Why is DnD/Roleplaying the ultimate nerdy thing?

[Rblade]

because it requires an amount of dedication (preperation and long sessions), imagination and excitement ussually atributed to geeks and nerds. what other hobby will take at least 5 to 6 hours a sessions to get anything done.

And then there is obviously the elves, dwarves, halflings and dragons

I have played religiously for a couple of years, at least 1 session each weak. But where I live the hobby is rare and due to moves and changes in schedule it has become pretty much impossible to get together with my regular group. And I decided to step out for a while. Maby at some point once I either get a car or our schedules shift again.

 

[Xaryn Mar]

because it requires an amount of dedication (preperation and long sessions), imagination and excitement ussually atributed to geeks and nerds. what other hobby will take at least 5 to 6 hours a sessions to get anything done.

And then there is obviously the elves, dwarves, halflings and dragons

I have played religiously for a couple of years, at least 1 session each weak. But where I live the hobby is rare and due to moves and changes in schedule it has become pretty much impossible to get together with my regular group. And I decided to step out for a while. Maby at some point once I either get a car or our schedules shift again.

You could play over skype (or even better google+). My groups does it and it works just fine as long as there is little talking over each other.

OT: D&D is definitely not the nerdiest game to play. I would like to nominate GURPS for its versatility (and lots of rules you need to know) or MERP for its random tables to see which random tables you should roll on.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

Most the people who feel this way don't know what LARPing is.

That is so true XD

I roleplay a lot, but I've never done that, even if I've watched others do it. Very amusing to watch if they're good.

I don't know why roleplaying is considered the ultimate nerdy thing. I've done tabletop roleplaying, but I prefer the forum based one, since it's mostly text. I do spend a lot of time writing as different character. It's probably my favorite pastime. Maybe it's because roleplaying has been around for long?

 

[J.McMillen]

Most the people who feel this way don't know what LARPing is.

or been involved in a hardcore fantasy sports league.

 

[Arfonious]

DnD is for filthy casuals

On a more serious note: I have long since stopped caring what people think abour my hobbies, I play warhammer 40k, flames of war, roleplaying games, board games, video games, card games and I'm thinking of getting into LARPing

If people think of you as inferior just because you do things you enyoy they are idiots

 

[Mordekaien]

I play sometimes, not DnD, but my own system and people are cool with that. I mean, most of my friends that don't play PnP rpgs are actually intrigued by it, they just don't want to try it, but they respect what I do with my free time, since id doesn't involve lube and small animals.

But I have to say, I was having pretty big argument with my teacher back in high school, since DnD is clearly evil and the work of satan apparently. It's nice to see that now, when I work part time with children (for free time activities) we actually have things like DnD for kids, LARP fighting and other great things. I kind of miss that I'm not younger, because that would be free time activity for me, right there.

 

[VoidWanderer]

I play at least twice a wek, one is a World of Darkness gameI am running, the other is a D&D campaign in which I play my Dread Necromancer.

I have about seven other D&D characters I want to play.

 

[dtgenshiken7]

All I know is the whole thing scares me. Every time someone talks about DnD I get the fuck outta there real fast. So many rules, so many names, so many editions... I don't even know.

This is one of the main reasons it is considered "nerdy" to be playing something like this. Mainstreamers see it as something insanely complicated and utterly pointless, to live out a fake life with fake friends. this is NOT my point of view, I sometimes play DnD with friends, and am an active R.Per on my favorite forum, and it can be a way to make good friends, and have a lot of fun. unfortunately, the people who see it as nerdy are often difficult to convince otherwise, due to being surrounded by like-minded opinions.

 

[Syzygy23]

All I know is the whole thing scares me. Every time someone talks about DnD I get the fuck outta there real fast. So many rules, so many names, so many editions... I don't even know.

You're missin' out man!

