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Living Double Life

Blogs > helioss
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helioss
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States12 Posts
July 12 2012 05:48 GMT
#1
I am an average highschool boy. School, church, and I run Cross Country and Track. My family are not gamers and never will be. The thought of E-sports would be silly in their mind. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of friends and I am not socially awkward. But when I come home from school and get onto the computer, I feel like I transform into a totally different person. A gamer. I follow tournaments, players, casters. I even have another twitter in order to follow them and another one for my "real life". None of my friends know how into gaming I actually am and I have failed to find any kids that are. At the lunch table we talk about the regular things; sports, tv, and of course the latest drama. But all those things are a bore to me when I would rather talk about the strategy of SC2 or perhaps a tournament that just happened. My parents are proud of my grades and push me to do my best in things that I would particularly not want too. I am always hiding one life from another. I guess what I am really asking is how do I merge these two lifes.

I feel lonely in my gaming life, but I am starting to realize I am feeling just as lonely in the other.

**
OmniEulogy
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada6595 Posts
July 12 2012 05:53 GMT
#2
Wait till you are out of high school. The world isn't as small as you currently think it is and opportunities to find people with similar interests to all aspects of your life are fairly easy to find when you have the proper freedom to do so.

Enjoy talking about other things with your friends and just use people on TL or others on b.net to go over stuff that happened in GSL or watch it with them while being on skype ect. I think the biggest mistake you could make is trying to separate these two things though. There is no reason for it as long as you take things in moderation.
LiquidDota Staff
Juliette
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States6003 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-12 06:42:53
July 12 2012 06:40 GMT
#3
i separated my "real" life for a long time, and even now I'm slowly integrating them through meeting people from online in real life. So I'd suggest that: try to go to a meetup, a barcraft, something in your area. For me, I found friends and we all played xbox together and we realized some of us lived near each other, so I met up with them. For others, I flew to their city for other purposes. As an example, I went to Chicago to stay with relatives so I can visit U of I, and while there I took the train and met up with a friend I'd only known online.

If you're still young (not a senior), it'll be okay. do what omni says: just find people on TL/bnet and skype with them. you're welcome to join us for tonight's GSL!

The more you talk to people online the more you'll network and find people near your area

Also XC/Track fighting!

as for integrating it into your personal life, most of my friends know i play games a lot and while they do characterize me as a "gamer" they know its just one of my interests, and though they're not that interested I can mention to some how mvp, my favorite player, won the hardest tournament in the world while hurt and they'll say "oh thats cool" and sometimes they can mention things i'm really not interested in, like uh, my friend is a fan of the golden state warriors so I get news about them all the time and its just nice to broaden your horizons. eventually i started asking more about golden state, and sometimes i get people that ask me about games too

also a ton of my friends play LoL, i know its not quite sc2 but its always a cool way to integrate

OKAY FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE I SEE WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT
jcroisdale
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States1543 Posts
July 12 2012 08:28 GMT
#4
If you cant be honest with yourself and the people around you isn't hard to trust anybody?
"I think bringing a toddler to a movie theater is a terrible idea. They are too young to understand what is happening it would be like giving your toddler acid. Bad idea." - Sinensis
TzaTzers
Profile Joined April 2009
United States589 Posts
July 12 2012 08:53 GMT
#5
This sounds pretty similar to me actually. Here is what I did, from my experience..

My friends really didn't play games but I knew them from school because of sports and classes. Like you mentioned, we would talk about the normal stuff but one day I just happened to mention starcraft to one of them and over time they started getting interested mainly because I treated the game as if it was one of their football games. I would often tell them that I would operate on korean time to stay up and watch proleague or watch pointless korean music shows ha. Some of them actually started playing the game and when sc2 came out a handful of them got the game and we play from time to time if we can get people on at the same time since we all pretty much went to different schools.

What Omni said is actually true, you will meet so many different people after high school, especially in college. Actually people from my school met here on TL and we've met in person and have been in contact since.

Juliette also brings up a great point, I could care less about basketball and football because watching sports really doesn't interest me but I love playing those games with my friends. Some of my friends follow those sports really closely and usually talk to me about it even though they know nothing of it. As friends you won't always have the same interests but that is what makes it interesting, learning knew things you probably would have never looked up or finding out about things that you probably would have overlooked.


Curious.. what school did you run xc for? I myself ran xc and track and also did wrestling. Wondering if you know about Mt. SAC and/or ...I forgot the name but I think it started with a 'C', they were big races in socal.

And it's weird seeing you here Juliette.. I feel KMD is like it's own little website and seeing people post outside of it feels really out of place ha.
"Why did the colossus fall over? because he was imbalanced..."
Juliette
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States6003 Posts
July 12 2012 09:17 GMT
#6
Is he in socal too? oh shit socal #1. even better just go ask people about their ethnic cultures and find new friends and maybe if they're asian you'll find people into sc2. not to racially profile but i know many more asians that play sc2 than hispanic



On July 12 2012 17:53 TzaTzers wrote:

And it's weird seeing you here Juliette.. I feel KMD is like it's own little website and seeing people post outside of it feels really out of place ha.

Yeah i always kinda go woah when someone posts outside of kmd. although everyone seems to post in GSL LRs so i'm kinda used to it now
OKAY FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE I SEE WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT
PH
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States6173 Posts
July 12 2012 10:31 GMT
#7
I think the whole "double life" thing is more common than you might think. Until only about eight months ago, I literally knew no one in real life who did more gaming than play console games occasionally. I'd go clubbing and partying and bar hopping with my friends, and one even once said, "man, we know nothing about PH in his natural habitat. Who are you at home?" They just weren't into gaming, and certainly not esports, so I just never talked about it with them.

