From: rwalton@tehmi.next.com (Robert Walton)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: A Glossay of Stereotypes (was Hostility in Gamers...)
Date: 11 Sep 92 23:13:25 GMT

This has been a very interesting thread, one I've given thought to off and  
on over the last 18 years or so.

Walton's Gaming Law:  Your enjoyment and comfort as a gamer is directly  
proportional to the amount of affiliation you are able to achieve with the  
people you play with, whether RPG or miniatures gamer.

As in society at large, gamers tend to form groups around their  
affiliations and become territorial and defensive when forced to interact  
with those of a diferent affiliation (particularly at conventions).

For those of you unfamiliar with the types of gamers out there, here is a  
short list of the major "species" I've encountered over the past 18 years:

Droolers:  [a not-so-affectionate term applied to] hard core RPGers (and  
some other gamers) who are painfully thin or grossly obese, fish-belly  
pale, hygiene-impaired, gracelessly attired (insisting upon hats, uniform  
pieces, or tacky tee-shirts), goateed (badge of the drooler) and pitifully  
out of sync with reality.  Often affiliated with the Society for Creative  
Anachronism (SCA), and the chronically un(der)employed.  First appearing  
in numbers in the mid to late 70s, they have defied the onslaught of time  
to propogate at conventions and maintain the same basic appearance  
throughout their useful gaming life, which seems indefinite.

Munchkins, Tiny-Tots:  Grade school to High School RPGers (and some other  
gamers) who are having the kind of unencumbered fun the rest of us wish we  
could have.  Some are really quite smart and obnoxiously precocious,  
having lost any fear and respect of there enfeebled elders through  
trashing their characters or sving them from demise at the hand of the  
ref/ump.  Only respect you for how many levels you have achieved or how  
many hit points you can take.  Typically are easily side tracked by  
profering comparisons between monsters or super heroes regarding who is  
better than or could whop whom.  Related species at this larval stage --  
Micro-nerds.  Many evolve into Droolers, though some may become Lead  
Pushers, Compu-gamers, or Bored-gamers.

Lead Pushers:  [a not-so-affectionate term applied to] military history  
buffs who are often smug, arrogant, defensive, and not much more synced  
with reality than RPGers (no not, Battletech!) who tend to lump all RPGers  
as droolers [actually, everyone else is a drooler...] through guilt by  
gaming association.  Like Tiny-Tots, they can be distracted into losing by  
challenging their sacred knowledge, such as the penetration of 88mm German  
AT guns, or trashing their arcane wisdom regarding some obscure (and  
probably fictional) aspect Ney's cavalry charge at Waterloo.  A few Lead  
pushers may also be droolers through physical appearance and lack of  
hygiene rather than RPG fixiation.  Related species -- Bored-gamers.

Micro-nerds:  Little guys who play so many computer arcade games they  
often appear as if their game-boy or Lynx grows out of their forearm like  
an appendage.  No interest in anything that doesn't have to do with  
computers, robots, or TV.  They'll undoubtedly require the instant  
gratification of Virtual Reality by the time they grow up.  Related  
species -- Tiny-Tots/Munchkins.  I'm not sure they ever grow up.

Bored-gamers:  Similar in many respects to Lead Pushers, the distinction  
is that Bored-gamers prefer more structure and rules than are feasible in  
miniatures games.  They insist that Lead Pushers argue too much about  
ambiguity while themselves caterwalling to each other over shades of  
nuance and interpretation between rule 1.1.3.4 and 6.5.5.6 for each move.

Compu-gamers:  These individuals are "socially-challenged".  Most want to  
do or be something they haven't the slightest hope of being, and don't  
like the interaction of other sentients creatures (or even droolers 8^)).   
Can't deal with losing to someone else (the computer will never tell) and  
are fascinated with gadegets and high-technology gee-gaws.  A dedicated  
few are simulation nuts, craving the thrill of flying or driving.  These  
people can't wait for Virtual Reality.  Were probably a Micro-nerd, unless  
they're over 30 now...

Miserable Outcasts:  There is a strain of anti-social malcreants that runs  
through all species, and these individuals are labeled as assholes and  
bastards.  They cheat while accusing others of cheating, argue over  
everything that doesn't go their way, are obnoxious winners and graceless  
losers both at games and in life.  Despised and only barely tolerated by  
all the major species, they generally combine the worst traits of each.

Know anybody like the above?

8^)  For the humor imparied, no I'm not trying to blast anybody, but  
having a little fun at the end of a long thread...

Happy gaming, regardless of your species or gaming preference...

Newsgroups: rec.games.board