Also, if it alleviates things, the only editions at that matter are Pathfinder/3.5

Anything else, just do what you normally do.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

SNIP

So it looks like I'm going down the list...

*is running on RP and participating in another on these forums*

Still haven't done DnD but it'll happen sometime in my future, I just know it.

I've never had/seen any negative comments about roleplaying around my friends.

 

[Smolderin]

I actually think it also comes from a lack of understanding. Many people don't know what DnD actually is, they just take that information on spoofs and comedies of the game they see on TV or the internet. Or some are just really conservative with religious backgrounds such as my mother. The first time I told her that I played Pathfinder, she said, "What?! That is some demonic stuff Josh, people have died playing that game"! Of course she was referring to those few incidents in the 90's were some guys from Europe took the game a bit to far, but I basically just had to explain to her that there was nothing wrong with, it was just a game of pretend with rules, and dice. Luckily I was 20 at the time and there was not a damn thing she could do about it, it's not like I was holding the events at her house.

Kinda goes hand in hand with why DnD is considered the ultimate geek thing because it is the weirdest thing to comprehend and understand by people who don't actually know what goes on in those games. They automatically assume that we dress up as wizards and thoroughly believe for a brief time that we are, that we get so far beyond reality it's automatically unhealthy and quite frankly, weird...as if DnD players were taking some kind of weird drug, or as if we had some kind of cult mentality. Lack of understanding friends, that is what it comes down to.

It also doesn't help that DnD is usually a private event. I don't know about you guys, but when I DM a game, I do not want anybody around except for the players because I feel self conscious when trying to throw my accent for NPC's in order to tell a more engaging story. I would guess to onlookers who are pretty much barred from entering the area, the whole DnD thing might seem a bit strange. It is unknown to them, and people are cautious and fearful of the unknown.

I think those are some of the reasons why DnD is considered kinda of the ultimate Geek low by some groups of people.

 

[FalloutJack]

There's a slight misconception here. They didn't ever become nerdy things. Lots of self-confessed geeks and nerds got into them. This is true for alot of entertainment.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

You might get hanged if you try and explain to them that the vancian magic system dose not work well or at all outside of the table top games. (I hated Bulders Gate, as in I kept dieing because I actually dared to use magic when you get Minsc ...tho I guess after you finish his rescues quest he wont go nuts and kill off the party...)


Uhg happened 3 times on 3 separate restarts ><

 

[Twilight_guy]

That's not true, LARP is the ultimate nerdy thing, its just not very well known.

The reason its so nerdy is because its less a set of media or things that are part of an industry and made by professionals and more a bunch of guys/gals rolling dice and telling fictional stories. The whole 'making it up part' implies more of a fantasy world and that's why its seen as more extreme.

 

[DazBurger]

Most the people who feel this way don't know what LARPing is.

Depends where you com from. Over here, larping have been very popular over the last few years, while "Pen n Paper" have been seen as the ultimate geek-dom.

This may also be caused by the differnet genres of larps we have, which range from full-contact war-scenarios, to smaller day-care like child oriented ones, to adult psycological and/or horror games.


I like to do both...

 

[Lunar Templar]

no idea.

Hollywood makes BILLIONS a year off it so it really shouldn't be that 'nerdy'

 

[Cowabungaa]

All I know is the whole thing scares me. Every time someone talks about DnD I get the fuck outta there real fast. So many rules, so many names, so many editions... I don't even know.

The good thing is; you don't even have to. The DM takes care of all that shit. I know fuck-all about D&D's myriad of rules and editions and what-have-you but I oh so love to play a proper RPG for once. See, that's the awesome thing about D&D; you can solve a given problem in any freakin' way you want. You're not bound by boundaries set by a computer.

That alone can make a D&D campaign one of the most fun gaming experiences someone can have. Assuming you have a good DM. And fun friends to play with.

 

[Semudara]

That's easy. The reason it's considered so nerdy is that you actually have to USE your IMAGINATION.

Nerd.