I wish the world would show greater understanding, compassion and respect toward gaming geeks. However, it's an indisputable fact that the behavior of many gamers contributes toward this atmosphere of misunderstanding. The information in this article is not intended to insult or disparage those it criticizes. Instead, it is a sincere and well-intentioned effort to help those gaming geeks who are genuinely interested in improving relations between themselves and those around them, and I hope it will be taken as such. Readers are, of course, free to disregard or disagree with any of the advice in this article.
Many people have problems getting past appearance to reach the substance.
Many others consider appearance to be at least partially indicative of substance, if not an inseparable constituent part of that substance, and they're not wrong to do so. In plain English, this means that if you look or smell bad, you've already got a strike against you. It has always amazed me how so many gamers, who supposedly value independence in thinking and style, independently settle on the exact same look. Not all gamers look and dress this way, but a startling number do, as anyone can see just by attending a decent-size gaming convention. The point here is not to slam people who dress funny but to note that small, simple choices can improve one's appearance by at least an order of magnitude.