Oooops, accidental double post because of draft issues, sorry guys.

So here's the deal,

I was in my culture of news class, and I had an experience that truly made my day. I talked to someone.

Shocking, right? Well, if you're a gamer, not really. I know you're confused now, allow me to ellaborate.

I had been talking to this guy a couple months back, connected over a shared interest. I was sitting in a part of the class that I hadn't before, and I was kinda shy. Suddenly I heard him and a friend of his over my shoulder talking about a common interest of their's. And I thought, why not, and inserted myself into the conversation without any invitation. Just so you know, this is something I never do, I tend not to put myself where I'm not invited, but here, at this particular point, I had something to ad.

The more astute of you will have already realized that it was in fact, yes, games that brought our little pow wow together.

These two people, who I would have never have hung out with otherwise, let alone spoken to, were brought to me by the random benevolent forces of the universe. And the power of games. Da da da DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA



And this is something that I think is really unique to the little culture that we have the privledge of calling home. No matter your race, gender, orientation, of facial mole position, you can find a buddy. You can strike up a conversation with a near-complete stranger about an amazing shared interest that absolutely everyone has a unique view on.

And this is made all the more enjoyable to me by the fact that gamers of old were viewed as social pariahs, people that valued their pocket protectors as much as their mother's beef casarole. We have our own little social niche that we've carved out for ourselves and made our own. It is no longer un-cool to be a nerd. As Mike Krahulik so aptly put, we've completely reclaimed the word, it's a statement of fact. And now, I'm meeting people, simply because of that form of entertainment that onve made me an outcast



And while this incredible global community is the source of an incredible amount of joy for me, it also saddens me a little. We have, in some respect, become the people we hated.

Back in the days when a nerd was a negative, at least for me, all I wanted was to be accepted for what I was. I wanted people to be able to ignore the fact that I was into games and see the fact that I was a pretty nice guy. I wanted to fit in.

And now I can, I can fit into society effortlessly, as a nerd, and I have a community of people to support me if that social acceptance is ever shaken.

But like I said, we have become what we hated. I hated the people that wouldn't let me in. I hated being the outsider just because of my personal taste. I hated that kids years younger than me didn't fear me on the playground as they should, for I was a grade 6. Worse still, I couldn't even play with them if I asked.



And to some degree, our roles have reversed.

At lease to my experience, anyone who displays any signs of being "fake" has no shot in the gaming community. They're torn down, accused of having store bought opinions, and generally hated. And I'm guilty of this hating as well.

Any time my sister tries to talk like she knows games (she doesn't by the way, she knows the PC Nancy Drew Adventures and that's it) or even act like a nerd, I call her out on it, I try to prove her wrong. And there is no reason to do this.

All she's trying to do is delve into this fabulous little culture we have here, and I'm telling her she can't, because she's "fake," because she's not "hardcore." Granted there is some reason to this. In today's times of pink skinny jean-clad, plaid collared shirt-wearing men, people take any chance they get to be an individual. And being a "nerd" is just another way to be seen as more alternative.



But my point is that we should not shun these people. We should welcome them. Yeah, their motives aren't that genuine, but if we show them a good time, accept and converse with them as equals, they could become "one of us." They could join this recently exclusive club of nerds and gamers that we defend so gallantly.

And then we have just one more person to brighten your day, like mine was, with a random conversation about favorite games. The larger our community is, the better it is, no question.

I guess the bottom line is that we need to get over ourselves. We need to forget the harsh past that gamers went through to get where we are today, and accept people on the "outside" trying to get in.

We need to forget our schoolyard politics, and give peace a chance.

~ Om nom nom nom