A respectable hobby?

[Beefeater]

Other Brits among us may also have noted that the political columnist David Aaronovitch recently, and very bravely, confessed not only to a liking for wargaming in general, but also to playing MTW2 in particular (I believe a screenie from his French campaign made it into the paper).

Shortly afterwards, the MP Michael Gove also confessed, in this Times article, to a fondness for moving imaginary soldiers around an imaginary board.

So, is this the dam bursting? Are any other closet wargamers (or role-players, or other indulgers in not-quite-respectable hobbies) in public life coming out? How about on the other side of the atlantic - how are things viewed over there?

Cheering news for us, however you look at it.

[Daveybaby]

I seem to recall a few years ago during the development of Master of Orion, one of the forum (semi) regulars was an MP (member of Parliament, not Military Police).

[caravel]

They are already among us.......

[Von Nanega]

Firstly, Beefeater, your screen name makes me thirsty! But yes, with the immersion and the quality of these strategy games it makes sense that professionals of all types enjoy these games.

[marcusbrutus]

I can imagine MPs sat around in the canteen at the Commons discussing their latest campaign or mod.

I bet:

John Prescott has the fastest most powerfull PC (2 of them)

Gordon Brown plays as Scotland

George Galloway plays as the Turks

Blair plays as England but just follows whatever the biggest power does

Ming Campbell is never sure what everyone is talking about

No one ever congratulates each other on a well played campaign/battle but they all love to pick holes in each others strategies/tactics

Labour MPs have problems with the loyalty of their provences

Conservative MPs love to assasinate their King

Lib Dem MPs prefer to Turtle.

[Beefeater]

Gorgeous George Galloway is my MP, more's the pity.

[pevergreen]

And John Howard is waiting for the Americas to arrive to he can "meet up" with George Bush. (at least aussies will get it, not sure of anyone else)

[General Zhukov]

Interesting question, Beef.

Living in the southern section of the U.S., traditionally a rather prudish area, and being a roleplayer myself, I've made some observations on the subject.

The mainstream reaction is to look askew at roleplayers as engaging in a certainly quirky and possibly deviant hobby. Religious objections form one of the largest barriers to "unclean" hobbies. Here, it is bizarre to believe in ghosts, but perfectly normal to believe in a Holy Ghost. A combination of ignorance, religious objections, and an exaggerated remembrance of the aberrant behavior of some youths in the past seems to fuel the distaste of these pastimes. Of course, those who actually participate in or observe the goings on of wargaming or roleplaying usually have their notions dispelled. That said, I don't think that the not-so-respectable hobbies are gaining acceptance outside of the small groups that enjoy them.

It would take a lot of courageous people, celebrities included, coming out of the woodwork to begin to reverse the outdated notions about these hobbies. Such an education offensive would reveal to the larger public that wargamers/roleplayers/game enthusiasts tend to be some of the most intelligent and/or creative people around.

One American celeb, the comedian Stephen Colbert, gave an interview (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/dungeons-dr.../537989p1.html) discussing his dabbles in the dark arts.

[marcusbrutus]

That said, I don't think that the not-so-respectable hobbies are gaining acceptance outside of the small groups that enjoy them.

I'm not sure - I think all Computer gaming is becoming more acceptable. Over here in Britland the computer game shops are usually packed with people where as 10 years ago my mates and I used to sneak into them in case we were spotted by anyone who knew us .

[Musashi]

Interesting question, Beef.

Living in the southern section of the U.S., traditionally a rather prudish area, and being a roleplayer myself, I've made some observations on the subject.

The mainstream reaction is to look askew at roleplayers as engaging in a certainly quirky and possibly deviant hobby. Religious objections form one of the largest barriers to "unclean" hobbies. Here, it is bizarre to believe in ghosts, but perfectly normal to believe in a Holy Ghost. A combination of ignorance, religious objections, and an exaggerated remembrance of the aberrant behavior of some youths in the past seems to fuel the distaste of these pastimes. Of course, those who actually participate in or observe the goings on of wargaming or roleplaying usually have their notions dispelled. That said, I don't think that the not-so-respectable hobbies are gaining acceptance outside of the small groups that enjoy them.

It would take a lot of courageous people, celebrities included, coming out of the woodwork to begin to reverse the outdated notions about these hobbies. Such an education offensive would reveal to the larger public that wargamers/roleplayers/game enthusiasts tend to be some of the most intelligent and/or creative people around.

One American celeb, the comedian Stephen Colbert, gave an interview (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/dungeons-dr.../537989p1.html) discussing his dabbles in the dark arts.

Funny, out here in Cali it seems like every second person I meet is into RPGs or Wargames. When I was in college, the White Wolf players were actually the majority of the campus... Non-roleplayers seemed to be a tiny minority.

[Dearmad]

Other Brits among us may also have noted that the political columnist David Aaronovitch recently, and very bravely, confessed not only to a liking for wargaming in general, but also to playing MTW2 in particular (I believe a screenie from his French campaign made it into the paper).

Shortly afterwards, the MP Michael Gove also confessed, in this Times article, to a fondness for moving imaginary soldiers around an imaginary board.

So, is this the dam bursting? Are any other closet wargamers (or role-players, or other indulgers in not-quite-respectable hobbies) in public life coming out? How about on the other side of the atlantic - how are things viewed over there?

Cheering news for us, however you look at it.

Since the days of Jane's military books (that's how those books came about- GAMING!) these men have been playing these games and probably much much earlier...

What I wonder is if they mod and/or CHEAT!?

Would love to challenge Bush to a game and KICK HIS ASS!