[Excalibur] Tomorrow: Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks - Gilsdorf at Hampshire

[Lindsay Barbieri]

CS Wednesday talk in the ASH lobby - Tomorrow at noon-1:00pm! (With lunch,
of course)

Taken from Hampshire Daily Digest... slightly edited.

Ethan Gilsdorf (F84)
*
*
*This guy wrote a book!*

"Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role
Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms." In "Fantasy
Freaks and Gaming Geeks,"

a blend of travelogue, pop culture analysis, and memoir, forty-year-old
former D&D addict Gilsdorf crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds
from Boston to Wisconsin, France to New Zealand, and Planet Earth to the
realm of Aggramar. Delving into Dungeons & Dragons, live-action role playing
games, World of Warcraft, the Society for Creative Anachronism, Tolkien
fandom, and other fantasy subcultures, Gilsdorf embarks on a quest that
begins in his own geeky teenage past and ends in our online gaming future.

He asks: Who are these gamers and fantasy fans?  *(Us.) *
What explains the irresistible appeal of such "escapist" adventures? *(Is
fun!) *
How do the players balance their escapist urges with the kingdom of
adult-hood?* (De*athfest?)

Gilsdorf will talk about the culture's discomfort with the geek/nerd/gamer
stereotype and will look at society's ambivalent relationship with gaming
and fantasy play, and the origins of that prejudice, as well as the author's
own past misgivings and final acceptance of his "geek" identity. Since the
origins of D&D, the culture has widely embraced gaming and role-playing as
an "acceptable" activity since, a shift largely brought on by the digital
revolution. The shame of being a gamer and social isolation are gone, but in
their place are other concerns: the loss of "place" and "hereness," and the
way games with richly-textured digital landscapes may demand less of the
imagination.
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