Geeky, nerdy, sad, whatever the want to call it, do you think it is?.

The reason I ask this is due to the following........

Firstly, I must say that I enjoy racing LFS, I don't race anywhere near as much as I used to, mainly due to the fact I was in a relationship that was plainly rubbish, and because of this I used to spend a bit of time on the computer.

Now, I split up with my ex in April, and started "living", which meant less time for LFS, I got a new girlfriend, the weather was good, I past my bike test, blah blah, etc etc, you get the idea.

Now as the weather is getting worse, the nights are drawing in, my girlfriend has a new job that means she has less spare time, and I find myself sometimes with an evening to fill, so I fill it with LFS.

Recently Kalle announced the UFR/XFR league, which I really fancy taking part in, I thought I had thursday free, but was informed yesterday that my girlfriend is off, and was coming over, so I was left with a quandry, do I tell her, or do I not take part.

The worse thing about it was, that I was SOOOOO embaressed to tell her that sometimes I virtually race with people on the internet in this game.

I told her, and she was fine, just means I will be on the PC for an hour while she is over, no real big deal, but I found it really hard to "admit" that I did such a thing as LFS illepall.

What would YOU have done, do YOU get embarressed if people find out you do race LFS?.

It's probably more aimed at the older LFS user

Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Dan,

Quote from danowat :

Geeky, nerdy, sad, whatever the want to call it, do you think it is?.

The reason I ask this is due to the following........

Firstly, I must say that I enjoy racing LFS, I don't race anywhere near as much as I used to, mainly due to the fact I was in a relationship that was plainly rubbish, and because of this I used to spend a bit of time on the computer.

Now, I split up with my ex in April, and started "living", which meant less time for LFS, I got a new girlfriend, the weather was good, I past my bike test, blah blah, etc etc, you get the idea.

Now as the weather is getting worse, the nights are drawing in, my girlfriend has a new job that means she has less spare time, and I find myself sometimes with an evening to fill, so I fill it with LFS.

Recently Kalle announced the UFR/XFR league, which I really fancy taking part in, I thought I had thursday free, but was informed yesterday that my girlfriend is off, and was coming over, so I was left with a quandry, do I tell her, or do I not take part.

The worse thing about it was, that I was SOOOOO embaressed to tell her that sometimes I virtually race with people on the internet in this game.

I told her, and she was fine, just means I will be on the PC for an hour while she is over, no real big deal, but I found it really hard to "admit" that I did such a thing as LFS illepall.

What would YOU have done, do YOU get embarressed if people find out you do race LFS?.

It's probably more aimed at the older LFS user

Would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Dan,

I don't feel embarrassed. I tell girls that, and they just nod. It's a hobby I like doing, and I get to spend time with great drivers, such as Void, Birder, Zyber, Jakg'z (laughs)

Besides, even though its a simulation, it does help your driving in reallife.

To start with my mates used to give me the "geeky" thing but no i have gotten most of them onto LFS now so no problems there! lol!
I warned my girlfriend lastnight not to make any plans (with me) for any Thursday nights (because of the league) from next week until xmas! lol!
I dont think it's "geeky" at all, i think thats an old mentality with is starting to be dropped by most people, especially the younger generation.

Look at it this way, you don't get the funny looks you get if you say your into flight sims or Warcraft

I don't find it embarrassing to say I race a game online. I don't see it any different to running around killing people online. Its just something to do thats a bit of fun in my spare time. Its not really a geeky thing in my opinion, espically since popular racing games like Gran Turismo etc are well known.

It is nerdy and geeky I guess but I don't mind telling people I play it. I don't care what anyone thinks and I'll do what I want.

Besides, the thought of having a 'bird' right now is just horrible.

its not nerdy, and im not a geek for playing it

/me changes avatars!

Well, LFS is the only thing I do on my PC really, I used to be really geeky and play FS2004, but I knocked that on the head.

I think its the fact that it's someone I love, I don't care about telling joe bloggs up the road, but telling someone that you care about you do something a bit different.

It's wierd really, but maybe it's because I am older that doing something like LFS still has that stigma attached to it.

Dan,

Quote from danowat :

What would YOU have done, do YOU get embarressed if people find out you do race LFS?

Not really.
Infact once that I was hosting a race for the OLFSL we actually sat around with my gf and friends watching the race and having some drinks. I had hooked up a second monitor with LFS spectator connected to my machine so we got to see timetables and all on it (and keep an eye on where the action was) - they were impressed with the whole deal and there was quite some excitement during overtakings, etc.

I live with my gf, her brother and her brothers gf, they constantly take the p*ss out of me.."ooh look at you ,you big spa, talkin to all the little computer peoples" Every day.
So I do get embaressed sometimes, but feck em, there just bored and nothin else to do, I have LFS .
If I where you I'd give your gf somethin to do, get her to drive the Fxr around Bl for a while lol

I think, nowadays, playing computer games becomes more and more commonly accepted. Nevertheless, I told many people what I'm doing in my spare time, and they always get that strange look in their eyes ...

So I think there's still a long way to go. But I'm self-confident enough, that I don't really care what others think about my hobby, as long as my wife doesn't get that strange look in her eyes.

And my little daughter (~ 20 months) likes LFS and my steering wheel, too. Maybe she'll become a great driver until S3 will be out in 201x

Being 65 and telling people I race online, I receive slightly raised eyebrows. When they see the kit I use to do it I get 'My god!'s. Oddly enough they all want to have a go on it though.

