The kind of gamer - the kind who takes RPGs too seriously

Listening to season 7 episodes 10-14 last I posted of happy jack's rpg podcast. There was a side discussion in the kind of GM or player. I noticed that I am outside the common archetype of gamer, which makes it more difficult to relate with others. I take RPGs a little bit more seriously than others... By serious let me quantify and specify how.

There are serious role players, professional game designers, writers looking for an audience, and min maxers. I am similar in many of these troupes but more specifically I us games as a crutch for my lack of a well rounded education and personal development. I came from a deeply religious and sheltered background, elements surrounding my development is lopsided but still in fertile grounds.

Simplified, I lacked a lot of maturity, survival skills, communication skills and introspection skills. I am a very late bloomer, as my blog suggests. RPGs is where I had focus, commitment, and an unreasonable amount of intensity. When a lot of bad decisions in my life crippled me from maximizing my potential RPGs required me to love studying, logistics, analysis, reasoning, and all those survival skills I failed to learn growing up.

RPGs became my survival skill, so because of the approach I have with the hobby I can pretty much alienate 99% of all other gamers I talk to... Except my brothers. This leads me to reflect on my relationship with them and what makes us odd in a way.

Our mother would complain about how we never had enough to talk about. I realized this relationship was an usual in an authoritative style of parenting. I was not the older brother who had authority,mad with many Filipino traditions, I was one of three brothers with no status difference.

This exposure to the right kind of relationship, was a saving grace to allow me to be salvageable despite many wrong turns. Maturity taught me how to live in a more diverse environments. In fact I chafe in homogeniety, especially those who steamroll over those who are different. These lessons fed into my being a GM, because in the end of the day you thrive in a diverse group of people who share a trust and common goal. The ability to work and communicate with people with very different set of enjoying the game and beliefs is core in being humanistic and free thought.

Disclaimer - I know I still have a very long way to go.

Because I am a bit too intense and dig too deeply in a gaming revelation I have just alienated myself to all those who have fun with the game. I can reign things back, I should be able to accommodate all forms of beliefs by following some core principles - empathy, humanistic values, and reason. I guess the gaming meet ups and bringing in more people into the hobby is the real test of my maturity.

Leading me to a perfect title for my blog... I got too much game in the brain.

This post was inspired by talk about work and corporate culture with my wife. How accommodating is ones professional culture to differences between people, and how professionalism is the secular belief that binds people to a common goal despite differences. In fact exploring the elements of professionalism, I find reason as a powerful tool that binds a group together despite differing beliefs. It also allows people who disagree to work together, and it can be a belief system that is in its core pragmatic yet can creat a lot of good will. I can actually make a whole post about professionalism that fits both Real life and gamer needs for implementation. I think it is a great foundation for a code of conduct for a GM.