Previously Mutants & Masterminds MUX, now a Question! DUN DUN DUN!

Thenomain

Theo Bell Brujah

Yo quiero Theo Bell?

Ghost

@Thenomain Bill Cosby voices: Theoooooo Roooodeeeee VanESSSuhh

Warma Sheen

Interesting topic this has fallen to on this particular board.

I'm black. I got into RP through reading comic books when I was young and being enticed to try D&D from the ads in the comic books, usually at the back I think.

And while I hesitate to share many of my opinions on the topic, I will say that I don't have any other black friends who know I MU* or RP who don't also do it themselves. Any black RPers I know I met through showing up to RPing events - conventions, tabletops, etc. And not one of them would I put into a social situation with other black people. They would be completely out of place.

This just isn't a popular hobby. Quite the opposite. It will quickly make you unpopular. So I hide it. Like a deep dark secret. You wouldn't look at me and guess I RP. Probably one of the last things you'd guess. But I don't tell a soul about it.

But I love it and just because I won't tell anyone about it doesn't mean I don't love doing it. So I do. As far as characters go, I almost always play black characters. But it seems to me, and this is just wild presumption, that I see a great percentage of black characters than there are black players on a game.

There's no point to any of this except to give purely speculative observations from a black RPer.

Cirno

@Warma-Sheen said:

Interesting topic this has fallen to on this particular board.

I'm black. I got into RP through reading comic books when I was young and being enticed to try D&D from the ads in the comic books, usually at the back I think.

And while I hesitate to share many of my opinions on the topic, I will say that I don't have any other black friends who know I MU* or RP who don't also do it themselves. Any black RPers I know I met through showing up to RPing events - conventions, tabletops, etc. And not one of them would I put into a social situation with other black people. They would be completely out of place.

This just isn't a popular hobby. Quite the opposite. It will quickly make you unpopular. So I hide it. Like a deep dark secret. You wouldn't look at me and guess I RP. Probably one of the last things you'd guess. But I don't tell a soul about it.

But I love it and just because I won't tell anyone about it doesn't mean I don't love doing it. So I do. As far as characters go, I almost always play black characters. But it seems to me, and this is just wild presumption, that I see a great percentage of black characters than there are black players on a game.

There's no point to any of this except to give purely speculative observations from a black RPer.

I got into RP because I grew up using a computer and was part of the AOL Chatroom Roleplay crowd of the 1990's.

From there I RP'd at a bunch of different venues until I discovered MU* ing.

I would tell people about RPing if they cared. I enjoy frightening both white and black (and Asian, and Hispanic) people with my nonstandard hobbies, but I am also that unusual black guy who has long hair, piercings, tattooes, and sometimes wears trenchcoats and combat boots and cargo pants (when the weather allows for it, anyway).

I play hardcore British Techno music, European Hi-NRG Dance Music, and Japanese Pop Music very loudly in my car, which bugs people no end. I get the world of shocked stares and gasps from people of all races. Click the link in my sig to get a feel for what I'm usually listening to.

Like, the other day I was in a 7-eleven, and the white female cashier was interrogating me. She asked me if I was an artist, "because I look like an artist".

I, excited to talk to her about my writing and drawing pursuits, said, "Yes!"

She replies, "So you're a rapper? Because I know a lot of black guys who rap and make music!"

I said, very brightly, with a big smile, "No, I'm currently teaching myself to draw, via guidebooks and instructional manuals, and I'm a writer."

Her face falls about a foot, and she seems visibly upset - just the way I like to see them when I bust out my unconventional activities. She starts stuttering. "Um...uh...well...what do you write?" she asks lamely, hoping I would say, "Rap music!"

I say, "Fiction of many varieties. Sci-Fi, historical fantasy, stuff like that."

She says, "Oh."

There is a very pregnant pause.

I break the silence with a cheerful, "Well, see ya around!" and leave.

I play characters of all races.

tragedyjones

But how are your mic skills?

Arkandel

And basketball, how are you at basketball!

tragedyjones

Don't be racist @Arkandel.

Thenomain

Why are you two accusing @Cirno of being Jewish?

Ghost

@Cirno WORD. AOL RP CHATS. Remember names like Vv_HellVAMP_vV ?

Good times.

Ghost

@Warma-Sheen said:

Interesting topic this has fallen to on this particular board.

I'm black. I got into RP through reading comic books when I was young and being enticed to try D&D from the ads in the comic books, usually at the back I think.

And while I hesitate to share many of my opinions on the topic, I will say that I don't have any other black friends who know I MU* or RP who don't also do it themselves. Any black RPers I know I met through showing up to RPing events - conventions, tabletops, etc. And not one of them would I put into a social situation with other black people. They would be completely out of place.

