It was jokingly suggested that one of my nights this week was spent rewriting the policy docs I will be working on.
It’s a project I am involved in and passionate about – and since I use and enforce it on a daily basis, I am a Subject matter expert on it, and kind have been formatting it in my head and doing bits and pieces on it already, but my reply was
Nope, I went home and killed people ( In pvp) .
Because it was sadder to admit to working from home then it was to be gaming.
Some of them are console gamers or ex Wow people, one or two may kind of understand. I perhaps should have said ” I went home and ganked people” but yeah even then that said with a wrong inflection would have sounded very wrong, and my last attempt at explaining that ended up with blank looks and this after I was trying to explain.. It’s like Frag.. but not in a FPS
Shag?
/sigh
That I had played the sims and Zoo tycoon ( only the first one) seemed to be a redeeming quality, and the fear that I had violent tendencies was somewhat quashed.
But there are other things you shouldn’t answer when asked” so what did you do last night”
“I did some herbing”
“I was making flasks”
“Cooked some buff food”
” I killed a boss”
” I died 20 times wiping on progression attempts”
” I kept dcing”
” have almost 100,000 honor kills”
“I did battlegrounds, arena, raiding”
“Sat in SW and afk’d”
“Did the Love is in the Air dungeon”
“Farmed”
“trolled trade”
“I’m playing a priest”
We really do speak another language.
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Pugnacious Priest's Warcraft Blog 
“I grinded CoC for my Very Manly Staff”
I got some pretty funny looks the time I admitted to killing internet dragons. These days I just leave it at *vague console gesture involving thumbs* ‘play games’, unless I know someone will understand a more nuanced answer.
Haha I do this exact same gesture to the uninitiated! A colleague I’ve become closer to but isn’t a gamer in any respect asks me if I’m ‘raging’ with my guild tonight. ironically that’s often more accurate =P
~Reala
Almost any activity has its own language. When I go sailing on Tall ships, a normal occurrence of Setting a sail involves Losing the Bowlines Buntlines, and Martlets, Easing the Clewgarnets and hauling the Sheet and Tack, and Pointing the Yard and Hauling on the Weather Bowline.
A specific terminology is always adapted so that things are easily identified with people who are familiar with the activity. We yell ‘avast’ when we want someone to stop hauling a line, but not let go.. If we said ‘stop and let go’ it would take to long, and not be clear. If we just said ‘hold up’ or ‘stop,’ most people would stop and drop a line instead of stopping and holding it, which can result in whatever heavy object we’re hauling coming crashing into the deck.
“I monopolized Iron Ore market and raised prices fivefold”
And never, ever say “Yeah, I’m taking a half day Friday so I can level my dwarf shaman”.
“I topped the dps meters after a couple good Pyroblast crits” probably doesn’t work either.
I just say “I spent some quality time with the husband.”
They don’t need to know we’re duo’ing Therazane &/or Tol Barad dailies. 😉
I’ve worked very hard at three different jobs to prevent people from finding out about any of my hobbies. I admitted once to colleagues that I played not WoW – but Pen and Paper RPGs, and was basically branded from there on out. People were never overtly mean or condescending, but it was clear that I was considered a bit odd afterwards. Of course, that’s a 100% accurate assessment, so…
Explaining to people who don’t know what WoW or MMOs are that you play one is, I think, akin to telling people you’re a member of a secret society. In fact, it’s not entirely unlike, say, the Masons or a fight club. There are shared, unspoken rules. There are distinctive vocabulary words. There is instant kinship with others of the same club (should you find out they’re a part of the club).
Maybe that’s the solution. The first rule of World of Warcraft is THERE IS NO WORLD OF WARCRAFT.
If it doesn’t catch on, at least we’ll get to chuckle a bit when we say it.
I get angry at the BCF tv ad that’s shows a young kid who sat up all night “slaying dragons with a mouse”. That was enough to never mention my after hours hobby to workmates.
ah yes I know that ad lol…..however i reckon it’s close to, but not quite as cool as cutting down “the mightiest tree in the forest with…. A Herring!!!!”
Hilarious… will have to try using some of these in my daily reports! 🙂
Luckily, I work in the IT Industry where most of my colleagues are fellow nerds and even if they don’t play WoW, they do play something and know what WoW is.
The problem I have is my family. When my siblings call me up to go to a movie or when my parents drive 2 hours to surprise me at my house and take me out for dinner they really don’t understand or appreciate me saying “I have to be home in an hour for a guild meeting”. Or “my raid starts at 6:00pm server”. In fact, they think playing “a game” is for kids, so I have to say things along the lines of “I am expecting company to be at my house at 6:00”. Or “I need to be home early to finish my laundry and make my bed”. Or any other lie that I think may work at that moment.
They know I play, I don’t hide it. But they all instantly dismiss it and it means nothing to them. Most of my family members don’t even have computers or internet. /shudder