In recent years the geek community has become more vocal and recognized. For a long period of time playing video games was considered a thing for children. With the dawn of the Internet a lot of things have changed. No matter what part of the geeking subculture you exist in you can find other people that are also like minded individuals. Most geeks usually delve into multiple areas of the culture. For example in myself I love console games, pc games, world of warcraft, comics, anime, technology, and some others as well. My friend on the other hand is really into zombies, cosplay, Scott Pilgrim, and setting stuff on fire. While we may be different in terms of the specific areas we geek out in we still consider ourselves geeks and love a ton of what is available out there.
As humans we crave that social atmosphere. The problems is geeks by nature are more reserved group. The stereotype is true for a descent amount of the geeking community. On the Internet we can see and be a part of what we consider cool but get a bunch of them in a room and only a select few will be leading the interaction while most will be passive observers. I noticed this in myself during the Halo Reach midnight launch. There were a ton of people there. We were all geeking out about xbox, new tv shows coming out for the fall, staying up all night playing games, and just having a good time. I loved being part of it but I didn't say much. I was a passive part of the audience just taking in the experience. I noticed this with a lot of other people there as well. We all loved being there, otherwise we wouldn't be at a game store at midnight, but we spend a lot of time behind a computer or on a couch doing what we love.
A little after I got my iPhone 2 years ago I started discovering the world of podcasts. It was small at first but now you can find a podcast for any topic you are interested in. I have about 8 different ones I listen to during the course of the week that touch on different topics. Most of them are about Warcraft, Starcraft, or geek culture in general. It's after listening to the geek ones for a few weeks that I started feeling left out and alone a little bit. I am by no means an anti-social person. I am engaged to be married, a big part of my family, and have groups of friends that I talk to and hang out with on a regular basis. The feeling comes from seeing this huge culture that I want to be a social part of but don't have the friends whoa re hardcore enough who will get into it with me. Listening to a podcast such as the weekly geek, there are a group of people who get together all the time and play video games, boardgames, talk about the latest geek news, watch geek movies, and discover new geek things together. While certain friends of mine are into xbox, and the others into warcraft, and others into anime I still feel like I'm the most hardcore of them and I yearn for more.
The last 3 years I have gone to an anime convention over the summer. I loved going because I got to see some great cosplay, listen to panels about the culture, go through and buy geek related items, and just sit around a table with other geeks. But that was for only 1 Saturday afternoon. I also get that feeling when it comes to warcraft. While the game mechanics might be what bring you into the game, its the social experience that keeps you going. If warcraft was a single player game I don't think people would continue to do the same boss encounters every week for months at a time. In most games you beat a boss once and that's the end of it. The reason a guild is successful is that feeling of being part of a team that is accomplishing something. Getting better and more powerful individually and as part of a team. Getting onto the vent server and talking strategy or just talking about nothing. That feeling of being a part of something bigger then you is what keeps you coming back for more. The reason we spend 15 bucks a month.
As humans we crave that social atmosphere. The problems is geeks by nature are more reserved group. The stereotype is true for a descent amount of the geeking community. On the Internet we can see and be a part of what we consider cool but get a bunch of them in a room and only a select few will be leading the interaction while most will be passive observers. I noticed this in myself during the Halo Reach midnight launch. There were a ton of people there. We were all geeking out about xbox, new tv shows coming out for the fall, staying up all night playing games, and just having a good time. I loved being part of it but I didn't say much. I was a passive part of the audience just taking in the experience. I noticed this with a lot of other people there as well. We all loved being there, otherwise we wouldn't be at a game store at midnight, but we spend a lot of time behind a computer or on a couch doing what we love.
A little after I got my iPhone 2 years ago I started discovering the world of podcasts. It was small at first but now you can find a podcast for any topic you are interested in. I have about 8 different ones I listen to during the course of the week that touch on different topics. Most of them are about Warcraft, Starcraft, or geek culture in general. It's after listening to the geek ones for a few weeks that I started feeling left out and alone a little bit. I am by no means an anti-social person. I am engaged to be married, a big part of my family, and have groups of friends that I talk to and hang out with on a regular basis. The feeling comes from seeing this huge culture that I want to be a social part of but don't have the friends whoa re hardcore enough who will get into it with me. Listening to a podcast such as the weekly geek, there are a group of people who get together all the time and play video games, boardgames, talk about the latest geek news, watch geek movies, and discover new geek things together. While certain friends of mine are into xbox, and the others into warcraft, and others into anime I still feel like I'm the most hardcore of them and I yearn for more.
The last 3 years I have gone to an anime convention over the summer. I loved going because I got to see some great cosplay, listen to panels about the culture, go through and buy geek related items, and just sit around a table with other geeks. But that was for only 1 Saturday afternoon. I also get that feeling when it comes to warcraft. While the game mechanics might be what bring you into the game, its the social experience that keeps you going. If warcraft was a single player game I don't think people would continue to do the same boss encounters every week for months at a time. In most games you beat a boss once and that's the end of it. The reason a guild is successful is that feeling of being part of a team that is accomplishing something. Getting better and more powerful individually and as part of a team. Getting onto the vent server and talking strategy or just talking about nothing. That feeling of being a part of something bigger then you is what keeps you coming back for more. The reason we spend 15 bucks a month.