This just isn't a popular hobby. Quite the opposite. It will quickly make you unpopular. So I hide it. Like a deep dark secret. You wouldn't look at me and guess I RP. Probably one of the last things you'd guess. But I don't tell a soul about it.

But I love it and just because I won't tell anyone about it doesn't mean I don't love doing it. So I do. As far as characters go, I almost always play black characters. But it seems to me, and this is just wild presumption, that I see a great percentage of black characters than there are black players on a game.

There's no point to any of this except to give purely speculative observations from a black RPer.

Dude, I empathize. Being a white guy, I can tell anyone that I play D&D and unless they were some kind of hellfire and brimstone Evangelical, they wouldn't think anything of it. I had a few black friends back in the day who hid their RPG habit, too, and I get it. I love being able to fly my nerd flag high, so whenever I come into contact with someone who loves it but has to hide it, I try to be supportive.

Thanks for sharing.

Arkandel

@Ghost said:

I love being able to fly my nerd flag high, so whenever I come into contact with someone who loves it but has to hide it, I try to be supportive.

My room-mate from the university was (and is) a huge nerd but he so in the closet about it. We used to go to the local comics store and grab our weekly stuff then go to McDonalds to grab a bite. I'd take one of my issues out to browse through while eating and he wouldn't because he'd hilariously claim he was 'protecting their collectivity'. Oddly enough he had no issues eating and reading them at home though. He also gave me warning looks if we were chatting about nerdy things whenever a girl was coming anywhere close to us.

Pfft!

Ghost

@Arkandel That's a shame. I bet your roommate ended up with someone who didn't have the same interests. I didn't hide my interests in horror, gaming, and metal music. It helped me find a girl who liked similar things. Now we game together, watch horror movies, go to metal concerts, and have the sex.

I know someone who is into metaphysical stuff, like tarot and mysticism, but hid it from his girlfriend, who was into being Baptist or something, and then they married...and now he's afraid she'll find out and he is unable to follow his interest in it without risking issues.

Arkandel

@Ghost said:

@Arkandel That's a shame. I bet your roommate ended up with someone who didn't have the same interests. I didn't hide my interests in horror, gaming, and metal music. It helped me find a girl who liked similar things. Now we game together, watch horror movies, go to metal concerts, and have the sex.

That's the silly part, he's been married twice and converted both his ladies to play games. No table-top stuff but they play board games, watch fantasy, etc. <shrugs> It's not like this stuff carries the stigma it once did (?) anyway.

For me in this context my nerdy interests fall in the same category as liking animals. If a chick didn't like my dog I wouldn't be interested in her (and it certainly wouldn't be a hard choice between the two) so the same applies to stuff I like doing, reading, watching, etc. I mean what I like is part of me, it's not like those things are disposable.

Ghost

@Arkandel Yeah, I don't get how some couples end up where OMGFantasyFootball is okay, but Fantasy Novel Collection(tm) is verboten. Shit, everyone is a nerd for something: fantasy football, cooking, dogs, watching Dr. Oz. People should be more tolerant about other people's interests. They're just things to do...

...unless it's Warhammer 40k.

Holy Fuck the time/space/monetary commitment to that game...

tragedyjones

Having returned to the dating pool after a lengthy break, there is still some stigma, heh.

Ghost

I'm 90-95% sure that if I ever become single again, I will probably end up with someone I met over a mush, and have to endure the anxiety of one of those I hope the real sex is as good as the TS hookups.

Arkandel

@Ghost That's not possible. On a MU* you are a sex deity bumpin' uglies with other sex deities after saving the city from demons. In real life you get to use tissues and run to the bathroom to avoid wet spots on the bed while dinner's getting ready.

... Unless that's your thing in which case congratulations! The sex is gonna be great.

tragedyjones

You also get to use two hands in real sex.

Ghost

@tragedyjones @Arkandel and hopefully longer than two paragraphs.

Warma Sheen

I don't actively hide it from girlfriends. But its never come up with girlfriends unless we moved in together. There was never a reason for those two worlds to cross. If I'm hanging out with her, I'm not RPing. If I'm RPing, I'm not hanging out with her, so it hasn't really come up. For those I have moved in with, they'll ask about it if they see it, I'll explain it, they'll say its weird and we move on to something else. I've yet to run across anyone that broke up with me over it. Once a girl knows me and is into me, its not really an issue. But it is a much bigger barrier to someone wanting to get to know me if they find out about my roleplaying interests up front.