Ok - my friends used to think it was geeky until i did an LFS lan-party at School, but now they don't. Some girls think it's slightly wierd, but then in all honesty so am i!

I've been having this scene in my mind of danowat being a man and admitting to his girl that he's on LFS.

"There's something I need to tell you..."
"Oh - what is it?"
"I'm on LFS."
"Oh... oh... we can get some help - I know this person who runs a clinic."
"No, no, no. Live for speed."
"Oh darling, don't say that - I'll be all you need, we can fight this together."

Say it loud! I'm geek and I'm proud!

I tell everyone about my weirdo hobbies, mostly people find them very interesting, and seem to be sad because they don't have the time to do it too (or maybe they are polite and very good actors )

The wife is another matter... "Again with the stupid toy wheel?!?!?"

Quote from xaotik :

I've been having this scene in my mind of danowat being a man and admitting to his girl that he's on LFS.

"There's something I need to tell you..."
"Oh - what is it?"
"I'm on LFS."
"Oh... oh... we can get some help - I know this person who runs a clinic."
"No, no, no. Live for speed."
"Oh darling, don't say that - I'll be all you need, we can fight this together."

Were you there?

heheheh - I like to think of all us LFSers as the Elite of Sim Racing. Its my mates who get embarrassed when I let em have a drive & they drive like blind goats on acid

Hell Id be embarrassed NOT to be playing such a superb sim.

Hey Danowat - Let your gf drive afew laps with the little UF1 car whist gently massaging her neck, that should work.

At the beginning my friends were always giving me the strange look about playing LFS, but i gave them ago and they saw how much effort goes into it and that it's not your normal arcade rubbish found around.

I'v told many girls i play it, i just dont tell them im in a team...i thinks thats a bit of overkill for them and will give them the nerd impression.

But all my friends realise im good at it so when i say sorry i cant make going out for drinks im doing some league or i have a meeting they understand

I mostly do LFS and sometimes Pr0 Ev0 5 and 6 which is coming soon. And some mates here also play it but they're demo racers.

Some people say 'You play games!?' thinking gaming is for 12 year olds only. But the stats for LFS show the average age is 26 or something. Nothing I say would change their opinion so I forget about it.

Others are extremely interested that I enjoy a very realistic motor-racing simulator with people across Europe and beyond. They can't comprehend I'm racing bumper to bumper next to someone from Portugal/Finland etc.

Heh, I usually dumb it all down to all but my closest mates. I just want to seem at least slightly normal now and then.

I'm not playing LFS at the moment while I enjoy more time pursuing other interests (fitness, photography, music, etc), but a few months ago when I was playing it much more, I didn't particularly advertise the fact.

I guess it all depends on what social scene you're in. A couple of mates knew I played LFS, and gave them a go which they enjoyed. Other friends and colleagues knew I sometimes played a racing game online, but that was it. Other people, staff and girls at the gym certainly didn't know I played LFS!

I reckon in some ways it is quite geeky, yes. Especially once you introduce leagues and regular commimtments to the game. Not as geeky as flight sims or role playing stuff with wizards and goblins, but nonetheless I don't and wouldn't advertise the fact that I play(ed) LFS. It's an enjoyable (and challenging!) way of passing some time but I'm not really in the kind of social crowd that would accept real commitment to it without some raised eyebrows and mutterings. Which suits me fine these days, cos I have no commitment to it.

Quote from danowat :

Well, LFS is the only thing I do on my PC really, I used to be really geeky and play FS2004, but I knocked that on the head.

I was going to respond that I didn't think it was geeky, but then you posted this, so I guess I'm "really geeky" .

Everyone I work with plays WoW. Someone stated yesterday that another one of the guys was on WoW over the weekend for 30+ hours. I race an hour or so during the week, and I'm up until 1 or 2 in the morning on weekends sometimes. I don't play until the kids go to bed though. My wife is addicted to watching the celebrity shows and Soaps on TV, so, why is me racing in the evenings any different than her watching Entertainment Tonight and Soap Operas?

Nah! Not geeky at all playing LFS. I view it as a hobby. The flight sim crowd has been around for a very very long time. Racing sims are becoming just as popular now.

I just show them the 400 UKP voucher for BRD I won when I became 2002 ESCORS European Challenge Series champion (it's in my trophy cabinet, next to my snooker trophies).

Some see me race online and decide it's easy... I generally go offline and let them drive an easy car around blackwood... A whole new type of respect starts to show on their face when they're done.

I also don't think that it's "geeky". Most of my acquaintances know that I'm competing in leagues in LFS and all have different opinions. The motorsport freaks are interested others think it's crazy and others don't care. Well everyone has a right to have his own opinion. (Although funny as it seems, some of the critics tell that it has nothing in common with real driving but when I race them in real life in karts and beat them, they tell something like it is because I have a lot of practice on the PC illepall crazy world )

There are certain people to who you tell and to who you don't tell

I have told about LFS (lol sounds like a disease or something ) to most of my mates at uni who are studying mechanical engineering. Suprizingly many of them have played some racing game in the past, none of them LFS, but it always surprizes how many have interest to games and sims like LFS. I remember few years back when Rally trophy was released and many fellow students seemed to like it, some even bought a wheel for it. I still remember when one of my friends wanted to kick my ass in that game, even if he could barely keep the Opel in the road. He was quite amazed when I told him that I drive the Stratos mostly . He just couldn't believe that some people could drive it

Yes. LFS is geeky. It's more geekier that GTRs or GPLs. But the geekier the better!