My “real” job actually requires that I am up and out of my house before noon and this requires coffee. I stumbled into my local coffee location this morning and was greeted by an altogether too cheery clerk. After taking my order she noticed that I was wearing a Guitar Hero hat and immediately made a comment about playing the game with her boyfriend on the weekends. This whole experience started a conversation that ended up involving her coworkers telling me their favorite songs to play while I waited patiently for them to give me my very important first cup of coffee. This whole experience really got me thinking about the gamer apparel that I wear on a semi daily basis. I have the benefit of having the type of job that allows me to wear whatever is comfortable to me as long as I’m not in an important meeting. Because of this I’m usually rocking either a t-shirt, sweatshirt or hat that references some game or game company either very blatantly (like my big, red, Nintendo sweatshirt) or in more subtle ways (my Assassin’s Creed hat is a good example here).
Very often my hats or t-shirts do not elicit so much as a peep from the average person I interact with daily but every once in a while an incident like my coffee house one this morning will be sparked by what I am wearing. It got me wondering how many gamers wear their hobby on the outside like myself, and if they do, how do they deal with these random conversations? Most of the people I talk to about games in passing don’t really know all that much about them, and that tends to be frustrating to me because in an effort to sound educated on the subject they spout ridiculous crap or relay silly rumors or speculations they happened to come across on the web. I tend to deal with this by nodding and smiling just to avoid an argument but every once in a while someone really rubs me the wrong way and I feel the need to educate them about whatever game or system they have chosen to bother me about. I realize I could avoid all of this by just avoiding this particular gear while I’m out in public, but I don’t like the idea that I should shelve part of who I am to avoid stupid conversation. At the same time there are always those days where I just don’t have the patience to educate someone ignorant on my hobby of choice. I love the idea that games are becoming more widespread and I am not snotty towards new gamers or even those folks out there who just want to play Wii Sports, but I don’t always think I need to be responsible for the education of the new masses about who Master Chief is or why Guitar Hero World Tour is in fact NOT a better game than Rock Band.
I do find myself becoming more and more curious about what the general consensus on this topic is. Do gamers avoid wearing their gear to avoid conversation? Is it better instead to nod and smile to avoid arguments with people we don’t know? Or should we be using these conversations as a means to educate others about games in a way that helps them to understand that all of the gamer stereotypes they have inevitably heard are not all true? I struggle with this often and my response tends to vary by day (and by my mood). So what about you folks? First off do you wear any game related gear in public on a regular basis? Second, how do you respond when random stranger #1 wants to talk to you about the game referenced by your favorite hat or t-shirt?
My portal shirt is my favorite: http://store.valvesoftware.com/productpages/apparel/product_PortalShirt.html
Even when I see people wearing gamer shirts I don’t bring it up. Not because I avoid it, but just because I don’t think about it.
I wear my gaming gear all the time. I can’t wear t-shirts to work, but my general weekend rotation includes my L4D Francis shirt and a \Never Feed A Zombie\ shirt.
Just the same, once upon a time (August 2005), I wore a Dungeons and Dragons t-shirt on my way back from PAX. In the Dulles airport, some freak asked me if I was a warlock while his friends snickered.
It took me a while for it to sink in that some person – presumably an adult or at least young adult! – would say such a thing to a total stranger.
But hey, idiots are everywhere. Be yourself and screw those who don’t get it.
I think my favorite gaming apparel story was when I was on campus at Marshall wearing my Alliance shirt, and passed a girl wearing a Horde hoodie in the hallway. We kind of eyed each other up as we passed, and I thought that would be it, but when she got to the end of the hallway, she turned around and yelled “FOR THE HORDE!” at me, then disappeared around the corner.
I am now geeking out over the Portal t-shirt. It’s going in my cart. Oh yes, it is.
This post puts me in mind of something I once saw on the teevee about a fellow who wore a Star Trek shirt of some kind to his job on Fridays. This would be less like a t-shirt and more like a cosplay outfit, mind. His take on it was along the lines of: “Well, look. Jerry in Sales wears a Raiders jersey every Friday. Does that mean that Jerry lives in some *weird fantasy world* where he thinks he’s on the pro football team? Of course not! He just really likes football, and has a favorite team. Everybody gets that, no problem. Well, I just really like science fiction, and I have a favorite show. It’s really no different.”
I own a couple of pieces of gaming apparel, and I wear them whenever and wherever I care to, but I’m also of an age where I sort of just pass with it. When you’re 20, and you wear a gaming t-shirt, it’s a badge of identity. When you’re 32, and the t-shirt is under a blazer, you’re totally invisible. The only people who ever ask me about gaming as a hobby are other gamers, or very rarely my extended family. I guess this is one of the perks of getting old! Maybe I need to get something with a big, recognizable logo on it and see what that does to engender conversation.
It depends where I am or where I am going. At work it makes sense to wear game themed clothes because I work around other people who enjoy them and don’t make awkward conversation in an attempt to relate. If I’m going somewhere that I know it won’t be understood then I generally avoid wearing it, unless I’m feeling in a rebellious mood.
The sad panda of it all for me is that there aren’t enough girl clothes out there. Most of the time they are over sized t-shirts which are very unflattering to the figure. Even fitted tees are annoying because I hate crew necks and I hate turtle necks; I hate things on my neck. :p These are also unflattering to my body type. I like a simple fitted shirt with a V neck or even a camisole/tank style shirt that I can wear a jacket over.
I don’t own too much gaming-related swag sadly. (be calm Internet)
This does happen on occasion though while I wear my beloved TapouT shirts.
People start ridiculous conversations about MMA, talking about how Tank Abbot was the best fighter in the world and how the whole grappling aspect is “gay”.
I feel youR pain.