So, I was looking through the forums today in a bout of boredom, and I noticed some trends among you, my fellow internet men and women. Namely, it seems that even the hobbies and interests we have besides videogaming seem to largely align. I don't think that impression is entirely true, so I thought Id make a thread about it.
Therefore: What hobbies do you partake in besides videogames?
As is fair, I shall list mine. Starting with the ones that many people here share according to my 'research'. Then moving to those I feel are less commonplace.
Warhammer 40k: Obviously has a huge presence on the site. I used to have a large points, artillery focused Imperial Guard army, which is no more due to economic concerns. Lately I've been looking to get back into it, however.
Magic: Started this fairly recently, around the release of Innistrad, but I've been sucked in. Admittedly, my decks aren't terribly good yet, but I have good fundamentals and I do extremely well in closed drafts. Can't wait for Avacyn in a few weeks, finally have the impetus to make a mono white deck for standard. Like 40k, this is expensive as hell.
Anime: Another popular one. While I have always had a liking for series such as Fullmetal Alchemist and Trigun, it was only the last few years I became a truly hopeless Otaku. I've devoured the last few seasons of content, and I no longer have the bias that led me to favor dubs in years previous. I find I no longer have the patience to wait for a series to be dubbed in any case. Regardless, thank Tzeentch for Crunchyroll.
Science Fiction and Fantasy: I read an average of thirty novels a year, and the vast majority are Science Fiction and Fantasy. ASOIF, Wheel of Time, Harry Turtledove, SM Stirling, John Birmingham, damn near every Warhammer 40k book you can imagine. I love nothing more than a well thought out world and great characters, and just behind those are the great ideas that propel the true classics of the genres.
Tabletop RPGs: I imagine that this one has the widest visibility to played ratio. While many gamers know a great deal about Dungeons and Dragons and the like, from what I've seen it is a much smaller fraction who actually partake. Myself, I currently DM Dark Heresy for my friends every few weekends. Its great fun, and there is nothing like going to the crit chart only to tell the party's combat specialist that his plasma gun just exploded in his hands, killing him and knocking down everyone else, to be eaten by angry Daemons in the next turn. Good times. The game seriously has the best crit charts ever written.
Writing: Now this is not only my hobby, it is also my chosen profession. I have quite the stable of short stories and novellas I've written over the years, and one or two might even be sent to a publisher one day. Writing is therapy for me, as much as anything else is. I just get lost in it, and hours later I often find myself in strange places of my own creation. Its pretty happy there, usually, despite it generally being a blasted warzone or a neo-noir dystopia. Whether anyone else would agree, well, I suppose I'll find out some day. And then I may well become a professional waiter, if it's not the answer I need.
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Well, I apologize for talking your ear off. If you actually read all, or most, of that, I owe you my thanks. Please do tell me what you like to do, I look forward to seeing it. I did, after all, not simply come here to talk about myself.
Cheers.
Therefore: What hobbies do you partake in besides videogames?
As is fair, I shall list mine. Starting with the ones that many people here share according to my 'research'. Then moving to those I feel are less commonplace.
Warhammer 40k: Obviously has a huge presence on the site. I used to have a large points, artillery focused Imperial Guard army, which is no more due to economic concerns. Lately I've been looking to get back into it, however.
Magic: Started this fairly recently, around the release of Innistrad, but I've been sucked in. Admittedly, my decks aren't terribly good yet, but I have good fundamentals and I do extremely well in closed drafts. Can't wait for Avacyn in a few weeks, finally have the impetus to make a mono white deck for standard. Like 40k, this is expensive as hell.
Anime: Another popular one. While I have always had a liking for series such as Fullmetal Alchemist and Trigun, it was only the last few years I became a truly hopeless Otaku. I've devoured the last few seasons of content, and I no longer have the bias that led me to favor dubs in years previous. I find I no longer have the patience to wait for a series to be dubbed in any case. Regardless, thank Tzeentch for Crunchyroll.
Science Fiction and Fantasy: I read an average of thirty novels a year, and the vast majority are Science Fiction and Fantasy. ASOIF, Wheel of Time, Harry Turtledove, SM Stirling, John Birmingham, damn near every Warhammer 40k book you can imagine. I love nothing more than a well thought out world and great characters, and just behind those are the great ideas that propel the true classics of the genres.
Tabletop RPGs: I imagine that this one has the widest visibility to played ratio. While many gamers know a great deal about Dungeons and Dragons and the like, from what I've seen it is a much smaller fraction who actually partake. Myself, I currently DM Dark Heresy for my friends every few weekends. Its great fun, and there is nothing like going to the crit chart only to tell the party's combat specialist that his plasma gun just exploded in his hands, killing him and knocking down everyone else, to be eaten by angry Daemons in the next turn. Good times. The game seriously has the best crit charts ever written.
Writing: Now this is not only my hobby, it is also my chosen profession. I have quite the stable of short stories and novellas I've written over the years, and one or two might even be sent to a publisher one day. Writing is therapy for me, as much as anything else is. I just get lost in it, and hours later I often find myself in strange places of my own creation. Its pretty happy there, usually, despite it generally being a blasted warzone or a neo-noir dystopia. Whether anyone else would agree, well, I suppose I'll find out some day. And then I may well become a professional waiter, if it's not the answer I need.
----------
Well, I apologize for talking your ear off. If you actually read all, or most, of that, I owe you my thanks. Please do tell me what you like to do, I look forward to seeing it. I did, after all, not simply come here to talk about myself.
Cheers.