It's perfectly fine. I'm largely an introvert, and going out and dealing with people, even my closest friends, tends to exhaust me. I'm not socially awkward, though, and I do well meeting new people. I also love my friends dearly, so I'll always be there regardless.

About eight months ago, though, I reconnected with some old high school friends and found out that they not only continue to be avid gamers, but are fans of SC2. I've become very close to them over the past half year, and they get along well enough with most of my older friends who aren't interested, so that whole "double life" thing has started to dissolve.

To speak directly to the OP, it's not a problem. Do what you want. If you really like your friends, then be friends with them and enjoy their company. You don't have to hide one life from the other. My non-gamer friends largely knew about my hardcore gamer side and would even make fun of me for it occasionally. Don't be defensive about it, be open about it, but don't annoy people who aren't interested in it about it.

My closest friend is a preppy pretty-girl who likes shopping and clubbing, works as a nurse, and does ballet. The closest she gets to my nerdy side is relenting and watching the occasional anime movie. I don't talk about esports or games with her, and she doesn't even know what Brood War is. Regardless, we've been close for more than fifteen years and we get along just fine even if we don't share core interests.
Hello
sc4k
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United Kingdom5454 Posts
July 12 2012 10:33 GMT
#8
Welcome to being a nerd. Never bother discussing nerdly interests with 'normal' people, pretty much never discuss anything BUT nerdly interests with fellow nerds .
LuckyFool
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States9015 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-12 12:34:15
July 12 2012 12:30 GMT
#9
You'd be surprised that most "normal" people would find it interesting as long as you present it the right way.

Somebody who has always been amazing at presenting it the right way has been Day9. Definitely somebody I try to mimic when explaining the game/my esports obsessions to friends and family. And I've been quite successful so far! Although I do keep the two worlds fairly separated in general. My Mom found it really interesting after watching a National Geographic documentary on broodwar once. I had to start stopping her from asking new Korean neighbors if they were into Starcraft haha.
Mr. Black
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
United States470 Posts
July 12 2012 13:48 GMT
#10
I'm 30 and I have the same deal--very few people know how much time I spend either playing or following SC2. I too have a "gaming twitter" and a "real life" twitter. I never link anything gaming related to my facebook page or "like" anything gaming related on facebook, because I am a professional (lawyer, not progamer) and I have to worry about guarding my image (as two-faced and hypocritical as that sounds--and it is).

It's kind of a paradox: I know there are tons of people out there like me, and that I should not be ashamed of my hobbies, but I also know that there is a prevailing image of gamers as lazy, unfocused and immature. If all the "secret" gamers announced themselves, people would realize playing video games is compatible with being a responsible and productive member of society. So I am, for now, part of the problem.

My younger brother is also a professional (architect) and even though he barely plays SC2, and doesn't keep up with the tournaments and players that much, just went to the IPL HIN event, and he posted pics on his facebook and tweets about SC2 and all sorts of stuff. He simply is not worried about it. He's probably right to do so.
Make more anything.
TheGiz
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada708 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-07-12 20:50:36
July 12 2012 20:44 GMT
#11
      Never be ashamed of the things you like. You don't have to be. That said, people still look the wrong way at things because they're ignorant. So, you simply omit certain bits of information until people become more accepting of who you are. It's all about avoiding stereotypes, and being percieved as you would want others to perceive you. People don't know about every element of your life - only what they see and what you reveal to them.

      So, don't hide things, simply project the image that you want to project. The other things are just details, as big as you want them to be shown. I, for example, love gaming, and stories, and fantasies, and history, and a great many things, but that doesn't mean I get stereotyped into some category, because thats not what people see first: they see a successful, good-looking young man. My friends know what I'm about, but they know I'm cool with their interests too. It's all about being well-rounded enough to be comfortable in any situation, talking about any topic, and doing any thing. I go to baseball games with my friends. Do I like baseball? Hell no! But I have a great time when I'm there.

      Right now you don't understand because you are the worst age in the world. Soon you'll realize that to CARE about certain things the way you do is stupid and pointless. Just be what you want to be, like what you want to like, and enjoy every aspect of life, shunning none of it. When you encounter people who would judge you, omit information that they would judge you on, and when that topic comes out state it matter-of-factly. Compare:

"Oh yes, I like Minecraft, it's a game."

to:

"Oh, that's Minecraft, it's this game that I'm into. You've probably never heard of it. Kinda nerdy, I guess."

      Don't talk about yourself more than you have to. And when you do, remember: no one can fault a man with confidence.
Life is not about making due with what you have; it's about finding out just how much you can achieve. Never settle for anything less than the best. - - - Read my blog!
xmungam
Profile Joined July 2012
United States1050 Posts
July 12 2012 22:09 GMT
#12
you'll find out when you go to college lol
youtube.com/xmungam ~~ twitch.tv/thenessman
TechniQ.UK
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
United Kingdom391 Posts
July 12 2012 22:25 GMT
#13
Life is nothing like high school mate, everything changes and this is not being idealistic at all. I left high school and everything just continually gets better and better in every way.
Fan of: Acer.Scarlett and Liquid'NonY //
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