Explaining Nerdy Things

The hardest part about explaining anything to anyone is getting past their own preconceived notions on the topic.  Some people will always see the thing you are trying to explain as silly, and your attempts at explaining it only make it more silly.

You really get into a bind when something is preconceived as ‘nerdy.’  Once it has that connotation, you might as well just give up trying to explain anything.  LARPing is the best example I can come up with right now.





Live Action RolePlaying is all about going out and making a ‘game’ around pretending to be something else.  The two most popular ones are Vampires and Fantasy.  There are others, involving werewolves and what-not, but in the end, those are the two you will most commonly run across.

The best way to describe either, is if you’ve played Dungeons and Dragons.  The rules are all similar, but you are acting out the scenes, even dressing up in the parts to have better immersion.  The second best way to describe them is if you’ve every played an MMO.  Inside these online games, you make your character, and go out into a virtual world, and if you find a bunch of like minded people, you can all ‘play’ these characters together.

Both of those pale in comparison to actually going out and getting some kind of Victorian get-up on and hanging out with people, acting like you are all vampires in some sort of political struggle.  After seeing it done once, I have a mighty respect for those that can pull it off.  I also envy these people for having such an amazing imagination to really get into it all.

But in the end, there will always be those that think its all something that should have been left behind in childhood.  The worst part about ‘growing up’ is that people get these ideas that one should give up having fun in such an extravagant way.  But its truly sad when it filters in to other things.

I admit, there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed, because it could get a little weird, but people having fun in such an eclectic way is an interesting form of entertainment.  And being able to accept it, its hard not to draw inspiration from people having such a grand idea of imagination, fun, and such things.

Me?  I prefer table top Dungeons and Dragons.  I like the idea of it coming down to more imagination than acting ability.  I guess that’s why I’m a writer first and foremost.  The idea that stories can come out of an adventure of a few people sitting around a table fascinates me to no end.

I enjoyed the one time I got to spend with that LARPing society.  I hope to someday see more, hopefully it will be in the fantasy realm.  But either way, it was an experience to walk away from, and a memory I’ll not soon forget.