Research WTF just happened?!
Marc De Vreede
Tom van der Linden
GDD + GAR
Store: Subcultures
Name: Mark Brummel
1. Hobbies:
- Capoeira
- Squash
- Japanese Bow and Arrow
- Cardgames (Magic)
- Warhammer / War Machine
2. Favourite books/movies/etc:
- Anne Rising
- About Martial Arts and Japanese mythology
- Boondock Saints
- Memory of a Geisha
- District 9
3. What kinds of people enter this store?
- Larpers
- “Normal”/average people
- Roleplayers
- Boardgames become more popular (thanks to WoW)
4. How do you see yourself and the people who enter here?
We play in a group, that’s our strength. With our store we try to create a niche market, focus on different stuff than the other stores. That’s how we keep the advantage.
5. Are there any movie, books or other media where in your opinion geeks/nerd/dorks are portrayed incorrectly?
Not that I know of. You will always have extremities in every group or culture. Once I got bashed in the head for touching someone’s Magic dice. True story.
Shop: Never Never Land
1. Hobbies:
- Martial Arts (4 to 5 different ones)
- Books and music
- Roleplaying, especially tabletop
- Boardgames
2. Favourite books/movies/etc:
- Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
- Labyrinth (movie)
- Firefly (Sci-Fi series)
3. What kinds of people enter this store?
Varies enormously.
- Young couples, begin 30. They come for the boardgames. (something like 40% of all customers)
- Roleplayers
- Students, for games like Munchkin.
Shop: The Joker
This shop deserves some extra special credit, because we literally stumbled on a geekish gold mine here. When we entered we noticed there were a couple of people sitting around a table having a conversation. They turned out to be employees. Like the other shops we asked them if we could ask some questions, and they gladly accepted. We sat down and the information stream just didn’t stop, before we knew it a full hour had passed. I just couldn’t keep up writing!
1. Hobbies:
- Roleplayer > pen & paper > Computer is too limited.
- Stitching, embroiding (I like fiddling around)
- Castlefest, that’s how I spend my holiday!
- Collecting fully customizable asian puppets (something like action figures, but they are most of the time prefab).
--Maybe not a hobby, but a former line of work I was involved in, namely stuffing customizable cuddly dolls for little kids. Insert tons of perverted jokes here.
2. Favourite books/movies/etc:
- Anime, and lots of it! > More the Shoujo variant > dramas/comedy.
- Fantasy books from the likes of Robert Jordan, C.S. Lewis, David Addings, Cunningham, Heynes.
- Princess Bride (movie)
- The Gamers 1 & 2
- The Guild – Felicia Day!
- Mega Tokyo > webcomic
3. What kinds of people enter this store?*
Varies enormously, again.
- The general public, coming for the occasional boardgame.
- Diehard boardgamers playing more mature big wargames (Warhammer etc.)
- Cardgamers (Magic, Legend of the 5 rings)
- Students, for games like Munchkin.
- And interestingly almost no WoW players. Too busy playing WoW, I guess.
* The Joker employees said that between team
4. How do you see yourself and the people who enter here?
See other blogpost about Geek? Nerd? Dork? System.
5. Are there any movie, books or other media where in your opinion geeks/nerd/dorks are portrayed incorrectly?
Well, most of the time it’s negative if not made by nerds, geeks or dorks.
It takes some time for people from the outside to realise that we’re just different, but not in a weird of wrong way. We’re just a bunch of friendly idiots; within our culture everybody accepts each other just fine.
Some helpful tips:
- ohcupid.com
- Watch the Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising!
- The Joker personnel are very willingly to help playtest the game.
- Explorers of Catan is considered a bit of a dull boardgame ;)
- Alles is Liefde first 10 minutes LARP section for a good, outsiders look on LARP in general.
- Reanactment is something completely different than LARP. Reanactment is about playing out a historical correct scenario, where LARP is more focused on (high) fantasy.
here's what Trifon had to say, he asked me to post this for him 8)
BeantwoordenVerwijderenSo, I've finally got some time to give some feedback on the information. We said that we would correct you if we found anything wrong (at least... I did), and I've got some things which I want to rectify.
First of all; even though I'm flattered to have (largely) been the focus of your questions, I don't actually work at the Joker. Only the little lady who sat at your left does. The rest of us are just friends/ex-colleagues who hang out there.
Secondly; The way you've put my explanation about Asian Ball-jointed Dolls into words, hardly does credit to them.
So read up on the wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABJD) to get a more correct picture of the whole hobby.
My third point; Some corrections about the authors/films.
-David Eddings
-Jim C. Hines
And about the Guild: you asked me if I knew it, I never said that it was a favorite.
Forth (almost done, don't worry...); Corrections on the "helpfull tips".
-okcupid.com (Although I assume that you've found the correct address, sinds you posted the results of the test.)
-Alles is Liefde: It's not the first ten minutes. There is a scene in there somewhere of about ten minutes where they show it.
Last of all, and this is a point which I would like to stress most dearly.
Mind your writing!
Since you've dedided to publish your findings in English, take some time to correct it. Not just for spelling, but also for grammar, interpunction and form. It makes it easier for people to read and understand.
While reading back on my post, I do understand that it might not all sound as nice to you, but you've asked for corrections, and I'll give them where I see fit.
I do like the project and am following the progress you're making. I'm curious to see what you'll make of it when the game is ready for testing, you promised to let us playtest it.
P.S.
I can't place comments, the blog doesn't accept my WP account. (Might be because there isn't a blog on the name, just an account.)