Quote from: RPGPundit;397288To what extent is your local gaming store regularly littered with Lawncrappers or other forms of the socially deviant?

We don't really have 'Lawncrappers' the way most people deefine that at our store. About once every 2 or 3 months there might be really obnxious person that shows up browsing or an annoying gamer shows up that we haven't seen in quite awhile. (usually near some holiday weekend)

QuoteAre there some that seem to always be there?

Lawncrappers? No.  
Regular friends of the store or its employees?  Sure they stop by all the time. Normally that might be the spouse of one of my co-workers or somebody from one of their RPG groups.

QuoteHave you had only occasional encounters with people acting inappropriately there?

Yes - but those people we warn or call the mall security on them. Most of the time the people that act inappropriately don't belong in the store in the first place.

QuoteIs it strangely and miraculously free of this kind of geek?

Resounding YES to this question. For the most part the folks that stop by the store or that are our regulars are relatively normal.  That annoying kind of geek that you refer to pretty much gets indirectly ostracized locally by the crowds at the two or three local game stores. Sometimes (rarely) one of the annpoying geeks will be befriended by someone and an attempt at a makeover of behavior, dress, and hygiene is attempted on the annoying one. Once in a while that works.


- Ed C.

Quote from: ggroy;397338Of the lawncrappers I've had the displeasure of playing in rpg games (ie. real games face to face) with:

- very dictatorial
- "my way or the highway" type mentality
- frequently loaded up from large amounts of alcohol and/or drugs (ie. marijuana, oxycontin, etc ...)
- has anger issues and very prone to physical violence when things don't go their way
- insists on strict rigid rules, regulations, norms, etc ... for everybody else, but which they don't apply to themselves
- insists they are "god's gift" to women
- extremely confrontational

- (any and all secondary and/or side effects of the above behaviors ...)

This actually sounds more, to me, like football (both types) fans.

No more so than at the RPG forums I frequent.

Quote from: ggroy;397346Most of the rpg gaming lawncrappers I've come across over the years, I first met at gaming conventions locally or at nearby towns.

Outside of rpg games, comics, etc ... the largest freakfests I've come across were typically at really underground goth type nightclubs, and sometimes at video arcades which are still around.

Sorry this is off topic a bit, but I just had to share.

You haven't seen a bigger group of rampant psychotics until you've spent some time in the office of a rental storage facility. They are freak magnets. Not only are the people beyond crazy, but you wouldn't believe the crazy shit they pay to store. I met one lady who kept a cat litter box in her unit (litter and all) so that SHE could go to the bathroom when she was there pawing through her junk.

Yes, we have a very clean, public bathroom on site.

Yes, we had to force her to "vacate".

That's the tip of the iceberg...

I think the quickest way to nip this argument in the bud is to admit, finally, that there are no "normal" people. Seriously, every person on this planet is different from every other person, sometimes in striking ways. "Normal" is a social construct that holds very little water with me the older I get.

Now, that said, there are plenty of assholes in the world, as Cy pointed out.

Quote from: Fifth Element;397376No more so than at the RPG forums I frequent.

Yes, but when viewing the Internet, one can control one's own climate and airflow.

The two shops that I visit from time to time are both decent places, each appealing to a different segment of the gaming population.  I'd describe the more fringe elements of either store as being more in the "Hur-hur-dur" category of social misfit, rather than full-on social retard, and that's all right (or at least no big deal).  On only the rarest occasion will there be the dude who has plopped cross-legged on the floor, blocking access to the shelves, reading a book deeply from cover-to-cover, bleeding off an eye-watering stench of surface tissue decay.  And you know, that guy could just as easily wind up at any of the local used book stores, or computer/console game stores, too.  That scrawny little freak gets around.

!i!

I remember visiting the Wizard's Tower in Nashua NH once with my wife. It was like being in someone's filthy, ill-kept basement. It reeked of gamer funk and they had a pot of chili brewing in a corner. After leaving I turned to my wife and said, "On behalf of my hobby, I apologize".

There aren't many gaming stores left in NH. JumpGate is closing this month. Though it only had a small gaming section. But I used to love their bargain bin.

Quote from: Werekoala;397379I think the quickest way to nip this argument in the bud is to admit, finally, that there are no "normal" people. Seriously, every person on this planet is different from every other person, sometimes in striking ways. "Normal" is a social construct that holds very little water with me the older I get.

