Remember children: If you're falling, you can break the fall by launching a grappling hook at the ground.

Yup, I've met Lar and Sohmer on several occasions; really nice guys I must say. They signed all my copies PLUS my omnibus of LFG, and when I bought the LICD card game they gave me like 6 extra dice. Actually, my display pic is Lar in a Batman toque LOL.

It's a bit depressing that people are still timid about admitting that they might be gamers. As far as I can recall, I've been an unrepentant gamer all my life. Reflecting back on elementary school, though, I do recall that there were people who tried to bully me about it - but between simply not taking their crap and being in a school which actually cared, I've never been bothered much. (Warning: I read a few years back that lashing out against a bully is far from being a reliable method for making it stop. In some cases the bullies will step up the bullying. I mostly relied on it as a way of turning attention towards the problem.)

I've only met one person I can recall who seemed weirded out by it. This last New Year's Eve I was at a party and there was a girl at the table who seemed completely flabbergasted that I would admit to being a gamer. Also, there was another girl at the table who got drunk very quickly and decided to raise a cheer for my honesty. All in all, quite awkward, but very amusing in retrospect.

She likes games and IRL has a lot of good things to say about the Teaparty and how people should live instead: caring for eachother instead of Republican selfishness. If I was an American and lived in Maine, I'd vote for her. What the makers of the website post is for a large part the truth about why the Republican's are really bad news for all people in America instead of the super-rich.

Colleen for Senator!

I live a octuple double life by the way. When I'm not fighting for the rights of people with a mental illness, I am Kheltick the Blade, Amniralda the Totemic Druid, Abu Simbel the lover of Saerileth (LOL), Eriodal the Fighter-Mage from long time back EVIL PnP AD&D days, captain of a whole 101st Airborne Division company of heroes, - - - actually, I don't like the stigmatizing term mental illness in a sentence with multiple personalities, as if one should anything have to do with another, but anyway, it's how I try to make this world a better place IRL.

I think a lot of it tends to do with what one has going on in life outside of gaming. Or any other pursuit.

Mark Seiber writes a column for Cemetery Dance, and often talks about the "stigma" of being a horror fan. Trying to meet women - should I tell them I read horror and watch horror movies?

But to me, the stigma originates from outside the self. It's my personal opinion that if you're "ashamed" of what you do, you're probably putting yourself at the mercy of the wrong kind of people. Or if they can't be avoided, then telling them more than they need to know in the first place.

Heh, I'm suffering from a double stigma than: from being a gamer and from suffering from mental illness. Well, at least I'm proud of who I am, proud I have in Baldur's Gate and other games an antidote for suicidal thoughts (I don't wanna die yet, cause there's so many campaigns still to be finished) and proud I'm doing something with my handicap by letting it become me experienced in what I'm talking about when stepping up for our rights!

Thanks for your post DieRuhe.

She must be bloody good at WoW if she measures her character's DPS as 'deaths-per-second', as the leaflet alleges.

I think this is a new variant of accusing the opposition of being on drugs.

Being a WoW player may affect her job just like being drug or alcohol addict. If she plays WoW as much as most WoW nerds I know, there is a problem :P

I would be worried if her devotion to MMO games has bad influence on her performance as a public servant.

In the end, all addictions are the same. But if none doctor described her hobby as a addiction, there's no reason to blame her.

Hahhaa, that's damn awesome. :)
Which has nothing to do with how she does her job during the 8 hours that she spends every day working.

8 hours for your professional life, 16 hours for your private which you spend the way you like and nobody can judge you for that.

Being a public servant is something more than sitting 8 hours in a job.

You're not stopping being a policemen after you left the station. Nor the counsel, alderman or whatever it's called.

This is why private life of every politician or public servant is being investigated.

It's not just a simple job. And playing 16 hours a day has affect on person's performance during that 8 hours even.

I don't say it should be controlled, but public person is something more than just an employee.
In other case, there wouldn't be any "Berlusconi scandal" or "Clinton scandal". Would you want your, for example, city mayor was a drug abuser? Even knowing he's not doing drugs during his working hours? I wuoldnt.

Playing video games has nothing to do with the job, I agree. But being addicted to ANYTHING has an impact on a job even if you do it only after work. I'm not saying she is an addict, I'm just saying that if so, that would be a serious concern.

But yeah, this "anti-campaign" from Republicans is riddiculous. But what that Republicans do is not? ;P

The only thing I would say against her is that a lot of her writing quoted on that site is pretty poorly written and makes her sound badly educated and a bit thick. Probably wouldn't vote for her or her opponent...

And that CNN woman, is she a retarded idiot for real or just training to be one?