Geek Cred

... So... yeah... That thing I just told you I did? Don't do that mate. It really burns y- Oh hey I didn't see you there.

• 21. I am 21 and a bit years old. When I was 16 I assumed 18 was the age you started really maturing psychologically. When I was 18 I assumed it was 21. Now I'm 21 and I am assuming it's 25. If I get to 25 and STILL don't see the purpose of lawns, going to 'sales' for things I wouldn't have bought in the first place, redecorating (with anything other then "That is a WICKED pirate flag.") or going out NOT to get drunk, I am just abandoning ALL assumptions about life.

There are many levels of geek. It is a fact I am accutely aware of, especially when my WoW playing friends occasionally wince when I say I'm a roleplayer, or people look at me like I'm mad when I tell them I'm not interested in the new Red Alert game. If you're an internet geek, there's a 1 in 4 chance you've seen the Geek-chart (http://readitordont.com/galaxy/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/geekchartbig.gif).

What so many people don't know is that that is just scratching the surface. Geekiness is more then an aspect of who you are. It is a way of life. And by that standard, my friends, we are all nerds. Who in our lives doesn't have some factoid they know bizarrely huge amounts about. Computers, gaming, comics, movies, sports, cars, the list goes on and on, we are all nerds about something.

But that makes it odd. For just as music is a part of everyone's lives and has seperated into various strata (mainstream, alternative, indie, etc), so too does geekiness. For my point, I will focus upon electronic gaming. Put your hands up if you're a nerd because you like Halo. Now half of you put your hands down. You're not nerds. The kid who made his own Master Chief costume out of alfoil and cardboard can leave his hand up. As can people who've gotten tattooes of Master Chief. You know why, people who had to put their hands down? because you're not a nerd. You're someone who likes an INCREDIBLY mainstream game. You have no geek cred.

Aha, and now we come to the title. Geek Cred. It's not something to be proud of, to be honest, but we all have it. It's an ultimate contradiction, a mix of "Well at least the geek stuff I like isn't as bad as the geek stuff he likes" and "you sad, sad little person. I can't believe you've never heard of Mount and Blade, an excellent indie game."

Did you all notice that? "My geek stuff isn't as geeky as his geek stuff", mixed with "I'm a bigger geek about it then you."

The easiest way I find to visualise the geek cred chart is to imagine a circle. On this circle, around the edge, are points, each point coresponding to a particular geekiness, and from each point radiating out in a straight line from the centre are the stages of geekiness in that particular field. The closer you are to 'north' on this circle, the less geeky you are. If you fall on the equator of the circle, you are neutral. Above the equater your geekiness is accepted/useful.

Some fields are geeky from the get go. I'm sorry, but at no stage in life can love for Star Trek be called anything other then non-geeky. Star Wars, on the other hand, as a mainstream movie, has fans who are not as geeky. So in that way I would position Star Wars at just below the equator line, while Star Trek is beneath it.

"Just below the equator line? Are you nuts? Have you SEEN those guys who have ACTUAL storm trooper outfits!?"

Yes I have seen them, and I want one.

That is the beauty of the chart. Since the only real measurement in the chart is how far above or below the equator you are, and your geekiness is measured on the straight line of the up-down axis. Notice, if you will, that even if you start JUST below the middle line, by the time you would be on the FAR outer edges (well beyond the scale of the above diagram. E.G. Comparing a 'casual Harry Potter book fan' with "I run Harry Potter roleplaying game where I created the rules for all the spells and have fantasies about Hermine... Hemrinone... Hermaninonie... However her name is spelt), you have drifted FAR beyond the line of acceptibility in normal conversation.

So how do we justify it to ourselves when we occupy a level beneath the equator (which is where I live, incidently, both physically and... spiritually)? Geek Cred.

You're not an online gaming geek unless you've played an MMO and invested MANY hours into it at some point in your life. You're not a gaming geek unless you know that Team Fortress originated as a mod. You're not a music geek unless you turn your nose up at punk band 'covers' where they play the exact same song, just alot faster and out of tune. You're not a fantasy geek unless you can discuss how Tolkein's works formed the basis for the modern fantasy story. You're not a Star Wars geek unless you know how many Lightsaber styles there are. You're not an Eastern RPG geek unless you've earned a Golden Chocobo. You're not a Western RPG geek unless you know what THAC0 stands for.

If you know that, you have cred.

As well as an aspect of your life you fear to share with the world.