Being weird and being socially disruptive/negative are two entirely different things.  You can be weird and be charismatic/have good social skills.

I mean I'm certainly not "normal", but I know that I should probably bathe myself, brush my teeth, and not bring live animals into a place of business.  I'm also able to tell when people don't want to hear me talk, or when it's probably best not to start on a negative rant about a game no one cares about.  I can also handle women (oh noes! vaginas!) being present without going totally creeper.

Quote from: Tetsubo;397440I remember visiting the Wizard's Tower in Nashua NH once with my wife. It was like being in someone's filthy, ill-kept basement. It reeked of gamer funk and they had a pot of chili brewing in a corner. After leaving I turned to my wife and said, "On behalf of my hobby, I apologize".

There aren't many gaming stores left in NH. JumpGate is closing this month. Though it only had a small gaming section. But I used to love their bargain bin.

My best friend Brian and I (and yes, he is still one of my players) used to request gift certs from the Game and Hobby shop in the Mall of New Hampshire.  He lived in Milford, I grew up in Hudson.
Many of my early fond memories, of Campaign Hexagon Books, of T&T 4th edition...etc, come from that...randomly finding tubes of poster sized hex sheets...

My wife actually went to the Wizard's Tower a few times, and described it to me in similar glowing terms to what you describe.

You know, this whole "social retard" thing gets to me because it's a bunch of hypocrisy.

I mean, some people are fully aware of the so-called "social rules" and just defy them openly because A. the social rules are usually a bunch of bullshit double standards designed to keep the majority comfy and to persecute anyone who's not of the collective and B. they refuse to bow to aforementioned bullshit double standards.

Now if a "cool" person, I.E. good looking, charismatic, "hot", "badass" or something like that decides to just defy the social rules he's usually regarded as some james deenish or marlon brandooid like figure, heroically defying the stagnant, stultifying customs and mores of the tribe and hailed as some sort of hero or anti-hero.

 Someone else decides that the 'social codes" are a lot of bullshit and refuses to bow to them but he isn't hot, characteristic, cool, etc and he's labeled a social retard.

 Fuck that.

Quote from: Peregrin;397442Being weird and being socially disruptive/negative are two entirely different things.

Also, while norms vary from society to society, every society has them. Deviating radically from social norms is what it is: deviance. While the individual who's averse to bathing might fit in better somewhere in the mountains of Groteskistan, there are universal properties of self-control (including impulse control), social adeptness, and communication skills (in both reception and transmission).

If you want to interact with other people, these are worth cultivating. Deciding not to cultivate them, or massively failing to develop them, can be a sign that there's something wrong with someone that goes beyond mere noncomformity.

I've met FAR more full-on asshole types in the local art scene than I have in relation to gaming... they just tend to be a bit prettier from a distance.
Been a while since I spent time at a real gaming store though...

Quote from: Cylonophile;397447You know, this whole "social retard" thing gets to me because it's a bunch of hypocrisy.

A rebel understands social codes, but defies them.  Otherwise he is perfectly functional and can adjust accordingly if a social situation demands it.

Someone who's socially dysfunctional does not comprehend them.  They can't even "rebel", because they don't understand the thing they'd be rebelling against.

Quote from: LordVreeg;397444My best friend Brian and I (and yes, he is still one of my players) used to request gift certs from the Game and Hobby shop in the Mall of New Hampshire.  He lived in Milford, I grew up in Hudson.
Many of my early fond memories, of Campaign Hexagon Books, of T&T 4th edition...etc, come from that...randomly finding tubes of poster sized hex sheets...

My wife actually went to the Wizard's Tower a few times, and described it to me in similar glowing terms to what you describe.

I remember being at the last day they were open. It was  a mad house. I picked up some GURPS books cheap though.

Do you still live in the NH area? Jump Gate in Portsmouth NH is closing this month and they are having some good deals.

Quote from: Peregrin;397451A rebel understands social codes, but defies them.  Otherwise he is perfectly functional and can adjust accordingly if a social situation demands it.

Someone who's socially dysfunctional does not comprehend them.  They can't even "rebel", because they don't understand the thing they'd be rebelling against.

Maybe they just don't care enough about them to even learn them, maybe they are rebelling but aren't "cool" enough to be considered rebels.