy, but definitely requires more effort than Ramen and a cup of hot water.

EDIT: I'm also an airplane enthusiast. Flew a couple of times and even tired to get a pilot license once (failed unfortunately).

I also have a bit of an interest in insects and spiders. This was more of a hobby when I was a kid as I loved catching them, but even today I still like to study them.

I also study war history, well specifically wars of the 20th century.

 

[TwiZtah]

I'm fit, I lift heavy weights and duo cardio each other day, I eat healthy and I'm very social.

 

[Dirge Eterna]

I have multiple visible tattoos and piercings, I am a huge metalhead and split my clothes between metal band shirts and geek/game/nerd wear. I go to 15 or more concerts every year at minimum. I have a large collection of firearms as well as medieval weaponry as well as more modern weapons. I ride a big cruiser motorcycle and I almost always wear combat boots ever since I left the service. I love Hockey and spend a lot of time watching it with my son and my wife who are also huge fans.

 

[Lictor Face]

I tend to the snails living in the garden with a watering can and I read. The most mainstream thing I do is possibly that I own a mac and I do not hate it. Much.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

Take a wild guess.

Can you believe some people don't want to cook?!

I don't want to cook... Especially after my last attempt at cooking a steak resulted in my eyebrows nearly getting scorched off, burn marks on the walls and floor, AND the fire alarm going off T_T